News: Russian Delegation And King Farouk’s Grandson Visit Mohamed Ali Palace

The son of Belarus President Nikolay Lukashenko visited the Giza Plateau. Written By/ Nevine El-Aref.

Shamel and Badawi (centre) along with the Russian delegate

Prince Shamel, the grandson of the late King Farouk of Egypt, along with a top Russian diplomatic delegation, paid a visit on Tuesday to the Mohamed Ali Palace in Cairo’s El-Manial, while the son of Belarus President Nikolay Lukashenko visited the Giza Plateau.

Walaa El-Din Badawi, director of the Mohamed Ali Palace, told Ahram Online that Prince Shamel, the son of King Farouk’s daughter Princess Fadia, came to Egypt along with a Russian delegation including top officials and friends of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

On Monday, Latvia’s ambassador to Egypt and the spouse of its former president also visited the palace. Badawi told Ahram Online that the visitors were keen to take photos in different sections of the palace, and promised to pay another visit Egypt soon.

Ashraf Mohi, director of the Giza Plateau, said that Lukashenko visited the Giza Pyramids and took photos in front of the Sphinx. Lukashenko, who Mohi says is fond of ancient Egyptian civilization, paid another visit to the plateau on the second day of his visit to explore the Great Pyramid of Khufu.

Source: Ahram Online

News: Egyptian Tourist Authority Gets Ready For ITB Berlin Exhibition in March - Official

The tourism movement coming to Egypt declined by 40% from 2015 to 2016 due to the suspension of Russian trips to Egypt since early November.

The Egyptian Tourist Authority is getting ready to participate in the ITB Berlin exhibition in the first half of March 2017, in order to increase the incoming tourism movement from the western European countries throughout next summer, according to an official in the authority.

The authority asked the Egyptian Travel Agents Association to get ready to participate in the exhibition and to coordinate with the authority to increase the tourism flow coming to Egypt, especially from the German market.

For the third consecutive year, the Egyptian Tourist Authority kept the price of participation with no increase, according to the official, adding that the price of participation is €1,350, compared to €2,350 two years ago, in spite of the increase of the cost of reserving the section in the exhibition.

The incoming tourism flow to Egypt retreated the last year to 5.3 million tourists compared to 9.3 million in 2015—a decline of 40%—due to the suspension of Russian trips to Egypt since early November 2015.

The official said that the cost of participation serves the interest of Egypt’s tourism sector in the end, in order to enable the companies to be present in the exhibition. The official expects the number of tourists coming from Germany during this year to reach about 800,000, given the resumption of trips from Germany in the last quarter.

He added that the expenditure of German tourists ranges between $70-80 per night, and that they are among the most important tourists coming to Egypt throughout the last 10 years. The most important tourist areas for Germans are both Hurghada and Sharm El-Sheikh, besides trips to archeological areas in Luxor and Aswan.

Source: Daily News Egypt

News, Cairo: Royal Golden Ring Stored In Egyptian Museum Not Stolen As Claimed

The Ministry of Antiquities denies claims on social media about the disappearance of a royal golden ring stored in the Egyptian Museum. Written By/ Nevine El-Aref.

The Golden Ring

Elham Salah, head of the Museums Department at the Ministry of Antiquities, has told Ahram Online that claims published on social media that an ancient royal golden ring has been stolen from the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir Square are "unfounded." The ring remains in the store galleries of the museum.

Salah explained that the ring was among items selected to be on display in a special temporary exhibition in 2002 inside the museum, along with other objects from the museum's collection and artifacts from the store galleries of Saqqara and the Giza Plateau. Regretfully, Elham continued, the ring was not put on show and returned to the store galleries.

A few days ago, a researcher reportedly arrived to the museum and asked to examine the ring. The museum's curator asked the researcher to give them time to remove the ring from its wooden box in the store gallery, while most curators at time were busy filing an inventory of all the museum's treasured collection.

Rumors apparently started on social media saying that the ring had disappeared having been stolen. An archaeological committee was then formed to open the box and photograph the ring in order to prove that the ring is safe in the museum's galleries and is not stolen as claimed.

Source: Ahram Online

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New Discovery, Aswan: New discovery in Aswan Reveals Health of Gebel Al-Silsila Inhabitants in Ancient Times

New tombs discovered at Gebel Al-Silsila area in Aswan continue to change perceptions of the nature and role of this ancient Egyptian quarry. Written By/ Nevine El-Aref.

Skeletons found in the newly discovered tombs (Photo: Nevine El-Aref)

On the northern side of Gebel Al-Silsila in Aswan, the Egyptian-Swedish archaeological mission from Lund University has stumbled upon another group of rock-hewn tombs from the reign of New Kingdom pharoahs Amenhotep II and Thutmose III. Announced by Mahmoud Afifi, head of Ancient Egyptian Antiquities Department at the Ministry of Antiquities, the Swedish mission, led by Maria Nilsson and John Ward, in 2015 discovered a series of rock-hewn tombs located in the north of Gebel Al-Silsila's east bank, in the area immediately to the north of the famous stele of King Amenhotep IV and stretching westwards to the Nile.

"While the tombs had been described by previous visitors to the site, no comprehensive survey, nor any proper archaeological work, had been conducted until 2015," Nilsson said, adding that during the initial survey, 43 tombs were identified, and five tombs were chosen to be cleared of sand and a damaging layer of salt, in order to study their state of conservation. Returning to the site eight months later, Nilsson continued, the work proved successful as both external and interior walls, and to some extent also the ceiling, stabilised by exposing them to the sun, drying out prior dampness.

The tombs entrances

In the initial clearing process the team was successful in identifying various architectural markers, including two rock-cut chambers, external courtyards, and dressed portcullis – slot-cuts into the door jambs by the entry to the tombs, into which a stone slab would have been placed to seal the door after burial. During this season, Nilsson said, the team discovered another 12 rock cut tombs as well as three crypts cut into the rock, two niches possibly used for offerings, one tomb containing multiple animal burials, and three individual infant burials, along with other associated material.

The majority of the tombs excavated so far – with the main exception of two infant burials – had been plundered in antiquity and left neglected without further disturbance, covered by up to three metres of Nile silt, blown in sand, and fallen quarry spoil and debris.

"These readily identifiable stratifications have given a wealth of information with regards not only to the manner in which the spoil and silt have been deposited, but also provided a rudimentary chronological overview for the area," said Ward. He explained that the individual tombs excavated so far this season reveal multiple burials within the same chamber or crypt. A fact that suggests the tombs could belong to a complete family, and individuals of varying ages and sex.

"In addition, the newly discovered infant burials present another aspect to the cemetery, clearly indicating family life at Al-Silsila," Ward pointed out. He added that three different styles of burials have been documented so far, including a rock-hewn crypt, a shallow grave covered with stone, and one infant wrapped in textile placed within a wooden coffin. Two of the three children were placed secreted within the overhangs of the natural sandstone bluffs. They were placed on their side, oriented in either a north-south direction, face towards the east, or alternatively a east-west direction, and facing north.,,, READ MORE.

Source: Ahram Online

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News: Alexandria's Ibn Khaldoun Mosque Not A Protected Site - Antiquities Minister

Ibn Khaldoun Mosque

The collapsed minaret is not registered on Egypt’s antiquities list and is not affiliated with Egyptian law governing the protection of antiquities. Written By/ Nevine El-Aref.

Alexandria's Ibn Khaldoun mosque is not an archaeological monument, asserted Mostafa Amin, Secretary-General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities.

The secretary-general spoke in response to accusations of negligence from the press and social media, lobbed at the antiquities ministry after the mosque's minaret collapsed Sunday due to high wind and rain.

Amin said that the collapsed minaret is not registered on Egypt’s antiquities list and is not affiliated with Egyptian law governing the protection of antiquities.   

Amin told Ahram Online that the mosque, located in Alexandria's Al-Mansheya district, is not a monument as some have claimed and that the Ministry of Antiquities carries no responsibility for it. The mosque falls rather under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Religious Endowments, he said.

Source: Ahram Online

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Our Treasure Abroad, USA: Five Ancient Egyptian Artifacts Smuggled to US Repatriated

Cairo and Washington signed an MoU last month to impose tighter restrictions on the illicit importation of Egyptian antiquities. Written By/ Nevine El-Aref.

Shaaban(left) Inspecting The Newly Arrived Sarcophagus' Lid

Egypt's Ministry of Foreign Affairs repatriated on Monday five late pharaonic-era artifacts  which had been smuggled to, and recently recovered in the US, General Supervisor of the Antiquities Repatriation Department Shabaan Abdel-Gawad told Ahram Online. 

Minister of Antiquties Khaled El-Enany expressed his full appreciation for the efforts of the ministries of foreign affairs and the interior in collaboration with the Ministry of Antiquities and foreign authorities to repatriate the objects and protect Egypt's cultural and archaeological heritage.

Abdel-Gawad said that the objects recovered include a wizened mummified hand, a painted child's sarcophagus, a gilded mummy mask, the lid of a wooden sarcophagus decorated with religious scenes and a painted linen burial shroud.

In early December, Egypt signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the United States to impose tighter restrictions on the illicit importation of antiquities from Egypt.

According to the MoU, the US government must return to Egypt any material on a designated list of antiquities which are recovered and forwarded to Washington.

Abdel-Gawad said the US government will continue to provide technical assistance in cultural resource management and security to Egypt, as appropriate, under existing and new programmes.

Finally, Egypt should promote best practices in cultural resource management. It should encourage coordination among heritage, tourism and religious authorities, along with development agencies to enforce laws that protect heritage sites from encroachment, unlawful appropriation, looting, and damage.

Source: Ahram Online

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News, Cairo: Egyptian Museum in Tahrir Features Coptic Artifacts at Entrance for Coptic Christmas

The Six Artifacts on Display at the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir

The six Coptic artifacts are the Egyptian Museum’s January Pieces of the Month. Written By/ Nevine El-Aref.

The Egyptian Museum in Tahrir has put on display six Coptic-era artifacts at its entrance as the January Pieces of the Month in celebration of the Coptic Christmas on 7 January.

Sabah Abdel-Razak, director-general of the Egyptian Museum, explains that the artifacts were carefully selected from the Coptic Museum in Old Cairo and include two pieces of Coptic textiles and three wood carvings.

The first piece of textile has overlapping decorations colored in beige and brown with a cross in the middle.

The second is part of a Coptic robe with plants and geometric decorations, colored in black, dark beige and red. Its lower part ends with tassels colored with blue and gray.

The first of the three wood carvings is decorated with images of an angel, a saint holding a book, and the Virgin Mary carrying the baby Jesus.

The second carving is gilded and decorated with the image of two saints; Irene, whose name means peace, and Foteine, meaning the bright one. An image of Christ is depicted in the middle, with the names of all three written in Greek above each image. The third carving depicts the Virgin Mary carrying the baby Jesus and has a metal cover with ancient Russian writing.

Source: Ahram Online

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