Water Leak at the Louvre Museum Damages Hundreds of Egyptology Books

(Photo taken by by Guillaume Meurice (@sliceisop), Musée du Louvre, Paris, France)

The Egyptian antiquities department at the Louvre has a wastewater-pipes problem. One burst last month, above one of the library rooms that houses Egyptology reference books, flooding the department and the many artefacts and documents inside.

La Tribune de l’Art broke the story, reporting that around 400 rare books were affected, blaming poor pipe conditions. It said the department had long sought funds to protect the collection from such risks without success.

On Wednesday, November 27, shortly before 9 p.m., a major leak of dirty water occurred in the library of the Department of Egyptian Antiquities, causing a flood. Approximately 400 books were damaged, particularly their antique bindings, some of which are now beyond repair. The offices were also affected and are temporarily unusable. The force of the gushing water was such that, in addition to saturating the carpet, it seeped down to the floor below, reaching an electrical cabinet, which could have caused a fire. Last Tuesday, another, smaller leak occurred in the same location. [translated from La Tribune de l’Art, Dec 5, 2025]

[…]

All of this might seem like an inevitable incident, as sometimes happens in this type of building. Except that this one wasn’t a surprise: for years, the department had been requesting funding from Francis Steinbock [ 1 ] , the deputy director general, to protect these books from a potential rupture of the pipes running through the suspended ceilings. The department was well aware of the pipes’ dilapidated state, which regularly caused minor leaks. The assistance of an external contractor, needed to move these collections to a space vacated and made more secure by the relocation of the library of the Department of Byzantine and Eastern Christian Antiquities, was also denied. [translated from La Tribune de l’Art, December 5, 2025]

I don’t think it’s unreasonable to expect someone to be ~~fired~~ ~~mummified~~ fired over this, right? Would it have happened in Giza, in a tomb, in an Egyptian pyramid, in the Fourth Dynasty 2575—2465 BCE? A museum that neglects to safely house its antiquities, and maintain upkeep; tsk, tsk, the neighbour’s private car port would fare better at preservation.