https://www.linkedin.com/grp/post/2938384-6010847201910104067
3 days ago
A Belgian diplomat has used the diplomatic bag to smuggle this registered excavated statue of Niqasat Hathor from Memphis with the help of an MSA inspector.
A Belgian diplomat smuggled the statue of Niqasat Hathor illustrated in the Egypt's Heritage Task Force article - registered, excavated and in supposedly secure storage at Mit Rahina - out of the country via the diplomatic bag, with the help of an MSA inspector. The inspector who removed the statue illegally from the official magazine at Memphis has been arrested. Graphic details in Arabic from Al Bawabh News, here: http://www.albawabhnews.com/1318568
The diplomatic bag is a convention which allows embassies around the world to keep their communications with their home country from the eyes of their host nation. The container, of whatever size, should contain only diplomatic documents or articles intended for official use and be clearly marked as such. There have been incidents of the abuse of the diplomatic bag to smuggle drugs or even people, but since the time of Luigi Palma di Cesnola who smuggled several shiploads of Cypriot antiquities out of what was then Turkey for personal profit, hawking them round Europe but finally selling them to the Metropolitan Museum in New York, smuggling statues has had a low priority. I trust the anonymous Belgian Diplomat has a name somewhere, and no further employment in his country's foreign service?
The diplomatic bag is a convention which allows embassies around the world to keep their communications with their home country from the eyes of their host nation. The container, of whatever size, should contain only diplomatic documents or articles intended for official use and be clearly marked as such. There have been incidents of the abuse of the diplomatic bag to smuggle drugs or even people, but since the time of Luigi Palma di Cesnola who smuggled several shiploads of Cypriot antiquities out of what was then Turkey for personal profit, hawking them round Europe but finally selling them to the Metropolitan Museum in New York, smuggling statues has had a low priority. I trust the anonymous Belgian Diplomat has a name somewhere, and no further employment in his country's foreign service?
A Belgian diplomat has used the... - Egypt's Heritage Task Force: الحملة المجتمعية للرقابة على التراث والأثار | Facebook
facebook.com•A Belgian diplomat has used the diplomatic briefcase to smuggle this registered excavated statue of Niqasat Hathor from Memphis with the help of an MSA...
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QUOTE
The Tourism and Antiquities Police on Tuesday arrested several men, accusing them of last year having stolen an ancient Egyptian statue from the warehouses of the Memphis archaeological site, near the town of Mit Rahina 20 km outside Cairo, Minister of Antiquities Mamdouh Eldamaty has said.
The suspects included an archaeological inspector from the site, who stands accused of having stolen the statue from the warehouse, before replacing it with a replica, and illegally smuggling it to Brussels. The ministry managed to retrieve the statue and bring it back to Egypt a few months ago. The suspects are being held in custody pending investigations.
UNQUOTE
The limestone statue, pictured in the article, depicts a kneeling priest and his wife, and is dated to the Middle Kingdom, between about 2000 and 1700 BC. Posted here as: 'Stolen statue from the Memphis magazine returned from Brussels: a Ministry inspector was among the accused'
https://www.linkedin.com/grp/post/2938384-6009039413609267203?goback=.gna_2938384.
A number of police officers and a member of Egypt's prosecution have been arrested and accused of involvement in the illegal trade of antiquities. The prosecution ordered a ban on the publication of details of this case:
http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/1/64/129379/Egypt/Politics-/Egypts-prosecution-orders-media-gag-on-antiquities.aspx
but there's more information here: http://www.dailynewsegypt.com/2015/05/04/judicial-officials-suspected-of-antiquities-smuggling/ and hopefully more good news to come.