The Egyptian Museum houses some of the world's prized antiquities, including the gold mask of King Tut that draws millions of tourists a year. But it also has an outdated video surveillance system that doesn't work around-the-clock and guards who snooze or are seemingly too bored to pay attention. Security for Egypt's treasures is under scrutiny after the Aug. 21 theft of a van Gogh painting from another museum in Cairo revealed some alarming gaps, and the minister of culture told a newspaper he lies awake at night, fearing for the safety of the country's relics. Shortly after van Gogh's 1887 “Poppy Flowers” was stolen from the Mahmoud Khalil Museum, officials discovered that no alarms were working, and only seven of 43 cameras were operating. That made it very easy for whoever took the painting, said Ton Cremers, director of the Netherlands-based Museum Security Network, which keeps tabs on the protection of art around the world. “The value of the van Gogh is $40 million to $50 million,” Cremers told the AP. “A complete security system of that museum would be $50,000, and to keep it running would cost $3,000 a year. ... Need I say more?” With the alarms out and few cameras working, the thieves took advantage of the afternoon period when security guards were busy praying during the holy month of Ramadan. The thieves used a box cutter to slice the 12-inch-by-12-inch canvas from its frame and left the museum undetected. Now, officials in Egypt's Culture Ministry are under fire. On Monday, the head of the ministry's fine arts department, Mohsen Shalaan, was arrested for negligence. Shalaan, who was in charge of the Mahmoud Khalil Museum, and a number of other museum heads had asked Culture Minister Farouk Hosni for nearly $7 million to upgrade their security systems, but only $88,000 was approved. Two days later, Hosni ordered three museums closed because security cameras weren't functioning. The independent newspaper Al-Shorouk reported the Tourism and Antiquities Police had warned Hosni of lax security at the Mahmoud Khalil Museum, and that 16 of the country's nearly 50 museums have no alarms, cameras or appropriate fire safety systems. Each year, nearly 9 million people visit Cairo's museums and the haunting tombs of the Valley of the Kings in Luxor, and these tourists are a vital source of revenue.
