Archaeologists and heritage experts fear vehicle exhaust will damage the four ram-headed sphinxes and an obelisk, currently en route to their new home in Tahrir Square. But Dr. Monica Hanna, a heritage expert, said Egyptian artifacts in cities like London, Paris and New York are themselves endangered by being outdoors. Tahrir Square was the epicenter of Egypt’s so-called Arab Spring uprising in 2011. The decision to move the artifacts as part of a larger renovation of Tahrir Square was taken without debate in parliament. But Hanna, the heritage expert, stressed that the obelisks in Western capitals had been moved during the colonial era.

Source: thestar December 31, 2019 15:33 UTC