Shortly after the onset of the Egyptian revolution in January 2011, the police and many of the associated security forces abandoned their posts, creating a vacuum that has had a devastating effect on Egypt’s antiquities. With great alacrity, villagers who lived near historic sites started appropriating land, while others with more nefarious intentions, such as tomb robbers and organized mafias, began the process of plundering. This pattern continues, and though it has decreased, particularly since September 2013 when the police and the army became reengaged, it has resulted in a dramatic loss of sites and artifacts.