Museum Theft
Related Encyclopedia Entries
Aubin Tonalamatl
A Nahuatl Codex legally exported from Mexico to France in the 19th century and stolen from the Bibliothèque National in 1982...
Bijbels Museum theft
Egyptian artefacts stolen from the Bijbels Museum in Amsterdam and returned by Christie’s New York...
Corinth Museum Theft 1990
In 1990 thieves stole more than 270 artifacts from the museum of the Corinth excavations in Greece. Several pieces were recovered from Christie’s New York in the late 1990s, while most of the remainder were discovered in Miami in 1999.
Egyptian Museum in Cairo – Thefts and Recoveries in 2011
The Egyptian Museum in Cairo found itself in the centre of the 2011 Egyptian uprisings (the wider impact of which for Egypt is discussed in a separate entry), in part due to its location on Tahrir Square, upon which much of the protesting focussed (Anderson 2011). On 28 January 2011, despite apparent attempts to protect the museum and its contents (Butler 2011; El-Aref 2011a), looters and...
Golden Horns of Gallehus
The original Golden Horns of Gallehus, unique Bronze Age artefacts, were stolen and melted down in 1802, causing national uproar in Denmark and even inspiring a famous poem. In 2007, the replicas of the originals were also stolen.
Ma’adi
In 2008, a US army helicopter pilot pled guilty to possessing and selling antiquities stolen from an Egyptian storeroom that had been excavated from the site of Ma’adi.
Moundville Archaeological Repository Theft
Organized theft of over 250 archaeologically-excavated artefacts from a repository in Alabama.
Museo Nacional de Antropología Theft
Museum theft at Mexico’s national museum which resulted in the loss of several of the country’s most famous artefacts. These artefacts were later recovered.
Pilling Collection of Fremont Culture Figurines
A Fremont Culture figurine stolen from the collection of a Utah museum and anonymously returned nearly four decades later.
State Hermitage Museum Thefts 2006
In July 2006, the audit of one of the many collection inventories of the State Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg, revealed that over 200 objects had been stolen, with an estimated total value of 130 million rubles ($5 million USD or £2.76 million GBP).