Cairo’s Famed Museum in Shambles

As the dust clears from 18 days of protests in Cairo, archaeologists taking stock of Egypt’s famed national museum are reporting that damage and looting were far worse than originally reported. Several valuable collectables are missing, including statues of historical icons like Tutankhamun and Nefertiti. At least 70 items were broken during the protests, according to Egypt’s minister of antiquities—who was promoted by Mubarak during the protests as part of a government shakeup intended to quell the uprising—and two skulls were taken from a research lab. The missing items, says British archaeologist Paul Barford, are “not just any old rubbish,” but extremely valuable artifacts.