Aidan Hartley Aidan Hartley

The only people thriving in post-revolution Egypt — tomb raiders

The Sphinx, the pyramids and churches are being ransacked by looters and Islamists

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issue 09 November 2013

 Cairo

Hook nose, blue chin, Arab headdress: the tomb robber resembled a villain from a Tintin comic. His friend was packing a big pistol and behind them it was sunset over the pyramids at Dahshur, south of Cairo. Looting’s been rife in Egypt since antiquity — but there has been an alarming acceleration since the 2011 revolution, and Hook Nose and Big Pistol are in up to their respective necks.
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