The Fire at the L’Institut d’Egypte a “great loss”
On Sunday the Institute D’Egypte caught fire and burned. The Institute was established in 1798 by the French, and held an estimated 200,000 volumes, including rare accounts of Egypt in the 18th Century. I must confess I had no knowledge of the Institute before yesterday, but because I, like many privileged folks in the developed world, have access to Wikipedia, I know it is an important building, and an important repository of information. Yet most Egyptians don’t have that luxury. As Larry Rothfield points out, neither the protesters, nor the military seemed to know this was an important building containing books and manuscripts.
This is actually tragic. When museums are damaged, it doesn’t just effect the people of the region (though it certainly does), but it also hurts all of humanity.
I’m not so religious and quite the existentialist, but damaging museums may be one of the few sins I think we should all be able to agree is despicable.
(via museumuse)
