• Exhibition.Fascination by Tutankhamun

During the last decade, an archaeological treasure has traveled half the world, fueling the furor over Egyptology that sparked the discovery of Tutankhamun's tomb in November 1922 and crowded the opaque coffers of the Egyptian regime. The peculiarity is that it has done it illegally. Tutankhamun: Treasures of the Golden Pharaoh, a rotating exhibition with 150 jewels out of more than 5,000 that contained the "pharaoh boy" trousseau traveled through Los Angeles, Paris and London (had seven more hired stops) breaking the Egyptian heritage law and left of the country with a placet from the Prime Minister that violated local legislation.

The Prime Minister signed the export of the pieces in September 2017 and the law was amended in 2018 to allow the country's archaeological objects to participate in international exhibitions managed by private companies. As everyone knows, the law cannot have retroactive effect, ”Sayed Said, the lawyer who has litigated in recent years to get the return of the pieces and the end of his tour abroad , explains to EL MUNDO .

An investigation of the BBC's Arabic network has now revealed the dimensions of an illegality capable of blushing the regime. The exhibition and its tour of a dozen cities on the planet - the last stop in London had to be closed in advance by Covid-19 - is the result of the collaboration between the Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities and the entertainment company Exhibitions International, acquired by the American IMG.

Until the abrupt modification of two years ago, the legislation only allowed the departure of pieces of its extensive legacy for appointments organized by public scientific institutions and in concept of "exchange with states, museums and scientific institutions". The norm also established as a requirement that the objects "were not unique". The lawyer argues precisely the extreme singularity of the pieces, belonging to the treasure of Tutankhamun found by Howard Carter in Luxor at the tomb of the monarch, piled up on the 110 square meters in which his afterlife was developed.

His lawsuit, which is a blow to the sentries of the Egyptian heritage, has not yet been resolved but, as a precautionary measure, the courts have ordered the suspension of the exhibition and the return of the jewels. "The experts of the State Council have ordered the cancellation of the decision taken by the prime minister and the return of the pieces that are abroad . It remains to be seen the final decision, "says Said, who dug through government files for evidence of an irregularity that the regime defends.

Zahi Hawass, former head of Antiquities and the shadowy man who still controls the Ministry, was the architect of the agreement that has now been annulled after a previous collaboration that lasted between 2005 and 2011 and that forced another fifty pieces of Tutankhamun's tomb to visit 17 foreign cities.

"All that is being said is a lie. Tutankhamun's pieces left Egypt in a completely legal way. The legislation allows it and the order bears the signature of the Prime Minister himself, "Hawass replied, visibly uncomfortable .

The opacity of the process also casts doubt on the profits that the archaeologist has obtained, with all his books and even his iconic hat, which appeared among the souvenirs available in the store of the traveling exhibition.

"It was a very good tour for Egypt," says Hawass. "Every six months the Egyptian state pockets between nine and 10 million dollars for the exhibition. It is also a tool for advertising and tourism promotion. Egypt is in the newspapers every day. It is the best of news and should continue. The world deserves to meet Tutankhamun ", outlines the former minister, sentenced to one year in prison in 2011 , in the times of the Arab Spring, for granting the exploitation of the Egyptian Museum bookstore to a company with which he had ties .

Dislodged from the Ministry after the riots that precipitated the decline of President Hosni Mubarak, Hawass has been completely rehabilitated by the current regime. Manage an archaeological mission in Luxor; he writes and publishes books without truce ; stars in television shows away from scientific rigor; and -along with senior officials of the Ministry of Antiquities, such as the secretary general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, his disciple Mustafa el Waziri- works as a tourist guide for a company that offers exclusive routes through monuments as emblematic as the Pyramids of Giza or the Great Sphinx, with the possibility of accessing areas off limits to general tourism.

The judicial setback that haunts the Government has a precedent in 2012, when the Egyptian justice considered the international exhibition on Cleopatra organized by Hawass and Exhibitions International illicit and demanded its immediate cancellation. The repeated illegalities of a Ministry of Antiquities whose activities are outside the slightest public scrutiny and which for some years has tried to impose exorbitant fees on the press that tries to visit the excavations has opened an intense debate among archaeologists.

"What is more important than the accusations is the great photograph he raises: Who owns Tutankhamun and the legacy of ancient Egypt? Who should decide how the Egyptian heritage is administered? »Heba Abd El Gawad, a researcher at the Institute of Archeology at University College London, tells this newspaper.

“Scientific, economic and cultural research should be carried out to establish how much Egypt has truly gained or lost with these international exhibitions since 2010. This exercise in transparency would increase confidence and help to establish a plan for, based on data, organizing and deciding these exhibitions in the future ”, he concludes.

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