News, Cairo: Photo Exhibition on Belgian-Egyptian Relations Inaugurated Tuesday Evening

Under the title “150 years of Belgian Royal Visits to Egypt,” Egyptian Minister of Antiquities Khaled El-Enany and Belgian Ambassador to Egypt Sibille de Cartier inaugurated on Tuesday evening a photo exhibition highlighting the strong friendship between Egypt and Belgium. Written By/ Nevine El-Aref.

Elham Salah, the head of the Museums Department at the antiquities ministry, told Ahram Online that the exhibition has on display a collection of 60 black-and-white as well as colour photos and manuscripts showing the history of Belgian royal visits to Egypt over the past 150 years.

“Spanning a period of more than a century-and-a-half, [the photos] offer a unique glimpse into the history of these royal visits and allow us to revisit the Egypt of yesteryear. 

King Albert I and Queen Elisabeth with King Fouad

They are an illustration of the longstanding and durable relations between the two countries,” De Cartier told Ahram Online.

Sabah Abdel-Razek, director of the Egyptian Museum, said that numerous photographs and rare manuscripts will be on display, most of them coming from the archives of the Belgian Royal Palace and shown for the first time in Egypt.

De Cartier said that Belgian royals have been travelling to Egypt since as early as 1855, whether for official visits or to marvel at the timeless and captivating beauty of the country’s ancient treasures. 

The year 1855 was when King Leopold II, then Duke of Brabant, visited the country for the first time. King Albert I and Queen Elisabeth also visited Egypt on several occasions between 1911 and 1930.

During these visits, the royal family toured Egypt and its treasures extensively. From 1977 to 2012, Prince Albert, the future King Albert II, and Prince Philippe, Belgium’s current sovereign, travelled to the country several times when they headed commercial missions.

Source: Ahram Online

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Recovered Artifacts, Hurghada: Hurghada Airport Officials Foil Attempt to Smuggle 18th-Century Coptic Icon

The antique religious object was seized at Hurghada International airport as a passenger attempted to smuggle it to Germany. Written By/ Nevine El-Aref.

The trio icon

Antiquities officials at Hurghada International Airport foiled an attempt on Monday to smuggle an antique Coptic icon out of Egypt.

According to Naglaa El-Kobrosly, director of the Antiquities Units in Egyptian Airport, a passenger was attempting to smuggle the 18th century religious object to Germany.

Source: Ahram Online

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Recovered Artifacts, Paris: France to Return 8 Stolen Ancient Egyptian Artifacts on Thursday

Archived Images

During Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi’s visit to France, the French Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs announced that France is set to return to Egypt eight ancient Egyptian artifacts that were illegally excavated and smuggled from the country.

The artifacts were seized in 2010 after they were found in the possession of a French citizen at a train station in France, a source from Egypt’s antiquities ministry told Ahram Online.

The artifacts were seized after the citizen failed to produce a deed proving ownership, and were sent to the Louvre museum for authentication. The artifacts are to be handed to the Egyptian ambassador to France at a gala ceremony on Thursday. Further details on the nature of the artifacts are expected to be announced after their arrival to Egypt, the source said.

Source: Ahram Online

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News, Cairo: Historic Bab Al-Azab Site to Get Facelift From ARCE-Funded Restoration Project

The Ministry of Antiquities is to start a restoration and rehabilitation project for Bab Al-Azab area in Mediaeval Cairo, the scene of Mohamed Ali Pasha's infamous massacre of the Mameluks. Written By/Nevine El-Aref.

The Permanent Committee for Islamic and Coptic Antiquities has approved a project for the restoration of Bab Al-Azab, part of a Ministry of Antiquities plan to restore and develop a series of monuments in Historic Cairo.

Mohamed Abdel Aziz, director-general of the Historic Cairo Rehabilitation Project, said that the Bab Al-Azab restoration project is to be executed in three phases over a 10-month period, with a grant from the American Research Centre in Cairo (ARCE). He explained that the first phase aims to consolidate the monumental structures of Bab Al-Azab, as well as removing the debris and garbage that has accumulated in the vicinity.

The project will include minor restoration work on the two doors of the Bab Al-Azab, along with its woodwork and windows. The blocks of the walls will be maintained and consolidated in an attempt to prevent erosion prior to the start of comprehensive restoration work. The second phase, Abdel Aziz said, includes the full scientific documentation of every structure of the Bab Al-Azab, as well as preparing a plan for its restoration. Studies to rehabilitate the site and bring it back into use will also be provided. The third and final phase consists of workshops and seminars to prepare a plan for the preservation of the buildings. This will involve the establishment of a group of young archaeologists and architects, especially from the local community, to ensure the preservation, maintenance and rehabilitation of the area and its historic structures.

Bab Al-Azab is the gate that once protected the original entrance to the Citadel. It was rebuilt in 1754 by Abd el-Rahman Katkhuda, from which the brass-bound wooden doors date. The gate witnessed the massacre of the Mameluks conducted by Mohamed Ali Pasha in 1811.

Source: Ahram Online

News, Giza: Ptolemaic Crown Pillar To Be Transported To The Grand Egyptian Museum

The crown pillar, first discovered in 2009, will undergo restoration before exhibition. Written By/ Nevine El-Aref.

The Tlifting of The Crown

The crown pillar of King Ptolemy I is set to arrive within hours to the Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM) in Al-Remaya Square from the Delta town of Samanoud, Tarek Tawfik, Supervisor General of the museum, told Ahram Online.

According to Tawfik, the crown is headed to the museum's laboratory for restoration and maintenance procedures before being placed on display within the GEM exhibition.

Ayman Ashmawy, head of the Ancient Egyptian Antiquities Sector at the Ministry of Antiquities, explained that the crown pillar was uncovered while ministry representatives monitored the digging for the Samanoud City public hospital in 2009.

The piece was subsequently kept in situ until this week, when the hospital embarked upon the construction of an building extension. The ministry thus decided to relocate the crown to the GEM. Ashmawy told Ahram Online that the crown is probably the top of a pillar from the Ptolemaic gate in Samanoud. The surviving pillar and crown together are 9 meters tall. The crown alone weighs 10 tonnes.

According to Eissa Zida, Director-General of the GEM's first-aid restoration department, a plan was devised in consultation with other experts to remove the crown from the pillar. The decision, intended to ensure the artifact's secure transportation, was made in accordance with the Samanoud antiquities authority, the Ministry of Antiquities' engineering department, and the restoration department at the GEM.

Zida asserted that the team implemented the latest technological and scientific techniques while the lifting, packing, and transporting the crown. King Ptolemy I was a Macedonian general under Alexander the Great who ruled Egypt starting in 323 BC, assuming the local title of pharaoh.

Source: Ahram Online

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News: Alexandria’s Eliyahu Hanavi Synagogue Not on UNESCO List of World Heritage in Danger - Ministry

Egypt’s Ministry of Antiquities has released a statement denying reports on social media that Alexandria’s Eliyahu Hanavi Synagogue has been placed on UNESCO’s List of World Heritage in Danger. Written By/ Nevine El-Aref.

The Jewish Synagogue

Yasmin El-Shazly, the General Supervisor of the Department of International Organisations for Cultural and the International Cooperation, said in the statement that the site was declared endangered by the World Monuments Fund, a non-profit NGO that is not part of UNESCO.

El-Shazly said that according to the rules and regulations of this fund, any person or entity can nominate any archaeological building to be placed on the list of this fund without a scientific study proving that the building is in danger.

“The Egyptian government gives equal importance to all its monuments and heritage sites, whether Ancient Egyptian, Jewish, Coptic or Islamic,” El-Shazly asserted.

El-Shazly said that the Egyptian government has allocated EGP 100 million to finance the restoration of the synagogue, which started in August and will last for eight months. El-Shazly added that this affirms the Egyptian government's keenness to protect and preserve the synagogue as part of Egypt’s heritage and identity.

Waadalah Abul-Ela, the head of the Projects Department at the antiquities ministry, said that the work on the synagogue aims to restore its architecture and fine decorative elements, as well as the lighting and security systems. The Eliyahu Hanavi Synagogue is located in Nabi Daniel Street in downtown Alexandria and is the oldest synagogue in the city.

It was originally built in 1354 but was partially destroyed by the Napoleon expedition in 1798 in order to build a defensive wall from the Kom El-Dikka area to the Mediterranean. In 1850, the synagogue was reconstructed with contributions from the royal family.

Source: Ahram Online

New Discovery, Luxor: Coptic Tombstone Unearthed at Sphinxes Avenue in Luxor

The object is carved of limestone and decorated with a cross and Coptic texts. Written By/ Nevine El-Aref.

Egyptian archaeologists in Luxor have stumbled upon a decorative Coptic tombstone buried on the eastern side of the Sphinxes Avenue, under Al-Mathan Bridge. The tombstone is carved of limestone and decorated with a cross and Coptic texts, Mostafa Waziri, secretary-general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, told Ahram Online.

The exact date of the object has not yet been ascertained, nor the identity of the deceased. However, Mostafa Al-Saghir, director of the Sphinxes Avenue, said experts are now studying the tombstone find out.

The excavations in the Sphinxes Avenue are part of a Ministry of Antiquities programme to restore the area and transform it into an open-air museum. The avenue was the location for the procession of the Festival of Opet, which included priests, royalty and the pious, who walked from Karnak Temple to Luxor Temple. Some 1,350 sphinxes, with human heads and lion bodies, lined the 2,700-metre- long avenue, and many of them have been now been restored.

The avenue was built during the reign of Pharaoh Nectanebo I to replace an earlier one built in the 18th Dynasty, as recorded by Queen Hatshepsut (1502-1482 BC) on the walls of her red chapel in Karnak Temple. Hatshepsut built six chapels dedicated to the god Amun-Re on the route of the avenue during her reign, demonstrating its longevity as a place of religious significance.

Source: Ahram Online 

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