The 2011 Egyptian Protests

Amid reports of looting of government buildings, concerns were raised about the safety of the antiquities of the famous Egyptian Museum, which is near to the epicentre of the protests in Cairo, and Egyptian state TV in the evening announced that army commandoes had secured the museum. Prior to their arrival, young civilians had attempted to protect the museum by forming a human chain at its front gate. Despite this, at least two looters managed to gain entry during the night, apparently from the roof, and ripped the heads of two mummies and damaged a number of other smaller artifacts before being apprehended.
29 January
Multiple and widespread protests continued, with many protesters chanting, "Down with Mubarak". Chants of "the people and the army are one" were also heard, as the position of the army in the course of events continued to be critical but ambiguous. By 2:00 pm local time, approximately 50,000 people had gathered in Midan Tahrir—Tahrir Square, 10,000 gathered in Kafr-al-Sheikh, and additional protests were held throughout Egypt. A curfew was announced by the army for Cairo, Alexandria and Suez from 4:00pm to 8:00am. The 6:00pm police curfew the previous day had had "almost no effect whatsoever", according to Al Jazeera English, and protesters continued to descend on Tahrir Square. Protesters also gathered at the Ministry of Interior, and three of them were killed by police when they tried to storm the building.