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Egypt's Archaeological Sites Stand Unguarded

Concerned archaeologists called today on Egypt’s Prime Minister Essam Sharaf to return police to archaeological sites. The move is required to put an end to illegal excavations and wild looting of storehouses and tombs.

Following the revolution that toppled President Hosni Mubarak last month, a new unprecedented wave of looting and vandalism took place at various sites in Egypt.

In the past few weeks, looters have removed inscribed blocks from tombs at Saqqara, Giza and Abusir, and even tried to cut into pieces a colossal red granite statue of the 19th Dynasty king Ramesses II at the southern quarry of Aswan.

One of the biggest losses is the tomb of the royal scribe Ken Amun in Tell el-Maskhuta, near Ismailia. Dating to the 19th Dynasty B.C (1315-1201 B.C.), the burial is the first ever Ramesside-period tomb uncovered in Lower Egypt....

Read entire article at Discovery News