Photos: Mallawi Museum is getting ready for re-opening

After it was looted in August 2013, the ministry of antiquities has been working hard on restoring the recovered antiquities and rehabilitation of the museum building itself to even a better state than it was before the looting.

The following photos show the current view of the museum which is getting ready for the re-opening with a mix of the old collection and new objects telling the history of Minia governorate through the ancient Egyptian history.

Previous statement by the minister of antiquities Dr. Khalid El-Anany mentioned that the museum would be open in the second half of August (the current month).

The work is ongoing as the photos show Dr. Elham Salah (head of museums sector) at the museum working on the final displays with the museum team.

So, we are all awaiting for the re-opening soon.

#Egypt #Egyptology #Museum #AncientEgypt #MallawiMuseum 

Ancient Egyptian masterpiece returned to Egypt

The Egyptian embassy in Switzerland has received the 7 sacred oils tablet and it should be sent back to Egypt in the next few days. 

The tablet represents an offerings tablet for the seven sacred oils. It dates from the beginning of the 6th Dynasty. 

The seven sacred oils are those used in the Opening of the Mouth Ritual for the anointing of the mouth and eyes of the statue or mummy of the deceased.

The travertine (Egyptian alabaster) tablet measures 16.5 x 7.7 x 1.5 cm. It includes 7 depressions to contain the oils.

 It was found by the Egyptian-Australian mission worked in the area of the king Teti cemetery, at Saqqara in 1996. 

The tablet was displayed at the Egyptian museum in Cairo for the Centennial Exhibition in 2003 then it went back to the storehouse in Saqqara till it was stolen and exchanged with a fake copy and the original was smuggled out of Egypt after 2011 turmoil. The smuggled tablet appeared in Belgium where it was sold to the swizz antiquities collector “Jean Claude Condoure”

#Egypt #Egyptology #Archaeology #SmuggledAntiquities #LuxorTimes

1040 objects out of 1089 were stolen from the looted museum of Mallawi, Minia

1040 objects were stolen out of 1089 objects on display on Mallawi museum in Minia which was looted yesterday. Most if the rest if the big size statues were damaged as looters couldn't transfer them. Another sad day for the Egyptian heritage.