News, Alexandria: 4th Century Imperial Bath Complex Inaugurated in Egypt's Alexandria

Khaled El-Enany on the site of The bating complex in Kom Al-Dikka 

Egyptian Minister of Antiquities Khaled El-Enany and members of parliment inaugurated Alexandria's cistern and imperial bathing complex area in the Kom El-Dikka archaeological site. Written By/ Nevine El-Aref.

The area had been undergoing excavation and restoration since 1960 by an Egyptian-Polish mission from Warsaw University.

Mahmoud Afifi, head of the ministry's Ancient Egyptian Antiquities Department, said that the newly inaugurated area will be included within the Kom Al-Dikka tourist path, which includes the Roman amphitheater, the bird villa and residential houses from the Hellenistic period until the Islamic era.

El-Enany describes the bathing complex as "one of the finest edifices of its time," and that the bathing halls had welcomed hundreds of bathers at a time.

The complex also includes palestrae for physical exercises, colonnade passages and amenities such as public latrines. Water was supplied to the complex using huge cisterns and heated by a complex system of furnaces and pipes.

The minister and the parlimentary delegates also paid a visit to the planned Mosaic museum in downtown Alexandria to inspect the ongoing work and address any obstacles to its completion.

During the tour, Mohamed Abdel Maguid, director-general of the Underwater Archaeological Department, introduced a three-phase plan to develop the Qayet Bey Citadel and its surroundings.

Abdel Maguid also reviewed a plan for the construction of the first underwater museum beneath the city's eastern harbour, which once was the ancient Alexandria royal area. AbdelmMaguid suggests the building of an underwater park to promote diving as well as the establishment of a training centre for underwater archaeology.

Source: Ahram Online

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Re-Opening Museum, Cairo: Egyptian Museum of Islamic Art Now Open in The Evening on Saturdays

Fountain on Display at The MIA

As part of an effort by the Ministry of Antiquities to increase historical awareness among Egyptians, the Museum of Islamic Art (MIA) in Babul Khalq will be open for visitors on Saturdays till 9pm. Written By/ Nevine El-Aref.

Elham Salah, the head of the Museums Department at the ministry, said that in addition to its regular hours of 9am to 4pm, the museum will now also be open from 5pm to 9pm on Saturdays starting this week.

Salah added that this move aims at attracting more visitors as well as promoting museum tours in Egypt.

A cultural programme will be also held in collaboration with the Ministry of Culture at the MIA garden every Saturday evening to entertain museum visitors.

The MIA is the second museum to recently extend its visiting hours into the evening. The Egyptian Museum in Tahrir is now open on Sunday and Thursday from 5pm to 9pm.

Source: Ahram Online

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Recover Artifacts: Egypt Recovers Objects Stolen From Al-Imam Al-Shafie Dome

A door and decorative elements stolen from the Sultan Al-Kamel Al-Ayyubi shrine inside Al-Imam Al-Shafie Dome have been recovered. Written By/ Nevine El-Aref.

The recovered door

Egypt's Tourism and Antiquities Police succeeded in recovering a door and decorative elements stolen early March from the Sultan Al-Kamel Al-Ayyubi shrine inside Cairo's Al-Imam Al-Shafie Dome.

The recovered artefacts includes of a 70-centimetre tall wooden door of the shrine as well as a number of tiny wooden decorative elements.

The Sultan Al-Kamel Al-Ayyubi shrine, located inside Al-Imam Al-Shafie Dome, was subject to looting when thieves got inside the shrine after cutting barbed wire that covered its window.

Head of the Department of Islamic and Coptic Antiquities at the Ministry of Antiquities, Al-Saeed Helmi, said that all the objects were recovered and the criminals caught. The objects are in a good state of conservation.

Minister of Antiquities Khaled El-Enany expressed his appreciation for the efforts of the Tourism and Antiquities Police in recovering the stolen objects. He highlighted strong cooperation between the ministries of antiquities and interior to "preserve and protect Egypt's cultural and archaeological heritage".

The recovered decorative elements

This is the second time in a month that the Tourism and Antiquities Police have managed to recover stolen antiquities. The first was when six lamps stolen from Al-Refai Mosque in the Citadel area were recovered.

Al-Imam Al-Shafie Dome is considered as one of the largest of its time, built in 1211 AD during the Ayyubid era to venerate Al-Imam Al-Shafie.

The dome has four shrines with wooden decorative structures: the first for Al-Imam Al-Shafie, the second for the mother of Al-Sultan Al-Kamel, the third for Sultan Al-Kamel, and the fourth for the family of Abdel Hakam, the family who hosted Al-Imam Al-Shafie.

Al-Imam El-Shafie was one of the four great imams whose legacy on juridical matters and teaching eventually led to the Shafie school of fiqh.

Source: Ahram Online

News: Thomas Cook Says Brit Holidaymakers Are Returning to Egypt.

TRAVEL firm Thomas Cook has said holidaymakers are beginning to return to Egypt after terrorist attacks and political unrest hit demand.

The group said while bookings to the destinations are still lower, it was seeing “early signs” of a recovery.

Tourists are no doubt being drawn back to the country by the rock-bottom prices offered by hotels desperate to attract business.

Thomas Cook added that the wider holiday market was also enjoying a bounce back after a difficult 2016.

Summer bookings were up by 10 percent overall, as sun-seekers have shifted to Greece and other European destinations including Cyprus, Bulgaria, Croatia and Portugal.

Demand for trips to Egypt plunged after the bombing of a plane from the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, which has been followed by a string of terrorist attacks in the country.

But Thomas Cook has switched its focus to other resorts, such as Greece, which is now seeing bookings up by 40 percent year-on-year.

Peter Fankhauser, chief executive of Thomas Cook, said: “Customers’ appetite to go abroad on holiday this summer is good across all our markets despite continued political and economic uncertainty.”

Source: The Sun

Short Story: Aswan Annex Reopens

After seven years of closure the Aswan Museum Annex on Elephantine Island has reopened to the public. Written By/ Nevine El-Aref.

 Khalil explaining the content of a pharaonic marriage contract

On a rocky hill on the south-eastern side of Elephantine Island at Aswan in Upper Egypt stands the white clapboard building of the Aswan Museum, waiting for restoration. The edifice was originally built in 1898 as the villa of the Old Aswan Dam’s British designer, Sir William Willcocks.

In 1912, the house was converted into a museum displaying antiquities that had been discovered in Aswan and Nubia. Nearby, a modern 220 square metre annex was built and inaugurated in 1998 to house artefacts unearthed on Elephantine Island.

Both buildings were closed for restoration in 2010. A month ago the annex was reopened, but the main building is still closed and will be reopened after the completion of its restoration. The restoration work is funded by the German Foreign Ministry and carried out in collaboration with restorers from the German Archaeological Institute in Cairo.

Museum director Mustafa Khalil told Al-Ahram Weekly that the restoration work included the installation of new lighting and state-of-the-art security systems connected to a closed-circuit TV that was self-operating. New showcases have been installed and the walls painted.

Decorative clay elements found in ancient Egyptian houses 

Khalil said that the annex put on display a selection of 1,788 artefacts considered to be the finest and most important discoveries by the German-Swiss archaeological mission in Elephantine from 1969 until the present day.

Among the objects on display are a collection of small baboon statues unearthed from the Satet Temple and children’s toys made of fired clay and faience including dolls and chess pieces. Offerings are also on show, as well as jewellery such as necklaces, rings, amulets and scarabs. Domestic pots, pans, spoons and knives and utensils are also exhibited, shedding light on the island’s inhabitants’ daily lives, as well as the economy and trade with neighbouring countries.

Hunting, fishing and farming tools as well as weapons are also exhibited, along with tools used in the construction of houses such as stone plumb lines, wooden mallets, sanding stones and tools for polishing hard stone, smoothing wall plaster and decorating temple walls. Copper axes from the Second Intermediate Period are exhibited along with moulds used to make oil lamps.

Middle Kingdom statuettes depicting dignitaries of status are exhibited, as well as a colossus of the Pharaoh Thutmose II and coins from the Ptolemaic period. “The marriage contract papyrus from the reign of Nectanebo II is the most distinguished object on display in the annex,” Khalil told the Weekly.

 statuettes showing love scenes 

He said that the contract dated to the eighth year of the king’s reign and the first month of the inundation season. It mentions the names of the married couple, the gifts the bride gave to the groom, and the furniture she came with to his house. The contract also mentions the marital rules they agreed upon during their daily lives and in case of divorce.

“Although it is a small annex museum, it shows the history of Elephantine Island, which is a unique archaeological park in Aswan,” Khalil said, explaining that the island’s southern end was dominated by the remains of an ancient town.

This settlement was inhabited from late prehistory to the Middle Ages, and the modern Nubian village to the north of the ancient site continues this tradition to the present day.

Ancient Elephantine was the capital of the region situated just below the first cataract of the Nile, and it was for long the southern border town of Egypt. “From here, expeditions for war and trade were sent far into Nubia and the adjacent deserts, today parts of the northern Sudan,” Khalil said.... READ MORE.

Source: Al-Ahram Weekly

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New Discovery, Luxor: Archaeologists Unearth Statue of Queen Tiye in Egypt's Luxor

The discovery of the statue was made by the European-Egyptian mission, working under the umbrella of the German Archaeological Institute. Written By/ Nevine El-Aref.

A unique statue, possibly of Queen Tiye, the wife of King Amenhotep III and grandmother of King Tutankhamun, has been unearthed at her husband's funerary temple in Kom El-Hittan on Luxor's west bank. 

The exciting find was made by the European-Egyptian mission, working under the umbrella of the German Archaeological Institute.

Minister of Antiquities Khaled El-Enany who visited the site to inspect the discovery, described the staute as "unique and distinghuised". 

He told Ahram Online that no alabaster statues of Queen Tiye have been found before now. 

"All previous statues of her unearthed in the temple were carved of quartzite," he said.

Hourig Sourouzian, head of the mission said that the statue is very well preserved and has kept is colours well. 

She said the statue was founded accidentally while archaeologists were lifting up the lower part of a statue of king Amenhotep III that was buried in the sand.

"The Queen Tiye statue appeared beside the left leg of the King Amenhotep III statue," Sourouzian said. She added that the statue will be the subject of restoration work.

Source: Ahram Online

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New Discovery, Aswan: Spanish Archaeologists Discover An Intact 4000 Years Old Tomb in Aswan

Dr. Mahmoud Afifi, Head of Ancient Egyptian Department announced the discovery of an intact burial in Aswan.

The Spanish Archaeological Mission in Qubbet el-Hawa, West Aswan, has discovered an intact burial chamber. The discovered burial belongs to the brother of one of the most important governors of the 12th Dynasty (middle Kingdom), Sarenput II.

Dr. Afifi said “The discovery is “important” because not only for the richness of the burial but it sheds light on those individuals who were shadowed by others in power. In fact, there is no much information about them.”

Nasr Salama, Director of Aswan Antiquities said that the present finding is unique because it has been located with all the funerary goods, which consist of pottery, two cedar coffins (outer and inner) and a set of wooden models, which represents funerary boats and scenes of the daily life.

Dr. Alejandro Jiménez-Serrano, Director of the Spanish mission of the University of Jaen, said that a mummy was also discovered but still under study. It is covered with a polychrome cartonnage with a beautiful mask and collars in good condition of preservation.

The inscriptions of the coffins bear the name of the defunct, Shemai followed respectively by his mother and father, Satethotep and Khema. The latter was governor of Elephantine under the reign of Amenemhat II.

Dr. Alejandro Jiménez-Serrano explained that Sarenput II, the eldest brother of Shemai, was one of the most powerful governors of Egypt under the reigns of Senwosret II and Senwosret III. Apart from his duties as governor of Elephantine, he was general of the Egyptian troops and was responsible of the cult of different gods.

The director of the mission added “This discovery, the University of Jaen Mission in Qubbet el-Hawa adds more data to previous discoveries of fourteen members of the ruling family of Elephantine during the 12th Dynasty. Such high number of individuals provides a unique opportunity to study the life conditions of the high class in Egypt more than 3800 years ago.

Source: Luxor Times Magazine

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