What Has Happened to Egyptian Heritage after the 2011 Unfinished Revolution?

After decades of dictatorship, Egypt entered a new political phase on January 25, 2011. The first 16 months of transition were managed directly by the armed forces, followed by a year of presidency in the hands of Muhammad Morsi, a leading figure in the Muslim Brotherhood. The two post-revolution periods were marked by civil unrest and a general lack of security, with the withdrawal of police from their posts. In particular, during the last 12 months, security forces have been conspicuously absent from the busy streets of Cairo and the provinces, not responding to ordinary crime, and leaving the country with a growing sense of insecurity. The abandonment of the police has obviously affected the numerous archaeological sites in the country and this vacuum has allowed for the systematic looting and destruction of many sites of historic and artistic interest. The first 16 months were marked with excessive looting and a lack of coordinated efforts to stop it. However, under the Morsi administration and its Islamist allies, the country has suffered from a systematic lack of interest towards the archaeological and cultural heritage of Egypt, the total lack of political will to protect and enhance the archaeological areas, and even an ideological tendency to de-legitimize the pre-Islamic past as an essential component of national identity.

Land Mafia and Tomb Robbers

One of the most striking heritage threats is the illegal occupation of archaeological areas. Construction contractors in particular have taken over large portions of land in different governorates, divided them, and then resold them to a third party. This type of activity is not an exclusive monopoly of these contractors, but to a lesser extent, also done by the villagers and the poor. Land is occupied for the construction of homes and businesses, cemeteries, or for agricultural purposes. This phenomenon is not new, but it has not ever happened before with so much violence and on such a large scale. Prior to 2011, the greatest threat to archaeological sites consisted of government development plans: mega-state projects that rarely took into account the fact that the archaeological sites could be negatively affected. Illegal land occupation is also very lucrative; a site is usually thoroughly dug for all archaeological items, which are sold before building begins on the site.

As outlined in the above essay by Salima Ikram, armed looting gangs take advantage of the current high unemployment rate and poverty. These gangs, who excavate illegally, are usually accompanied by high-tech machine guns that entered Egypt via Libya. However, at several other sites, less violent looters are made up of local inhabitants, particularly the youth, who often have a clear knowledge of the archaeological site (Ikram and Hanna 2013). An increasing number of reports reveal the use of geo-magnetic soundings, which requires training, for the illicit discovery of sites. There is no doubt that these looters have full access to pertinent archaeological publications in order to identify potentially rich areas. Looted items are left in certain areas on site: in some cases the antiquities dealers directly choose what they want, then other people organize the removal and delivery to other dealers in Egypt or abroad. Many of the objects, which were shipped abroad, passed through the port of ‘Ain Sokhna’, which had no antiquities control unit until November 2012.

The second type of looters, also the less violent, is composed of a rich leader in a village who controls teams formed by villagers, especially children, and sends them to dig sites. He compensates them with money for found items such as reliefs, statuary, and jewelry. On a smaller scale, the locals dig for their own benefit. Sometimes they have contacts with lower-level antiquities dealers, but most of the time they do not have such access.

The unexplored archaeological areas are not the only goal of the grave robbers; urban sites such as the districts of medieval Cairo are also under attack. Several manābir (pulpits), inlays from mahārīb (prayer niches indicating the direction of Mecca), lanterns, lamps, incense burners, carved wooden ceilings, metal gates, embroidered fabrics, and...