In Egypt, the hunt for "red mercury" continues. Yes, this is the fabled red mercury said to be used to make nuclear bombs, but specifically the red mercury of ancient Egypt seems to have other characteristics and uses, as well.
The story about red mercury comes as background to the report that at least 17 artifacts from the Egyptian Museum of Cairo are missing following an earlier reported break-in, the country's minister of antiquities Zaki Hawass said Sunday, February 13, 2011.
The missing objects include a gilded wood statue of King Tutankhamun being carried by a goddess; parts of a a gilded wood statue of Tutankhamun harpooning; a limestone statue of Akhenaten; a statue of Nefertiti making offerings; a sandstone head of an Amarna princess; a stone statuette of a scribe from Amarna; 11 wooden shabti statuettes of Yuya; and a heart scarab of Yuya.
The discovery that the ancient treasures are missing came after museum staff took an inventory, Hawass said in a statement.
The police and army plan to question people who are already in custody, Hawass said
Hawass earlier told CNN that "criminals" had broken into the museum on the night of January 28, not long after protests against President Hosni Mubarak began in Cairo and other major Egyptian cities. (Mubarak resigned on February 11, 2011.)
Hawass said January 31 the intruders had vandalized statues and display cases and stolen jewelry from the museum gift shop.
Among the 70 artifacts vandalized during anti-government protests, the most significant are a statue of King Ahkenaten wearing the blue crown and holding an offering table, King Tutankhamun’s gilded walking stick and a wooden statue of King Tut standing on the back of a panther.
The damage was caused by about six people who broke into the museum through its windowed ceiling using ropes.
“One of those people fell down on a showcase while going down using the rope. He got injured and could not escape, and was arrested inside the museum. The army also arrested about 10 more people who tried relentlessly to scale the western museum surrounding wall,” Zahi Hawass, Minister of Antiquities, said.
He added that the looters were desperately looking for a mummy in order to find “red mercury,” which it is fabled to be a magical substance used by the ancient Egyptians in mummification.
Hawass said the looters were looking for gold and what he called this fictitious substance named "red mercury" that, according to local lore, can be found in the throats of ancient mummies. Some people think it has magical powers and can be used to summon spirits.
For this reason they smashed a New Kingdom empty coffin. A number of suspects were apprehended shortly after the break-in, some of them with antiquities in their possession, Hawass said.
After the January 28, 2011 Egyptian museum break-in, the army and private citizens fanned out to protect Egypt's treasures as the unrest spread.
"The Egyptian people are absolutely wonderful," said Jan Summers Duffy, an Egyptologist at the College of Idaho and curator at the Orma J. Smith Museum of Natural History. She said when the break-in was announced that she believed they can be counted on to defend museums and archaeological sites. For every looter, there are a thousand Egyptians who will defend its ancient treasures, observers commented.