Al-Arish Museum badly damaged by Sinai violence

In the North Sinai town of Al-Arish in Egypt  the museum was badly damaged on Thursday when a series of coordinated attacks by militants hit sites in and around the city, killing at least 30 people.  The museum is located next to the Al-Arish security directorate, a focal point for militant attacks. Fortunately this affects the building and offices, the collection had already been evacuated to a secured location at the start of the militant attacks in July 2013. The entrance gate and the façade of the museum were totally destroyed, a number of ceilings collapsed, and glass windows and doors have been shattered.

The museum occupies 2,500 square metres and included 1,500 artefacts that tell the history of Sinai from the pre-dynastic period to the medieval period, including Pharaonic, Graeco-Roman, Coptic, Islamic and other items. Artefacts unearthed at excavation sites in Sinai such as the Horus military road in Qantara East and Tel Basta in the Nile Delta were also on display.