Egypt Is Looted, and Curators Balk

The day before Egypt's revolution began, the nation's then-antiquities chief, Zahi Hawass, demanded that Berlin's Neues Museum hand over its bust of Queen Nefertiti. Three weeks earlier, Hawass warned New York that he'd try to take back an obelisk in Central Park unless the city took better care of it.

Then came the revolution, when riots raged in front of Cairo's Egyptian Museum. On the night of Jan. 28 thieves broke in, with at least one descending into the Victorian-era building through a skylight. The looters made off with 18 objects, including statues of ancient-world celebrities King Tutankhamun and Nefertiti.