Sad story:
Looters ransack Egyptian antiques museum and snatch priceless artefacts
Egypt’s famous Malawi National Museum has been ransacked, looted and smashed up by vandals in another example of the recent unrest in the country. ... According to a statement made by the Ministry of Antiquities, the museum, in the Upper Egyptian city of Minya, was allegedly broken into and some artifacts were damaged and stolen on Thursday evening.
Why is this being permitted by the government?
A sad but common tale in Africa. Compare Sierra Leone, Liberia, Congo/Zaire/Congo and others.
This strengthens the argument of those who take out antiquities: "If we get them out of Africa they will be protected from the Africans and in the hands of those who will appreciate and care for them." Likewise, if Lord Elgin had not got the Parthenon marbles out ot Greece, they would probably have been converted into plaster rather than winding up in a museum.
Consider also that those Egyptian items were from the pre-Islamic "Time of Darkness" and are in conflict with the "no graven images" prohibition.
