National and International Approaches to Combat Cultural Heritage Trafficking in Post-2011 Egypt.

Cultural heritage trafficking is globally recognized as an international threat and an obstacle against revealing the secrets of humanity’s history. Today, the illicit trafficking of cultural property is reaching its highest levels, particularly in the MENA region, compelling the international community to increase its efforts to protect the region’s cultural heritage from looting, pillaging, demolition, illegal transfer and illicit trafficking. With reference to Egypt, the Egyptian authorities have lately multiplied their efforts, particularly after the 2011 and 2013 revolutions, on the national and international levels aiming to foil the illicit trafficking of cultural property, thus demonstrating its long-term commitment to the protection of the nation’s heritage. This article mainly aims to highlight the exerted governmental efforts to protect and safeguard the Egyptian cultural heritage from illicit trafficking. It also demonstrates the recently adopted governmental approaches to combat all aspects of trafficking in cultural property. Additionally, it sheds the light on the deep need for further national and international cooperation to tackle cultural heritage trafficking, looting and smuggling issues.