Press Release - Egypt Suspends Archaeological Cooperation with the Louvre
“The decision taken by the Permanent Committee at the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA) to halt archaeological collaboration with the Louvre Museum does not have any relation to the result of the recent UNESCO election for Director-General in which the Egyptian Minister of Culture Farouk Hosni was a candidate,” announced Dr. Zahi Hawass, Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA). He added that such a decision was in response to the actions of the Louvre in January, eight months before the UNESCO election.
The Louvre bought five fragments removed from the wall of Theban Tomb 15, the tomb of the nobleman Tetiky in Dra Abu'l Naga, an area on Luxor’s west bank. The fragments were illegally taken from the country and sold to the Louvre, in spite of the fact that Christian Ziglere, then curator of the ancient Egyptian department at the Louvre, allegedly knew that these fragments were stolen in 1980.
Hawass stated that the SCA did not know that the Louvre owned these fragments until a German mission working at Dra Abu’l Naga notified the SCA in January, 2009. The SCA presented their evidence to the Louvre and attempted all friendly means to secure the return of the stolen fragments. However, the Louvre claimed that no action could be taken until they received approval from scientific authorities and the French Ministry of Culture.
“If these procedures were met the whole issue could be resolved very quickly,” said Hawass, “But the Louvre delayed the accomplishment of such procedures. The Louvre has to implement the regulations and laws enacted in the 1980’s and again in 2002, which stipulate that museums must return any stolen object to its country of origin.”
Hawass asserted that this is not the first time the SCA has suspended archaeological cooperation with a museum or scholars for involvement in illegal antiquities dealings. The Permanent Committee made a similar decision concerning the Saint Louis Art Museum in the United States, which houses the stolen mask of Ka-Nefer-Nefer. Although the SCA provided all required documents proving that the mask was stolen from Saqqara in 1930, the Saint Louis Art Museum refused to hand it over to Egypt.
Hawass said the SCA has also halted the expedition of Ashmolean Museum, Oxford until they return the objects in their collection that were illegally removed from Egypt. Similar actions have been taken against the Royal Museum of Fine Art in Brussels as well as some foreign archaeological expeditions that have been proven to be involved in illegal antiquities dealing.
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