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The gallery houses treasures that were found intact in 1922 along with the mummy of the 19-year-old boy king in the temple city of Luxor, and is a world famous tourist attraction.

Its renovation is part of a seven-year project to refurbish the entire Egyptian Museum overlooking Tahrir Square, and in turn revive downtown Cairo.

On Monday, Prime Minister Ibrahim Mahlab unveiled the newly renovated halls located at the eastern entrance of the Tutankhamun gallery.

The renovation of the museum has been aided by funds from the European Union and other international donors.

James Moran, who heads the EU delegation in Cairo, said the bloc supported the project in order to help to boost Egypt's tourism sector whose "revival... is fundamental for the economy".

The EU, he added, would offer 92,500 euros ($115,000) next year to help renovate the eastern wing of Tutankhamun gallery.

The Egyptian Museum houses the largest collection of pharaonic artefacts and has witnessed several alterations since it was first opened in 1902.

Four years of political turmoil since the ouster of veteran leader Hosni Mubarak has battered the country's economy amid falling tourist revenues and investments.

Source: AFP [December 15, 2014]

The museum is one of the city's main tourist sites, but in some areas, ancient wooden sarcophagi lay unprotected from the public, while pharaonic burial shrouds, mounted on walls, crumble from behind open panels of glass. Tutankhamun's mask, over 3,300 years old, and other contents of his tomb are its top exhibits.

Three of the museum's conservators reached by telephone gave differing accounts of when the incident occurred last year, and whether the beard was knocked off by accident while the mask's case was being cleaned, or was removed because it was loose.

They agree however that orders came from above to fix it quickly and that an inappropriate adhesive was used. All spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of professional reprisals.

"Unfortunately he used a very irreversible material — epoxy has a very high property for attaching and is used on metal or stone but I think it wasn't suitable for an outstanding object like Tutankhamun's golden mask," one conservator said.

"The mask should have been taken to the conservation lab but they were in a rush to get it displayed quickly again and used this quick drying, irreversible material," the conservator added.

The conservator said that the mask now shows a gap between the face and the beard, whereas before it was directly attached: "Now you can see a layer of transparent yellow."

Another museum conservator, who was present at the time of the repair, said that epoxy had dried on the face of the boy king's mask and that a colleague used a spatula to remove it, leaving scratches. The first conservator, who inspects the artifact regularly, confirmed the scratches and said it was clear that they had been made by a tool used to scrape off the epoxy.

Egypt's tourist industry, once a pillar of the economy, has yet to recover from three years of tumult following a 2011 uprising that toppled longtime autocrat Hosni Mubarak.

Museums and the opening of new tombs are part of plans to revive the industry. But authorities have made no significant improvements to the Egyptian Museum since its construction in 1902, and plans to move the Tutankhamun exhibit to its new home in the Grand Egyptian Museum scheduled to open in 2018 have yet to be divulged.

Neither the Antiquities Ministry nor the museum administration could be reached for comment Wednesday evening. One of the conservators said an investigation was underway and that a meeting had been held on the subject earlier in the day.

The burial mask, discovered by British archeologists Howard Carter and George Herbert in 1922, sparked worldwide interest in archaeology and ancient Egypt when it was unearthed along with Tutankhamun's nearly intact tomb.

"From the photos circulating among restorers I can see that the mask has been repaired, but you can't tell with what," Egyptologist Tom Hardwick said. "Everything of that age needs a bit more attention, so such a repair will be highly scrutinized."

Author: Brian Rohan | Source: Associated Press [Jabuary 22, 2015]

During the two-month renovation period, “special lighting and ventilation systems, which do not damage the drawings and inscriptions, while at the same time providing a clear view for visitors, will be installed,” said Wahid.

The limestone-topped Pyramid of Khafre was closed for restoration in 2011 before former Antiquities Minister Mohammad Ibrahim announced in October 2012 the Pyramid and as many as six other ancient tombs at the Giza site would be reopened.

The renovation will include the removal of graffiti, which visitors have left on the walls of the pyramid’s passageways and burial chamber, removal of the salt deposits from its walls and the replacement of the outer stairs leading to its entrance, Wahid said.

“Built as a tomb for the 4th Dynasty Pharaoh Khafre, it rises to a height of 150 meters. It looks to be the tallest of the Giza pyramids – but only because it is built at a higher elevation than the Great Pyramid (or Pyramid of Khufu), which is only four meters taller, archaeologist Sherif el-Sabban told The Cairo Post Tuesday.

The pyramid was most likely first opened – and robbed – a few years after it was completed. The first recorded opening of the pyramid was in 1372, and it was fully excavated in 1818 by Giovanni Belzoni, whose graffiti is still seen in the burial chamber, according to Sabban.

Author: Rany Mostafa | Source: The Cairo Post [April 07, 2015]

“The museum has been closed for public since July 2013 and thus its showcases are empty. The masterpieces were transported to the antiquities ministry’s central storehouses at the start of the militant attacks in July 2013 while the other artifacts in the museum are safe in the basement of the building,” Sharaf was quoted by Youm7 Sunday.

The attack, which included mortar fire and a car bomb, has caused severe damage to the main entrance gate and the façade; one of the side buildings and several ceilings have collapsed and glass doors and windows have shattered, said Sharaf.

“The Antiquities Ministry has dispatched a technical committee to check the damage caused to the building and submit a recommendation report to save the artifacts,” he added.

The Arish National Museum was inaugurated by Egypt’s former first lady Suzanne Mubarak. It houses over 1,200 artifacts, discovered in the Sinai Peninsula and spanning all the eras of Egypt’s 5,000 year-old civilization.

Hisham Hussein, the head of the Sinai archaeological area, called on the Antiquities Ministry to transport all the artifacts in the museum’s basement to a safer place given that the museum is located next to the Al-Arish security directorate, a central point for militant attacks.

“I have previously called for the transfer of the artifacts at the museum following the October suicide blast, which targeted a security checkpoint in Sheikh Zuwayed and killed 30 military personnel,” said Hussein.

At least 161 artifacts of the Islamic Museum in Cairo were either totally destroyed or seriously damaged following a blast that mainly targeted the adjacent Cairo Security Directorate on Jan. 24, 2014.

Author: Rany Mostafa | Source: The Cairo Post [February 01, 2015]

The reopening of the pyramid comes in accordance with the antiquities ministry’s strategy involving “a rotation schedule whereby every one or two years, one pyramid is to be closed for cleaning and renovation work, while the other two pyramids remain open to public,” said Damaty in a statement Tuesday.

The Pyramid of Khafre will be closed for routine cleaning and restoration starting from April 1, he said.

“More than 20 Egyptian and European conservators along with three professional archaeologists have participated in the two-year renovation and cleaning project with a cost estimated at 3.5 million EGP ($493,000,)” director of the Archaeological Sites Development Department Ahmed Mutawa previously told The Cairo Post.

The pyramid is 61 meters high with a square base of 108.5 meters each side and an angle of 51 degrees. The limestone pyramid was built to serve as the tomb of the fourth dynasty Pharaoh Menkaure (2530 B.C.-2500 B.C.)

Unlike the other two pyramids, the outer bottom level and the burial chamber of Menkaure’s pyramid were sheathed in pink granite that is still visible.

Head of Giza archaeological site Kamal Waheed told The Cairo Post that the restoration work included the removal of graffiti which visitors had left on the walls of the pyramid’s passageways and burial chamber, the removal of the salt deposits from its walls and the replacement of the outer stairs leading to the Pyramid.

“It also included the installation of a special lighting system which does not damage the drawings and inscriptions while at the same time providing a clear view for visitors,” he added.

Author: Rany Mostafa | Source: The Cairo Post [February 04, 2015]

“The Meidum Geese,” which has been compared to Leonardo DaVinci’s  “Giaconda,” commonly known as the Mona Lisa for its importance in Egyptian painting tradition, “seems to be painted over another painting, parts of which can still be seen,” Francesco Tiradritti, Professor of Egyptology at the Kore University of Enna told The Cairo Post Tuesday.

“After months of study, I came to the conclusion that there are few doubts on the falsification of the ‘Meidum Geese,'” Tiradritti said adding that its background was repainted in a blue hue of grey and that “the original had a more cream shade and it is still visible on some areas of the painting, especially on the right-top corner and at the two sides of the goose to the right.”

Tiradritti’s theory suggesting the painting is fake is based on several clues including that the species of two out of six birds portrayed on it were unlikely to have been present in Egypt.

His other clue is related to some of the portrayal’s colors which were not common in ancient Egyptian art.

Beige colors are unusual in Egyptian art, Tiraditti told livescience.com previously, adding “even the shades of more common colors, like orange and red, are not even comparable with the same colors used in other fragments of painting coming from the same tomb,” Tiradritti was quoted as saying by Livescience.

The similarity in size of the six geese is also another clue to support the theory, said Tiradritti adding that the size of animals and people in ancient Egyptian art have often varied according to their importance.

The portrayal was discovered in 1871 in a tomb nearby Meidum Pyramid, which was built by the founder of the 4th Dynasty Pharaoh Snefru (2610B.C.-2590B.C). The tomb, discovered by Italian scholar Luigi Vassalli, belonged to Snefru’s son, Nefermaat, said Tiradritti.

Tiradritti has suggested a more thorough non-invasive scan of the painting.

“It is highly likely that Vassalli has to be considered the real author of ‘the Geese,'” Tiradritti said citing that Vassalli never published a word about his discovery, “which is unusual given that he loved to talk about his discoveries in Egypt.”

The reason why Vassali may have forged the painting remains a mystery, said Tiradritti, adding that while he was examining the remains from the tomb where the painting was discovered, he noticed “a fragment of painting that Vassalli supposedly found.”

Author: Rany Mostafa | Source: The Cairo Post [April 01, 2015]

“The artifacts were discovered hidden in cheap vases during an inspection of a shipping container from Alexandria, Egypt, at the Port of Valencia on Spain’s Mediterranean coast,” said Director-General of Guardia Civil Arsenio Fernandez de Mesa.

The ancient Egyptian artifacts, with a total value of between 200,000 and 300,000 euros (U.S. $225,000-339,000), were recovered as part of a comprehensive crackdown launched by agents from European law enforcement authorities in 14 countries to prevent looting, theft and illicit trafficking of cultural artifacts.

The Spanish police showed the press 36 of the recovered Egyptian artifacts including “a majestic bust of Sekhmet, the ancient Egyptian warrior goddess, worth an estimated 100,000 euros ($125,000),” Spanish Police Captain Javier Morales was quoted as saying by news24.

Also among the most valuable recovered artifacts is a statue of Isis, ancient Egyptian goddess of magic, and a vase covered in hieroglyphics, said Morales.

“During the comprehensive operation, dubbed ‘Aureus,’ the agents carried out checks on 6,244 individuals, 8,222 vehicles, 27 vessels, as well as 2,352 inspections at antique and art dealers, auction houses and secondhand outlets. Checks were also stepped up at airports, land borders and ports in Europe,” according to Europol.

Most of Egypt’s major archaeological sites have been targeted for looting since the 2011 uprising toppled former president Hosni Mubarak. Thousands of ancient Egyptian artifacts, most of which were obtained from illicit digging activities, are now flooding the global markets, auction houses and electronic commerce websites.

In spite of the Egyptian government’s efforts to track smuggled artifacts inside Egypt and in auction houses abroad, the issue is still unsettled.

“During the past four years, Egypt has recovered over 1,600 artifacts and is currently working on other cases in many European countries,” Ministry of Antiquities’ Museums Sector head Ahmed Sharaf previously told The Cairo Post.

It is estimated that around $3 billion in Egyptian antiquities have been looted since the outbreak of the January 25 Revolution in 2011, according to the International Coalition to Protect Egyptian Antiquities, a U.S.-based initiative partnered with Egypt’s Antiquities Ministry.

Author: Rany Mostafa | Source: The Cairo Post [January 29, 2015]

The recent illegal construction of a residential building, which has partially blocked the view of Giza Pyramid “is a blatant encroachment of Egypt’s building laws which restrict urban housing in a five km radius from the Giza plateau,” Coordinator of the Popular Front to Defend Antiquities Osama Karar told Youm7 Saturday.

“If encroachments of building residential units in the area continue at the same rate witnessed since the January 25 Revolution, the Giza Pyramids won’t be seen from more than 30-meters away,” said Karar in response to photos published in Youm7 Friday.

The photos show an under-construction residential building located in Abu el-Houl street, walking distance from the foot of the Sphinx. The photos also show mobile network towers installed on rooftops, within the perimeter of the area where construction is restricted.

“Several residential buildings, with ranging from 5 to 11 stories tall, are being built in streets located less than 200 meters from the Giza Pyramids area. It is a blatant encroachment,” he added.

The Giza Plateau is part of a zone of 50 square kilometers that is protected by UNESCO, which stretches to the funerary complex at Saqqara, further south.

“The ancient ruins of the Memphis area , including the Pyramids of Giza , Saqqara , Dahshur , Abu Ruwaysh , and Abu Sir, were collectively designated a World Heritage site in 1979,” archaeologist Sherif el-Sabban told The Cairo Post Saturday.

Following the 2011 revolution and the lack of proper security, private construction companies demolished some of the area’s old villas and 4-story residential buildings and replaced them with tall, residential buildings that encroach on the neighborhood’s small alleyways.

Karar says that bureaucracy, a lax approach from the government in implementing building code along with corruption issues are common in Egypt’s official bodies issuing building permits, and represent a threat to Egypt’s cultural heritage.

“The Ministry of Antiquities seems unwilling to admit failure, but the Egyptian government should take action to ensure that archaeological sites do not end up in a disaster,” he said.

Author: Rany Mostafa | Source: The Cairo Post [April 12, 2015]

The artifacts, which had been shown in a mass exhibition in Berlin, may stay in Germany for some repairs in cooperation with the Egyptian Museum in Berlin before their return to Egypt, Hegazy said.

The Egyptian Embassy will host a concert April 2 to declare the receipt of the artifacts, and express thanks to German authorities and the Egyptian Museum in Berlin for their effort, he added.

The iconic bust of Queen Nefertiti, currently on display at Berlin’s Neues Museum, remains one of Egypt’s top artifacts the country has said should return. The bust was obtained in 1912 by German archaeologist Ludwig Borchardt, who Egypt claims misled authorities regarding to the value of the bust to be allowed to take it out of the country; Germany claims the ownership of the artifact is not in question.

Political turmoil in Egypt since the January 25 Revolution in 2011 and the subsequent security lapse left the country’s cultural heritage vulnerable to looting. In spite of the efforts of the Egyptian government in tracking artifacts smuggled outside Egypt and in auction houses abroad, the issue is still unsettled.

In July 2014, 24 ancient Egyptian artifacts were returned from the Egyptian Museum of Leipzig University in Germany. Minister of Antiquities Mamdouh el-Damaty traveled to Germany to supervise the administrative procedures accompanying the repatriation of the artifacts, ONA reported.

The artifacts spanned several eras of ancient Egyptian civilization and were likely stolen from the west bank of Luxor, the head of the Antiquities Ministry’s Restored Artifacts Department Ali Ahmed told The Cairo Post.

Source: The Cairo Post [March 25, 2015]

In addition to incidents of damage, the residents of the areas with archaeological sites are regularly digging up the pharaohs’ graves, stealing and smuggling their belongings. This has become more common since the January 25 Revolution, when the security situation in the country deteriorated.

The latest incident, the damage of Tutankhamun’s mask, took place in August 2014 and is still causing controversy, since Tutankhamun was one of the most famous pharaohs. He became king around 1334 B.C. when he was 9 years old. His tomb, which was discovered in 1922, is of great importance to Egyptology, since the treasures inside the tomb were intact and the famous golden mask accompanied Tutankhamun's mummified remains. The discovery of his tomb contributed significantly in finding out how a royal tomb was prepared for a king’s afterlife.

Monica Hanna, an Egyptian archaeologist, told Al-Monitor that this was not the first time the officials responsible for ancient monuments acted with negligence. In 2006, the southern facade of the Saqqara pyramid was damaged and in 2007, damage was done to the city of Rosetta, which is also considered an important archaeological landmark, as well as to Al-Jayyousi Mosque.

Hanna considers these failures in properly dealing with the Egyptian artifacts and monuments during their restoration the result of 30 years of corruption.

“A crisis unit for monuments and artifacts must be formed. It should be supported by the army and police to confront secret prospecting at monuments as well as terrorist acts. This is resulting in the loss of incomparable treasures, similar to what happened in the Museum of Malawi, Museum of Islamic Arts and El-Arish [National Museum],” she said.

These museums witnessed acts of vandalism and looting. The Museum of Malawi was vandalized and 1,040 artifacts were stolen in August 2013. This happened at the same time as the violence that engulfed Egypt after supporters of ousted President Mohammed Morsi were dispersed at the Rabia al-Adawiya sit-in. On Jan. 24, 2014, the Museum of Islamic Arts, which was founded in 1903 and included Islamic art in its different stages throughout history, was destroyed in a terrorist explosion in front of the Cairo Security Directorate.

El-Arish National Museum also suffered damage following terrorist operations targeting the Egyptian army and police forces in North Sinai on Jan. 29.

What is both surprising and ironic is that there are 14,000 security guards to protect the Egyptian artifacts, but they are not actually trained to preserve the monuments that are being stolen on a daily basis, according to Hanna. The discussion of the damage to Tutankhamun’s mask did not end, despite the decision by the minister of antiquities to investigate the concerned officials. The situation escalated and resulted in public outrage expressed after experts at the Ministry of Antiquities announced they doubted the mask was the original piece, claiming it was a fake. Subsequently, the Egyptian government consulted German conservation expert Christiaan Eijkman to examine the mask and confirm it was the original piece.

Although the Federation of Egyptian Archaeologists described the damage to the mask as severe, the head of the federation, Abdul Halim Noureddine, told Al-Monitor that the mask — which is still on display in the Egyptian Museum — was not a fake but it was not handled in a way befitting its value. “Epoxy, the material that was used to fix the mask’s chin, is not recommended for restoration,” he said.

Noureddine attributed the repeated mistakes in restoring pharaonic monuments to two main factors. “Sometimes they are the result of the incompetency of the person involved in the restoration and sometimes they are the result of the ongoing conflicts within the monuments commission,” he said.

To hear the position of officials at the Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities regarding the repeated mistakes during the restoration of valuable Egyptian monuments, Al-Monitor spoke to the chairman of the central administration for maintenance and restoration, Gharib Sunbul. He said that indeed an error occurred during the restoration of Tutankhamun’s mask.

He said that the restoration expert who used epoxy had succeeded in restoring 90% of the piece, while the remaining 10% showed serious flaws due to the excessive use of this material on the mask, which is made of pure gold. For the mask to be put on display again quickly, the restoration had been done in haste, which resulted in the complete distortion of the archaeological piece.

The government official denied accusations regarding the restoration work of the Saqqara pyramid, “The only mistake there was that the person involved in the restoration did not preserve the randomness in which the ancient Egyptians placed the rocks, and we are working on fixing this,” he said.

Sunbul admitted that a significant issue occurred during the restoration of the city of Rosetta, but that was when the Egyptian monuments commission was affiliated with Minister of Culture Farouk Hosny, before the January 25 Revolution.

Perhaps the fact that an Egyptian government official admits the negligence in previous restoration work of Egyptian archaeological sites is proof that there is a real crisis in preserving the pharaonic heritage. However, at the same time it could be a promising start to handle such crises and find suitable solutions.

Author: Walaa Hussein | Source: Al-Monitor [February 05, 2015]

“The committee has agreed to found a joint fund to complete stalled renovation projects to many mosques and other Islamic sites.” said Gamal Mostafa, part of the new committee and director general of the archaeological sites of Al-Sultan Hassan and al-Rifaai mosques. “[The committee] aims to tackle the bureaucracy and obstacles that inhibit the completion of Islamic heritage development projects.”

Over the past decade, several development projects – particularly in Cairo which is one of the world’s oldest Islamic cities – have been launched to protect Egypt’s ancient mosques, but lack of funding coordination and security following the 2011 revolution meant the majority of projects were abandoned.

The Egyptian government has been criticised over the increase in thefts, not only in mosques, but in Egypt’s heritage sites across the country. Following the 2011 revolution and the subsequent collapse of the country’s government, armed gangs, looters and general destruction placed the country’s rich cultural history in peril. As a result, Egyptian Prime Minister Ibrahim Mahlab requested support from UNESCO to try and stem reports of ongoing chaos at Egyptian heritage sites.

Author: Tom Anstey | Source: Leisure Management [January 13, 2015]

Egypt's Antiquities Ministry stated Sunday it was monitored and suspended the sale of 10 ancient Egyptian artifacts that were listed for sale in an Australian auction house.

The artifacts, spanning several periods of ancient Egyptian history, were spotted on the website of the auction house a few weeks ago, Antiquities Minister Mamdouh al-Damaty said.

“As soon as the artifacts were monitored, the ministry’s Restored Artifacts Department (RAD) in cooperation with Egypt’s embassy in Australia initiated the required legal procedures to retrieve the artifacts after their authenticity was confirmed by experts,” head of the RAD Aly Ahmed said.

After the experts were deeply skeptical about some of the artifacts, the department pursued the diplomatic path and contacted officials at the Australian government and at the auction house to verify and present the artifacts’ provenances, said Ahmed.

“The Australian authorities responded and seized the artifacts and will send them back to Egypt during the coming few weeks,” said Ahmed, who confirmed the artifacts are the outcome of illicit digging activities that occurred in several archaeological sites across the country in the aftermath of the January 25 Revolution and its consequent security lapse.

Keeping track of registered artifacts that have been stolen from archaeological sites, museums and storerooms of the antiquities ministry, “is definitely the easiest part of our job, while the process of detecting and repatriating unregistered ones is like searching for a needle in a haystack,” Ahmed previously told The Cairo Post.

We can monitor what is being sold in public but we cannot monitor what is being sold in secret. There is no record of how many artifacts have gone missing so far as many were taken from illicit digging, and there is no way to know that they even exist, ” Ahmed said.

During the past four years, Egypt has recovered over 1,600 artifacts and is currently working on other cases in many European countries, he said.

Author: Rany Mostafa | Source: The Cairo Post [January 04, 2015]

According to Fides, the project to build a road that should unite the city of Fayoum to an oasis area crossing the territories around the Coptic monastery of St. Macarius, threatens an archaeological area that stretches around a church dating to the fourth century.

Ninety-two kilometers from Cairo, the Monastery of St. Macarius is located in Wadi el-Natrun, the ancient Scetes. In Christian literature, the Scetes refers to one of the three early Christian monastic centers located in the desert of the northwestern Nile Delta.

In addition to the monastery itself, the project also threatens its water supply of the monastery and some cultivated areas belonging to it.

The monks, in recent days, launched an initiative of non-violent resistance. They lied in the path of bulldozers working on the project, led by workers who approached the monastery lands shouting "Allah Akbar."                                                                                  

In the past, the monks submitted various alternative projects to the authorities that would allow the site's historical and natural heritage to be preserved.

To encourage the search for alternative solutions, the Coptic Church also established an ad hoc committee for this purpose.

In addition, the Ministry of Antiquities expressed its opposition to the project, recommending the archaeological be fully protected.

The monastery was founded in 360 A.D. by St. Macarius the Egyptian, a spiritual father to more than 4,000 monks of different nationalities, such as Egyptians, Greeks, Ethiopians, Armenians, Nubians, Asians, Palestinians, Italians, Gauls and Span-lards. Among the monks are men of letters and philosophers, and members of the aristocracy of the time, along with simple illiterate peasants.

Since the fourth century, the monastery has been continuously inhabited by monks.

Source: Zenit [February 27, 2015]

The golden funerary mask, seen Friday by AFP at the Egyptian Museum, showed the sticky aftermath of what appears to have been overzealous use of glue to fix the mask's beard in place.

A museum official, who spoke anonymously to avoid repercussions, told AFP the beard had fallen of accidentally when the mask was removed from its case last year to repair the lighting.

Museum head Mahmoud al-Helwagy denied that conservation workers had damaged the mask

"This is illogical and inconceivable," he told AFP. "These are conservation workers, not carpenters."

Antiquities Minister Mahmud al-Damaty also denied that the 3,000-year-old relic was treated carelessly.

"The job was done correctly," he told AFP, without explaining why curators needed to fix the mask.

Monica Hanna, an Egyptologist who inspected the mask, said what she saw had so shocked her that her group was taking the matter to the public prosecutor.

"We are presenting a complaint on mismanagement to the prosecutor tomorrow," said Hanna, from Egypt's Heritage Task Force, which has long battled mismanagement and looting of Egypt's legendary ancient artefacts.

According to the museum official, "there seems to have been a lapse in concentration and the mask hit the case and almost fell" when it was removed from its case.

"So (the curator) grabbed it in his arms to break the fall, and the beard separated," he said.

The long braided beard fit into the mask with a peg, and had been separated before, the official said.

"This mistake can happen. But what caused it to get worse? The curator was scared and he fixed it hastily."

The epoxy glue dried very quickly, said the official.

"You should use material (that dries slowly) and then support it, maybe over several hours or 24 hours, so you can fix mistakes," he said.

"Renovation work needs an adhesive that is easy to remove in case there is any damage, without leaving any traces."

Museum director Helwagy told the official MENA news agency that epoxy glue is used internationally to fix artefacts.

The death mask of the enigmatic boy king is one of the crown jewels of the museum, which also houses the mummy of Pharaoh Ramses II.

The museum used to attract millions of tourists before a 2011 revolt -- centred in nearby Tahrir Square -- brought down president Hosni Mubarak and unleashed four years of tumult.

Author: Mohamed El-Shahed | Source: AFP [January 23, 2015]

The ancient wooden coffins were reportedly spotted on Friday as they drifted down the Nasseriya Irrigation Canal near the village of Auda Basha — which is affiliated with the Deir Mowass township — in the Minya governorate, the ministry said in a press statement posted to its official website on Sunday.

The artifacts appear to date back to Egypt’s Greco-Roman period, from 332 BC to AD 395, according to the statement.

The circumstances that led to these antiquities bobbing in the canal's waters is still shrouded in question marks.

They may have been unearthed in an illegal excavation, and then tossed into the canal by treasure hunters who feared arrest, suggested Youssef Khalifa, the ministry’s chief of Egyptian artifacts.

"The robbers may have resorted to dumping these sarcophagi in the irrigation canal when they felt that authorities were closing in on them, or perhaps when they were approaching a security checkpoint,” Khalifa explained.

Each sarcophagus is adorned with colored motifs dating back more than 1,600 years, but none of them bear any Egyptian writing or hieroglyphs, he added.

After they were retrieved from the water, the sarcophagi were opened to reveal mummified remains modestly wrapped in linen, Khalifa reported.

Only two of the coffins contained mummies, while the third proved to be empty, the state-owned news site Ahram Gate reported on Sunday.

Following investigations, these ancient remains are to be handed over to curators for restoration. They will then be put on display in Minya's museum of artifacts.

The Antiquities Ministry has recently come under scathing criticism for the poor conditions of its museums. The reproval reached a fevered pitch following reports of damage to the world-renowned golden funerary mask of King Tut at the Egyptian Museum in Cairo.

However, ministry officials have downplayed the damage to the priceless artifact, which dates back to more than 3,300 years ago.

Author: Mada Masr | Source: Mada Masr [February 03, 2015]