Dr. Zahi Hawass, Minister of State for Antiquities, made the announcement following a meeting attended by Major General Khalid Fouda, Governor of Luxor, Dr. Mohamed Abdel Maksoud, Undersecretary of State for the Minister’s Office, Dr. Mohamed Shikha, Head of Projects, at Luxor and Mansour Boraik, Director of Antiquities in Luxor
The attendees have agreed to organize a festival during the month of October to open the project and attract international tourism to Luxor. The important event will be opened by the Prime Minister of Egypt, Essam Sharaf, and is to bring together various government ministries such as the Ministry of Tourism and Ministry of Culture.
Lined with sphinxes, the 2.7km route that connects the grand temples of Luxor and Karnak will be lit by the Sound and Light Company of Egypt. Company president, Essam Abd El Hady, made it clear that the sophisticated lighting design would be appropriate to the archaeological importance and beauty of the site.
Ahram Online (Nevine El-Aref)
After five years of hard work, the avenue of Sphinxes has been reincarnated into its original form, inviting Luxor’s visitors to walk along the historical avenue as the ancient Egyptians did in the days of the Pharaohs.
To celebrate the restoration, said Mansour Boreik, director of Luxor monuments, the ministry of state for antiquities (MSA) is organizing a special inauguration ceremony on October at the avenue. Sound and Light Company is installing a special lamp to light the avenue and showcase the distinguished artistic beauty of its sphinxes, as well as the monuments that were unearthed during the route’s development project, including Greco-Roman workshops and wine factories.
4 comments:
Does anyone know if the slabs forming this avenue were lifted to see whether they came from earlier monuments? With all this expenditure, one would hope the opportunity was taken to check this.
Sounds good, the only problem is that the other night when I walked near to it, there is no way it can be opened for tourists in October! It is still one huge building site and no where near completed! They have not even finished taking buildings down.
Does this mean the bulldozers will move in again, destroying everything in their path, including antiquities?
The archaeologists will be appalled...... yet again
I have walked part of this route the bits that were cleared
When i go in the first 2 weeks of oct 2011 I will be doing it again
Given the vast areas within the temenos at Karnak that await clearing, not to mention the continuing problems with dampness that is destroying some of the stones, surely there are better things to spend money on? None of that would involve destroying people's homes or businesses. The avenue could wait.
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