One
suspect has been arrested, while two others are still being sought by police.
Written By/ Nevine El-Aref
 |
| Goddess Isis |
Mahrous
Saeed, Director General of Nubian Antiquities, said that the attempted theft
occurred on Sunday afternoon, when the museum was closed for lunch.
Security
cameras detected three people moving around inside the museum and attempting to
remove a statue depicting goddess Isis breast-feeding her son Horus.
The
incident was reported to the Tourism and Antiquities Police, who succeeded in
securing the statue and identifying those responsible.
One
of the suspects was arrested, but the other two escaped and are being sought by
police.
Saeed
said that two of the suspects were employees in the museum's administration
department, while the identity of the third person is not known.
The
Nubian Museum was inaugurated in 1997 to relate the history of Nubia, the area
that stretches from Aswan in the north through to Sudan in the south.
The
museum was designed as an innovative interpretation of traditional Nubian
architecture, winning an Aga Khan Award for Architecture in 2001.
The
museum's content is organized along chronological lines, illustrating the
development of the region from pre-history up to the present through art and
artifacts.
In addition, the museum boasts life-size models
showing traditional Nubian customs, as well as a permanent exhibit documenting
international efforts, carried out during the construction of the Aswan Dam, to
rescue the ancient monuments of Nubia from the waters of Lake Nasser.
