After the death of Cleopatra VII, the last Egyptian Pharaoh, in 30 BCE, Egypt’s power on the world stage ended. Egypt went from a sovereign nation to being ruled by Romans, Sassanids, Arabs, and finally Great Britain. Egypt came back into the spotlight in 1922 after the reemergence of an old Pharaoh.
Courtesy of History.com
Looting and Loopholes
The world has been fascinated with Egyptain artifacts since the days of the Roman Empire, but the legislation for preventing looting and the exportation of stolen objects in Egypt only dates back to 1835. Over the decades many laws were enacted with similar rhetoric to stop the looting of ancient ruins, however the numerous loopholes they contained hindered anything from changing. The 1912 Law of Protection of Antiquities No. 14, included a regulation for a fifty-fifty split between the Egyptian Antiquities Services and the foregien excavators, but most of the excavations were run without the supervision of the Antiquities Service.
~ Looted tomb (Left) and Special Agent with looted coffin in a secret warehouse (Right)
Courtesy of Time Travel Turtle and National Geographic
Uncovering a Legend
On November 26, 1922, Howard Carter, with funding from Lord Carnarvon, opened the entrance into Pharaoh Tutankhamun’s tomb. This discovery led to differing opinions on whether or not Egypt should have sole custody of the artifacts inside. Carter and Lord Carnarvon closed down the entrance to Egyptian government's officials and made plans with the British Museum to showcase the artifacts. Afterwards, the Egyptian Antiquities Service took control of the tomb and limited entry to maintain control. Using a loophole in Law of Protection of Antiquities No. 14, the Egyptian government kept the entire contents of the tomb, leaving Carter and the British Museum without any items.
Courtesy of King Tut Treasures of the Golden Pharaoh
