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Saturday, September 8, 2018

700-piece Egyptian collection at Brazil's National Museum destroyed: Initial report - Ancient Egypt - Heritage - Ahram Online

http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/9/40/311017/Heritage/Ancient-Egypt/piece-Egyptian-collection-at-Brazils-National-Muse.aspx


700-piece Egyptian collection at Brazil's National Museum destroyed: Initial report

Ahram Online <http://english.ahram.org.eg/WriterArticles/Ahram-Online/344/0.aspx> , Thursday 6 Sep 2018
National Museum of Brazil
People watch as a fire burns at the National Museum of Brazil in Rio de Janeiro. A massive fire
raced through the 200-year-old museum on Sunday, probably destroying its collection of more than 20
million items, ranging from archeological finds to historical memorabilia (Reuters)

A preliminary report has revealed that the 700-piece ancient Egyptian collection at the National
Museum of Brazil was destroyed in the fire that engulfed the 200-year-old building earlier this
week, a senior Egyptian antiquities ministry official has said.

A massive fire swept through the museum, a former imperial palace, in Rio de Janeiro Sunday,
destroying its collection of more than 20 million artifacts.

"The fire spread to all the sections of the museum and destroyed all its content and destroyed the
hall of Pharaonic artefacts, which contained 700 pieces," said Mostafa Waziri, secretary-general of
Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities on Thursday. He cited Egypt's foreign ministry, which is
following up on the matter with Egyptian consular and embassy officials in Brazil.

The Egyptian artifacts included collectibles of Brazilian Emperor Pedro I, founder and first ruler
of the Empire of Brazil, which he purchased in the 19th century from antiquities merchants. It also
featured five mummies, one of which was kept in a sarcophagus and gifted by Egyptian Khedive Ismail
to Brazilian Emperor Dom Pedro II during his visit to Egypt in the 19th century.

The Egyptian Consulate in Brazil is in communication with the head of the museum's Egyptology
department to identify the exact extent of the damage caused to the Egyptian pieces, Waziri said.

Waziri earlier described the fire as "a great loss for humanity and world heritage."

The oldest scientific institution in the country, the museum housed one of the largest anthropology
and natural history and paleontology collections in the Americas. It was also home to the oldest
human fossil found in Brazil, the 12,000-year-old fossil Luzia, and dinosaur bones.

The cause of the fire is unknown, but Brazilian Minister of Culture Sergio Sa Leitao was quoted in
Brazilian media as saying the blaze was likely caused by an electrical short-circuit or small
paper-based hot air balloon landing on the roof.


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