Thank Goodness the media began to move slowly and started to wonder what is taking place in Dahshur. The army and the police have not moved yet despite the pleas of the ministry of antiquities.
Now people began to good there to know what is really going on. It is worst than we can imagine. Here are the photos from Dahshur taken yesterday by Egyptologist Monica Hana.
If you look closer in the photos you will notice that these houses or constructions are not built in an urban area but rather a desert area with no facilities what so ever. This is why many believe “including me” that these fake houses are actually used to hide illegal digging and trade of antiquities in the area.
Already this area suffered a decade of continuing thefts that did not stop after the revolution unfortunately.
Now please keep calling international organizations like UNESCO. Already I found online that there is a German expedition in the area following the Deutsche Archeological institute , I wonder where that expedition is now from all this !!
Spam the Egyptian embassies with phones , emails and faxes reminding the Egyptian government that this is a world heritage.
I do not have much faith in the army or the police to save anything already. The people of Egypt are fighting on different fronts on many levels. We need the world with us in this fight because this is a world heritage not an Egyptian internal matter.
Ahram is covering it http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/9/40/62323/Heritage/Ancient-Egypt/Egypts-Dahshur-ancient-heritage-under-immediate-th.aspx
ReplyDeleteYou should hire an Israeli security firm to guard your museums and antiquities.
ReplyDeleteThese are tombs that are being built in an area with no antiquities and are in fact an extension of the existing graveyard area. I'm extremely familiar with the place and the people. Honestly, people need to settle down. The roughly 50 thousand people in this area have not had enough room for their cemetery and have been trying to get an ok from SCA to expand a bit for about 20 years but have never been able to get any word at all from them. There are serious problems with the Dahshur antiquities area and looting...but this isn't the problem. I'd be happy to take you out there if you like.
ReplyDelete"You should hire an Israeli security firm to guard your museums and antiquities."
ReplyDeleteNo, Israel would likely claim the land as god given and build a settlement on it.
Just because they want to bury their dead in the ground and have concrete and cemetaries to do so, does not preclude that it should be allowed! At least I wouldn't think it was legal to to do.
ReplyDeleteIs it?
After all, it is a historic site. UNESCO for ALL not for the townspeople exclusively or their dead.
ReplyDeleteOne can hardly walk 2 feet on the sands of Egypt and not find antiquities, temple ruins and mummies beneath the sands. Surely the ancients didn't just build the Bent, Black & Red Pyramids without any temples or other places nearby incl. possible tombs. I've heard tell there is only about 5% of all artifacts ever found yet in Egypt. Someone has to care about this very important country's antiquities enough to fight for them from those who would overrun the place if given half a chance to.
ReplyDelete