The lawlessness after the January revolution exacerbated the phenomenon

The fake pharaonic cemetery reopens the file of archaeological excavation and smuggling

  • The fake cemetery. From the source

  • The cemetery looked as if it was real. From the source

  • The tomb contained many false pieces. From the source

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The discovery of a fake pharaonic tomb completely underground in Beni Suef opened the file of unofficial excavation, counterfeiting and smuggling of pharaonic antiquities in Egypt, which has increased since the security chaos that followed the January 25, 2011 revolution in Egypt, and opened an extensive debate in Egypt about the difference between "counterfeiting" and "cloning". While experts considered that the incident of imitation of pharaonic antiquities does not represent a crime in itself, others focused on that the incident of imitation represents, if completed by another move, which is the sale to antiquities smugglers, a complete crime, while a third party focused on what was revealed by the incident of the fake tomb of backgrounds related to the extent of smuggling antiquities from Egypt and its internal and external dimensions, calling for intensifying the confrontation. The discovery of the fake grave provoked widespread reactions and varied interpretations.

The emeritus professor at the Faculty of Arts, Department of Islamic Archeology at Beni Suef University, Dr. Mustafa Barakat, said on his page on «Facebook» that he has two notes about the fake archaeological cemetery that was found in the Al-Fashn Center in Beni Suef: the first is that it is clear that the one who dug it and prepared it to look original was prepared by archeology students and not amateurs, and the second conclusion is that the case is «fictitious», in order to hold accountable those who prepared it for fraud, there must be a party «exposed to the monument», and from It is illogical that those who bought will report that they bought antiquities and were exposed to monuments.

Writer Essam Shadi called for "keeping the fake cemetery and turning it into a shrine, as a kind of tourist offer satirical of the tricks of thieves."

peak

The archaeological expert in Upper Egypt, Gamal Amin, said in a statement to «Emirates Today» that «the incident of the fake cemetery comes as a peak in the phenomenon of thefts and counterfeiting antiquities, which spread very intensively after the January 2011 revolution, and the excavation spread in search of antiquities in all regions of Egypt after it was a stop on the traditional monuments areas, such as the vicinity of the cities of Luxor and Aswan, and the excavation reached Cairo itself, and some of those who can not be classified as smugglers dug under their homes». Amin added that «economic conditions helped to exacerbate the phenomenon, and that the legislative history spanning decades unfortunately allowed this escape, and that it was long overdue in confronting the phenomenon, and the effective legal confrontation of falsification of antiquities began only after the issuance of the 1983 laws».

A member of the Supreme Council of Culture, archeology expert, Dr. Abdul Rahim Rihan, said in media statements that «the crazy obsession with digging has increased in recent years, and turned into an illusion and deception to the point of the work of this cemetery, and this indicates the continuation of excavation work surreptitiously, and the trade of antiquities and the smuggling of rare pieces».

Religious confrontation

Rehan pointed to the need for religious confrontation of the erroneous beliefs of some that the trade in antiquities is permissible legally, and said that «digging surreptitiously is illegal in religious terms, and there is a fatwa from the Grand Mufti of Egypt, Dr. Shawky Allam, in which he said that it is not religiously permissible to trade in antiquities, or dispose of them by gift, or sell except within the limits of what is allowed by the guardian, and regulated by law, and what achieves the public interest».

For his part, the archaeological historian Professor Francis Amin, in a media briefing for «Ahram Gate» phenomenon to historical roots associated with the beginnings of the discovery of pharaonic monuments, and said that «cemetery Fashn fake in Beni Suef is not the first of its kind, one of the foreigners bought a fake cemetery from a resident of Qurna in Luxor for a fantastic amount in 1906, according to the book Wicklin (fake antiquities)».

Amin differentiated between «counterfeiting» and «cloning», pointing out that «the modern Egyptian school in the manufacture of reproductions of the greatest schools, and the industry of imitation antiquities promoted in Qurna in Luxor, and the Egyptian Society for Fine Arts, which was founded in 1922 had a major role in the manufacture of archaeological reproductions, and a center for archaeological reproductions was established in the sixties of the last century, where models were placed in the new hotels of the monuments and temples of Nubia, and that the expansion of the establishment of international exhibitions of archaeological reproductions will make It will work to stimulate tourism internally and externally."

The "fake cemetery" case opened the file of smuggled antiquities in parallel, because the cemetery was originally dug to deal with smugglers. The head of the Department of Recovered Antiquities, Dr. Shaaban Abdel-Gawad, revealed in statements to Cairo Today channel recently, that "Egypt recovered 106 stolen and smuggled artifacts abroad in 2022, and recovered 5300,2021 artifacts in 29, and also recovered about 2011,<> smuggled artifacts since <>, and that the recovered smuggled artifacts are known and registered, unlike the pieces that are smuggled through thieves' pits that are not registered."

Abdel-Gawad said that "the recovery of the green coffin, which was smuggled to the United States, is an important turning point in the Egyptian effort to confront smuggling, and that the United States is the most important market for the trade of antiquities stolen from Egypt, and a joint memorandum of understanding is now being signed with it that allows the recovery of these antiquities." Shaaban pointed out that «many of the smuggled artifacts came out before the 1983 law, where before that the trade in antiquities was not prohibited, and there was a law to share antiquities with archaeological missions».

The case of "smuggling of major antiquities", or the case of the "diplomatic container" in 2019, is one of the most famous smuggling cases during the last five years, in which a number of defendants were sentenced to prison for smuggling antiquities inside a diplomatic container, which went out of the port of Alexandria to the port of Salerno in Italy before being discovered there, according to press follow-ups.

• The incident of the fake cemetery comes within the phenomenon of thefts and counterfeiting of antiquities, which spread very intensively after the January 2011 revolution, and excavation in search of antiquities spread in all regions of Egypt after it was a stop on traditional antiquities areas.

• The issue of "smuggling of major antiquities" or the issue of "diplomatic container" in 2019 is one of the most famous smuggling cases during the last five years.