In the chaos surrounding the 2011 Egyptian Revolution, archaeological sites, museums, storerooms, and places of worship were savagely looted. But when thieves broke into the venerated Cairo Museum, unarmed Egyptian citizens linked arms to form a human shield, defending their noble past. This collective heroism by strangers — which has been repeated time and again throughout the country — inspired us to act. From around the world, a wide range of experts joined our call, from archaeologists to authors, business leaders, curators, diplomats, Egyptologists, lawyers, and museum directors. We then partnered with other concerned organizations — including the American Schools of Oriental Research (ASOR), the Archaeological Institute of America (AIA), and the Capitol Archaeological Institute (CAI) — to take action. Invited by Egypt to discuss ways to best support the government we created a public-private partnership with the Ministry of Antiquities, the very first of its kind. This landmark agreement focuses the power and talents of academic, business, and cultural leaders on the fight to save Egypt’s millennia of history. The tragedy of cultural racketeering is being repeated from Iraq to Cambodia to the United States and everywhere in between. We created the Antiquities Coalition to expand this model to other countries in times of need.
