1800's - Mistreatment of Egyptian Artifacts
During almost the whole era of the 1800's, Egypt was taken for granted; it's riches being abused and taken without consent. Because of this, these years are now known as "The Great Looting". For the most part, the problem was that these items were not viewed as sacred or historical. As chaos ensued, thousands of artifacts were destroyed or damaged due to the dynamite used to open tombs and robbers took anything they viewed as valuable. In fact, the whole village of Corna was devoted to a black market trading of ancient treasure. This treasure became a way of life, it made Egypt a prime location for thieves and treasure seekers. Most of them were either sold for money or taken to England and many of them still remain there.
Not all of the individuals who came to Egypt were treasure seekers. Some came merely out of curiosity, to see the sights and experience the country. The world seemingly fell in love with Egypt. Even well known writers and scientists came (see quote to the right). Nowadays, climbing the pyramids is strictly forbidden because we now know the great importance of these historical buildings and artifacts. But in the 1800's, either this fact wasn't known or it was chosen to be ignored for the sake of those visiting. Now we are left with the results of this mistreatment including damaged artifacts, tombs no longer in-tact, and missing information all together. Fortunately, we know know how important it is to take care of historical artifacts so this problem will not arise in the future. |
"Who shall say it's not lively, exhilarating, lacerating, muscle straining, bone wrenching, perfectly excruciating, exhausting past-time climbing the pyramids?" |