Azza Farouq, dean of Cairo University’s Faculty of Archaeology, has revealed that 3000 unregistered antiquities were found recently in the rest rooms of the faculty’s museum on campus.
“Some pieces were destroyed by the humidity,” she said.
Museum curators use the rest rooms as storage places.
“Not registering antiquities is a crime,” Farouq said, adding that she has formed a special committee to register the items.
Preliminary reports said that the pieces are rarer than others displayed in major Egyptian or foreign museums, and that they have a high value.
Farouq has requested the Giza Prosecution to investigate the matter and establish the reason for the negligence.
“These artifacts date back to the ancient Egyptian and early Islamic eras,” she explained. “They should be properly stored.”
Translated from the Arabic Edition
