Water Leak at Louvre damages Hundreds of Egyptian Antiquities Department Books

Around 400 rare books were affected after pipes containing contaminated water had burst, specialist website La Tribune de l'Art said on Sunday.

The leak also affected adjacent offices, rendering them temporarily unusable. The water had reached the basement, where it came into contact with an electrical cabinet, in an incident that could have led to a major fire.

Speaking to French news channel BFMTV, Le Louvre's deputy administrator, Francis Steinbock, said the water pipe leak concerned one of the three rooms of the library of the Egyptian antiquities department.

"We have identified between 300 and 400 works; the count is ongoing," he said, adding the books lost were "those consulted by Egyptologists but no precious books".

He acknowledged the problem had been known for years and said repairs were scheduled for September 2026.

La Tribune de l'Art said, however, that the museum’s administration for years "ignored requests from the Egyptian antiquities department for urgent budget allocations to protect the collections from the risk of pipe bursts, or for outsourcing their relocation to a safer, empty storage facility".

Proposals to purchase specialised furniture for preserving valuable books were also refused, the website said.