Egypt under water at the Louvre

As global museums grapple with aging infrastructure, a new question is emerging: how safe is the Arab world’s heritage housed abroad? From ancient manuscripts in Birmingham and Istanbul to Islamic art collections in London and Doha, much of the region’s cultural memory is preserved in foreign institutions.

This week, that vulnerability was on full display in Paris. Just weeks after a dramatic jewel heist, a new blow hit the Louvre: a water leak that damaged hundreds of Egyptology research volumes, raising serious concerns about the institution’s capacity to protect the Arab and Egyptian heritage in its care.

According to the museum’s deputy administrator, Francis Steinbock, the leak affected one of the three rooms in the library of the Egyptian antiquities department. The flood believed to stem from old, poorly maintained piping left between 300 and 400 titles water-damaged, as the museum continues to tally losses.

These works are not the Louvre’s iconic masterpieces but they include Egyptological reference books and research journals dating from the 19th and 20th centuries. Volumes consulted by Egyptologists for academic study, they are far from priceless artworks, but vital for scholarship and historical research.

Infrastructure warnings ignored

Steinbock acknowledged that the faulty pipe conditions were known for years yet concrete repairs were only scheduled for September 2026, nearly two years away. That delay has now drawn harsh criticism.

Just last month, part of another gallery, housing ancient Greek ceramics, was temporarily closed due to structural problems. Together with the water leak, these incidents expose a pattern of neglect affecting multiple parts of the museum.

What happens now?

The Louvre says it will dry and restore the damaged books, but experts warn this can take months or even years. Conservationists argue that without long-term investment in the building’s plumbing, HVAC, and structural systems, the disruption may repeat, threatening not only books, but the priceless artworks and documents stored there.

The question is no longer just how to catch thieves, but how to safeguard a global cultural treasure from slow-burning decay.