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Letting a horde of journalists rush to photograph the tomb at once seems like a terrible idea. That goes against the most basic precaution you could take to pro
by Hoasi 8y ago
Letting a horde of journalists rush to photograph the tomb at once seems like a terrible idea. That goes against the most basic precaution you could take to protect archeological artifacts. What kind of professional archeologist would let that happen?
- tomcam 8y agoWe’re not dealing with the British Museum here. Money changed hands through informal channels, though no journalists will publicly acknowledge what happens. The Egyptian government has underfunded antiquities greviously for years, and this has not been a stable system like the West is accustomed to at any time in modern history.
- grigjd3 8y agoYou ever see the way artifacts are treated at the British Museum? Despite all the signs, people can't help but put their hands all over everything.
- eponeponepon 8y agoThese things can be done in an organised and controlled fashion - one has to hope that those in charge did so. There's no particular reason to assume that "a horde" of journalists were allowed to rush in, though. Fundamentally it's a judgement call for the archaeologists as to whether the tomb is in good enough condition and the photographers are trustworthy enough.
- Hoasi 8y ago> There's no particular reason to assume that "a horde" of journalists were allowed to rush in, though. Look at the video, it is ridiculous. People are walking on each other feet there. > Fundamentally it's a judgement call for the archaeologists as to whether the tomb is in good enough condition and the photographers are trustworthy enough. The flashes alone should be a concern. That's also not a good way to get a good photograph. They should know better. You'd expect and perhaps understand this happening at a celebrity gathering. But it is not like the statues are going to bust a move soon here.
- eponeponepon 8y agoCrikey, yes. I hadn't seen the video - that's pretty bad. Fingers crossed this was a one-off, I guess.
- jacquesm 8y agoIt most definitely is a one-off, that's the whole problem.
- hawaiianbrah 8y agoPardon my ignorance, but what can flashes do?
- ahakki 8y agoFlash light has very high uv content which can fade the pigments. The effect is similar to a picture that fades because it’s been exposed to sunlight. I doubt that a day of journalists making pics would have any measurable effect. It’s more a problem if hordes of tourists take pics every day.
- canada_dry 8y agoI don't think I'm being overly dramatic to say that the antiquities governance in Egypt is a bloated, top heavy and mostly useless bureaucracy which - in the end - only has a cursory interest in archeology - aside from keeping the money rolling in. It's all about giving high paying, long term jobs to political allies and family members and less about preserving one of the most fascinating cultures the world has ever seen.
- trhway 8y agoWar on smuggling.
- Jureko 8y agoI'm intrigued but this is ambiguous, could you make a complete sentence?
- LyndsySimon 8y agoSo... ironically very similar to the ancient Egyptian priesthood they nominally protect?
- shard972 8y agoI'm not an ancient Egyptian expert but considering their culture was obsessed about the past to the point they created these ancient tombs, i would imagine they had maybe just a little more respect for their ancestors.
- Mikeb85 8y agoCurrent Egypt, and especially the ruling class, is mostly Muslim. Their historic MO has always been to conquer and eradicate other religions and pretend they never existed. Heck, some fundamentalists even like to pretend that some more moderate forms of Islam never existed (the Wahabbi Saudis have destroyed a lot of older Islamic architecture in Saudi Arabia). Ancient Egyptian ruins are only there to make money, in the eyes of most of the Egyptian government.
- adawoud 8y agoAs an Egyptian, I can assure you nobody in our entire government body knows what they're doing.
- dominotw 8y ago> Letting a horde of journalists rush to photograph the tomb at once seems like a terrible idea. Its a good idea if your tourism industry is feeling the slump from terrorist bombings, revolutions, political instability. Any publicity is to revive tourism is good.