I have read a lot about the illicit trade
in papyri, but I have never explored it further. In this series of posts, I
will gather information as much as I can from what is reported in the Egyptian
(Arabic) newspapers.
I will not try to comment or translate any articles. I
will just state the date of publishing the report(s) as well as the name of the
journals. I will of course read every detail in the report. I hope in this way,
I will, at the end, have a clearer picture of how these artefacts are transferred
from Egypt to its final destination(s) either in Europe or in USA.
The first report,
I post here, appeared in in Alwatan (The home country) newspaper on 15/4/2016.
It is reported that the Egyptian police has been able to arrest an antiquities
dealer, who has stored 9000 pieces (sic !) in his house in the district of Ain Shams.
Papyri and manuscripts are said to be found among these artefacts. The artefacts
is said to come from Upper Egypt.
