Egypt is
gearing up to open the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization later this
year and the Grand Egyptian Museum in early 2021.
To promote these important
events, Egyptian Prime Minister Mustafa Madbouly made a historic visit to the
archaeological site of Saqqara, located south of Cairo.
Madbouly inspected
Oct. 19 the excavation works carried out by the Egyptian
archaeological mission working in the Saqqara antiquities area. He visited
the archaeological site and participated in the inspection works along
with the members of the archaeological mission — a first in the history of the
country.
The visit boosted the
morale of workers and led them to expedite the discovery of antiquities,
artifacts and mummies dating back more than 2,500 years.
Madbouly went down one
of the three new burial wells that were found to inspect for himself the
coffins that were discovered inside.
Zahi Hawass, an
Egyptian archaeologist and former minister of antiquities, told Al-Monitor that
Egypt is conveying a message to the world that it is interested in antiquities,
culture and civilization.
President Abdel
Fattah al-Sisi is to receive the royal mummies that will be transferred in
a majestic procession to the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization
in the ancient city of Fustat, now part of Cairo. The museum is set to display
antiquities discovered in the Saqqara necropolis, home to thousands of mummies,
statues and historical artifacts.
Starting next month,
Egypt is set to inaugurate several archaeological museums. Chief among
these is the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization in the capital Cairo,
the Sharm Museum in the southern Sinai Peninsula,
the Royal Chariots Museum in Bulaq, the Kafr El-Sheikh Museum in the Nile Delta
region and the Grand Egyptian Museum in Cairo.
Hawass said that
for the first time in the history of Egyptian antiquities, a prime minister has
visited an archaeological site and went down an 11-meter (36-feet) deep well to
see such a discovery for himself.
This came after international agencies had
reported the discovery in an area containing thousands of coffins with
mummies and statues.
In early October,
Minister of Tourism and Antiquities Khaled al-Anani announced at a widely publicized event
in the presence of local and international reporters that a huge archaeological
discovery was made in the Saqqara area near the pyramids, containing wells with
coffins of mummies, artifacts and statues dating back more than 2,500
years.
Hawass stressed that
Egypt is announcing to the world its interest in antiquities and culture.
The cost of the Grand Egyptian Museum has thus far exceeded $1 billion, he
stated, adding that Egypt has spent millions of pounds to develop the Pyramids
area, the Sohag National Museum, the Baron Palace and the Sharm Museum.
Yaman al-Hamaki, a
professor of economics at the Faculty of Commerce at Ain Shams University, told
Al-Monitor that Egypt is making great efforts to overcome the repercussions of
the coronavirus pandemic on the tourism sector, which was generating
about $1 billion per month. Cairo, she said, has resumed in
July the flights to Sharm el-Sheikh, Hurghada and Marsa Alam on
the northern coast, thus giving a boost to the tourism sector. These
destinations are open areas where the necessary measures to stem the spread of
the coronavirus are implemented.
Hamaki noted that
Egypt is seeking to promote archaeological tourism through the large
inauguration events that are scheduled in the coming period.
Egypt, she
continued, is encouraging tourists to spend more time in Cairo by
opening coffee shops, restaurants and hotels in the Pyramids area.
These projects,
according to Hamaki, will play a major role in increasing the revenues
generated by the tourism sector.
She said that Madbouly’s
historic visit to the Saqqara necropolis was organized to promote to the world
Egyptian archaeological tourism, as the country seeks to generate tourism
revenues to the national economy as soon as the pandemic ends and the global
situation stabilizes.
Amr Sidky, head of the
parliamentary Tourism and Antiquities Commission, said that Egypt is
putting itself on the global map of culture and civilization with the upcoming
openings of the Grand Egyptian Museum and the National Museum of Egyptian
Civilization and the development of the Baron Palace.
Add to this, she
continued, other important archaeological discoveries, all of which are set to
attract tourists to Cairo as soon as the coronavirus pandemic is over.
Sidky told Al-Monitor
that Egypt is currently showing great interest in workers in the tourism and
antiquities sector, which explains Madbouly’s visit to the Saqqara
archaeological site, which encouraged Egyptian archaeologists to speed up
new discoveries and promote them to various international media outlets so
as to convey to the world a positive image of the country.
This will play an
important role in reviving the tourism sector in the future and will be of
great benefit to the Egyptian economy.
He stressed that while
Egypt is currently boosting domestic tourism due to the decline of foreign
tourism, the ongoing pandemic and the lockdowns in a number of countries,
it is also working on improving infrastructure through the inauguration of
these large museums.
Source:al-monitor
