I recently wrote the following letter to Wafaa El-Saddik, the general director of the Egyptian Museum, in Cairo:

"Dear Dr El-Saddik,

"I am writing strictly in my private capacity about a matter that is close to my heart. I am saddened by the fact that most ancient tombs are found already ransacked by tomb-robbers. It is easy to dismiss this by saying 'what is lost is lost'.

"Although many gold and jewelled items must have been melted down and the jewels dispersed, many other stolen artefacts must be somewhere, in someone's possession.

"They are not lost but hidden, a jealously-kept secret. Perhaps there is a way to - at least - come to know what we, the cultural "citizens" of Egypt, have been deprived of through greed. Maybe it is possible to launch a website where the thousands of people all over the world who possess such artefacts could clean their conscience by anonymously posting photographs of what they have, in order that scientists could evaluate them. It is very possible, with today's technology, to produce such a site, which would guarantee that the person who posts information cannot be traced. Perhaps international organisations, such as Unesco, might fund the site and give it international prominence.

"Please excuse me for troubling you, but I feel too strongly about this."

Yet since writing this letter, it occurred to me that such a web-site could have international, not just Egyptian, interest, which would include Malta. I am convinced that many artefacts and objets d'art which should belong to the Maltese Cultural Superintendence lie hidden in private houses, both here and abroad. Indeed, two experiences which I shall not divulge made me use the word "convinced".

The private collector is a queer creature, caught between a jealous guarding of his secret and the joy of revealing it.

Such a site, perhaps permitting visitors to make comments, would serve both of his purposes, but would better still serve to fill many gaps in our knowledge.