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New Comment by James P. Allen

Now that communications have been restored in Egypt, there has been emerging more news about Egypt’s antiquities than was available when I last wrote. The official voice of the government in this regard, Zahi Hawass, has issued numerous press releases to assure everyone that “All the museums and monuments of Egypt are safe” (personal communication, Feb., 3rd). These are posted on the SCA website (www.sca-egypt.org).

Reports from others in Egypt are less optimistic. While we cannot post them all here, we would encourage those of you who are concerned to monitor the Facebook page “Egyptologists for Egypt,” which has been serving as an ongoing forum about the crisis, mostly with personal opinions but occasionally with news from contacts in Egypt itself:
www.facebook.com/pages/Egyptologists-for-Egypt-Supporting-the-peoples-demands/104270532983680

The news of the last few days has not been encouraging, for Egypt’s cultural heritage as well as for its people. For those of you with contacts in Egypt, please let them know that we stand with them in spirit and in the hope that Egypt’s people and its cultural heritage will both emerge from this crisis not only safely but with a brighter future.

James P. Allen
President of the IAE