Egypt’s BA to present webinar on protection of steeped world heritage on May 27

CAIRO – 20 May 2021: The Bibliotheca Alexandrina’s Alexandria Center for Hellenistic Studies of the Academic Research Sector is organizing a webinar entitled "Fighting Treasure Hunting from Africa to the Americas: Protecting the History of the Drowning World" On May 27 at 2:30 p.m.

The webinar will be presented by Arturo Rey da Silva, an international expert in underwater cultural heritage at UK’s University of Edinburgh.

The lecture is broadcasted on the Alexandria Center for Hellenistic Studies page: Achs.Bibalex, or by copying the QR code shown on the poster. The lecture is in English.

The cultural heritage steeped in the seas and oceans of the world is being looted and destroyed due to what is known as treasure hunting. There are many international companies specializing in the search for and commercial exploitation of sunken treasures.

These companies are based in a number of countries that lack adequate knowledge and experience in marine archaeological research, and make promises to save the cultural heritage of nations and develop public investment.

However, in the end, they only seek commercial profit, and thus countries lose important potentials to achieve long-term sustainable development.

The lecture deals with the damage caused by treasure hunting in Africa and Latin America and reviews efforts of the international community to preserve the underwater cultural heritage and resist illegal excavations and commercial exploitation of the submerged cultural heritage.