Responses to the Destruction of Heritage in Egypt

Lives and livelihoods are in jeopardy in Egypt, which must be safeguarded. Those involved with heritage preservation, meanwhile, must do what they are able in order to protect history and culture.

Archaeological sites, churches, and museums have been damaged extensively, and they remain under threat. Some responses thus far to this crisis have included:

• Publication of objects stolen from the Malawi Museum and display of photos of objects that may have been stolen from the museum;
• Distribution of the ICOM Emergency Red List of Egyptian Cultural Objects at Risk;
• Launch of a public awareness campaign by SAFE focused on Egypt; and
• A statement by the UNESCO Director-General deploring the damage done to cultural heritage sites.

Naturally, dealers and collectors of artifacts should remain vigilant when acquiring Egyptian objects during this period, conducting rigorous due diligence that includes asking tough questions and reviewing export and import paperwork..

And U.S. officials should consider adopting emergency import protections on Egyptian cultural heritage items. A suggestion has been made on this point already in an earlier blog post.

This post is researched, written, and published on the blog Cultural Heritage Lawyer Rick St. Hilaire at culturalheritagelawyer.blogspot.com. Text copyrighted 2010-2013 by Ricardo A. St. Hilaire, Attorney & Counselor at Law, PLLC. Any unauthorized reproduction or retransmission of this post is prohibited. CONTACT INFORMATION: www.culturalheritagelawyer.com