Thieves stole around 1,000 relics from museums and archeological sites across Egypt since protests against the government broke out in January, Egypt's minister for antiquities Zahi Hawass said Sunday in a newspaper interview.
"We are investigating all the incidents to find the items. Up until now we have identified many culprits, criminals who were looking for gold or mummies and who lacked knowledge of the value of the items they stole," he told Spanish daily El Mundo.
"They were not organised, they lived near the archeological sites where the objects were kept. They would take advantage of the night to enter the archeological sites and pillage," he added.
"About 1,000 objects were stolen, none of them major items. There is an inventory of everything and it will be difficult for the items to leave the country."
Monday, April 11, 2011
Around 1000 items stolen during uprising
Google / AFP
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"None of them major items"
Hawass clearly thinks of major in terms of tourist appeal. I still maintain anything from the tombs of Tutankhamun, Yuya or Thuya is major because they were formerly relatively complete funerary assemblages.
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