Oh, My...Say What You Will About Zahi Hawass

[Minimalist]

but I don't think this would have happened on his watch.

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2015/01/egyp ... sk-repair/

An Egyptian conservation group said Friday it will sue the antiquities minister over a “botched” repair of the mask of King Tutankhamun that left a crust of dried glue on the priceless relic.

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.

Time to re-think sending Egyptian antiquities back there.

[kbs2244]

I have to agree with you on both points.
I just do not think the locals realize what they have.
When things tousands of years old are complained about because driving around them causes traffic jams, it is hard to be reverent.

[Minimalist]

You know, kb, I lived in NY for 55 years and never went to the Statue of Liberty so maybe it is just the old "familiarity breeds contempt" mantra at work. But I'll allow that from camel drivers. It's a little tougher to take when museum curators are guilty of it too.

Zahi would have had someone's head on a pike.

[kbs2244]

Same for me.
I have lived within less than an hours drive of all the museums Chicago offers my whole life.
Other than grade school trips I never went to anything until after I was retired.

Sometimes you need a jerk like him to slap you up alongside your head and remind you where you are and what you can experience.

You are right about the professionals, it is their job to keep the public eye, if not focused, at least in view.

[circumspice]

Museum goers worldwide are fortunate that archaeo-turism is more profitable than to break up the precious metal artifacts to be melted down and/or sell all other artifacts to private collectors... Most locals have absolutely no respect for nor interest in the history of their area.

[Minimalist]

True, Circ. In the mid-east the illegal antiquities market requires locals to be digging things up. In Afghanistan they blew up those two statues of Buddha because they were "idols."

It sucks.

[MichelleH]

But of course......

Tutankhamen images ‘photoshopped': Antiquities Minister

http://www.thecairopost.com/news/134676 ... s-minister

[kbs2244]

Willing to submit it to a truely independent review and exam?

[Minimalist]

So it's not true....except it did fall off and was shoddily repaired... and now they have patched it up again and, of course, it wasn't their fault that it fell off in the first place.


Why does this sound like the republican platform?