The sarcophagus that arrived in Cairo on Monday is almost three meters long and 90 centimeters wide. But this return from the United States is just the latest in a long list of 29,000 stolen antiques Egypt has recovered in a decade. The result of a proactive cultural policy and many diplomatic efforts aimed at promoting the country to attract more and more tourists.
Why did so many Egyptian antiquities end up in nature? Are our museums full of artifacts stolen from the Egyptian people? How are western countries and Egypt working together to continue exhibiting pieces while ensuring the integrity of Egyptian heritage? 20 Minutes takes stock with Chloé Ragazzoli, Egyptologist at the Sorbone and President of the French Society of Egyptology.
How could so many antiquities be smuggled out of Egypt?
The success of exhibitions on ancient Egypt is not new: in the 19th century, after Napoleon’s expedition to Egypt, curiosity about the Orient, which had already been felt in modern times, turned into a rush to the sands. This is one of the most famous episodes in the legend of the future emperor: thanks to a military expedition that turns into a fiasco, the Corsican returns to France laden with unpublished archaeological finds. In the orientophile frenzy of the following decades, “Westerners used this to build collections when antiques had no legal status of their own,” explains Chloé Ragazzoli. At that time, “the right to excavate was granted as a diplomatic favor” by Mehmet Ali, who offered France the obelisks of the Place de la Concorde.
The pace of excavations does not slow down, but from the mid-19th century “and the establishment of the Egyptian Antiquities Service, there is a division of excavations between Westerners and Egyptians,” explains the Sorbonne lecturer. A practice that is framed more in theory but remains imperfect. After all, “since the UNESCO Convention on Cultural Property of April 24, 1972, no object has been able to legally leave Egypt,” she says. But interest from private collectors has never waned, and the country’s chronic instability has long allowed unscrupulous dealers to slip through the cracks.
Are western museums full of stolen antiques?
The “green” sarcophagus returned on Monday was on display in an American museum. Before him, the MET in New York had also returned a stolen sarcophagus, and the Louvre was implicated in the purchase of a Tutankhamun stele from a loot. From there to accusing Western museums of enriching their collections through theft is just one easy step to take. But in reality, “we don’t really know their origins until antiques get into public museums,” notes Chloé Ragazzoli. These stolen goods “first end up in private collections”, which also makes it impossible to estimate their number.
“Dealers invent their provenance to suggest they were in private collections before the Unesco Convention,” particularly by inventing previous owners. When the artifact finally falls into the hands of a museum, its “pedigree” is examined: dated photos of the object, authenticity of the documents… It is necessary to know exactly the date of the arrival of the antiquity on western soil. “This is the key element in knowing whether it is a case of theft,” explains the Egyptologist, who insists on the researchers’ caution. “When in doubt, we refrain from publication,” she decides.
Why have these artifacts become a diplomatic issue?
Therefore, after the museum discovered that the object was stolen, returning it to Egypt has been the usual route for several years. “It’s an ordinary affair,” Chloé Ragazzoli estimates about the sarcophagus, which resonates with the dimensions of the object, but also because Egypt uses it for “advertising”. “It has its finger on the pulse of the times, the colonized countries are building up their history,” explains the Egyptologist. For Egypt, which derives 10% of its GDP from tourism, repatriating its heritage is vital, both in terms of identity and economy. “This allows Egypt to hold its own on the international stage,” adds the researcher. Without forgetting that this “cultural diplomacy” is actually a win-win deal: on the other side of the Mediterranean, “the countries that are returning the stolen coins are showing their good will”.