More grief at the SCA

The head of the SCA is still in conflict with the government, and SCA employees are now closing sites as part of their protests. I cannot imagine how SCA employees believe that closing sites to tourism is going to improve the finances available to improve their conditions.


Ahram Online

Head of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, Abdel Fatah, insists that his resignation is final and he cannot manage the demands of protesters, as Prime Minister Sharaf tries to convince him to stay on

Since the revolution started last January, Egypt’s antiquities community has been rocked by protests, criticism and reshuffles of top personnel at the Supreme Council of Antiquities, the powerful governmental body which oversees all of Egypt’s archaeological sites.

Today, Prime Minister Essam Sharaf announced that current secretary general of the Council, Mohamed Abdel Fatah, would be granted the authority of a minister; nonetheless, the chaos continues as Abdel Fatah insists that his recently announced resignation will not be withdrawn, and protesters complaining of years of corruption and mismanagement at the Council continue their sit-in.

Following the announcement today that Abdel Fatah would be offered the full authority of a minister, in order to better proceed with the Council’s archaeological and administrative work, protesters blocked the entrance to the Council’s offices in Abbassiya, switching off the electricity and preventing the employees from entering. They also expelled the building’s security guards and shut the iron gates.

In Aswan, the situation is much worse. Protesters closed the doors of the Nubian museum and the Abu Simbel temples to prevent an official visit celebrating World Tourism Day from entering.

Youm7

The Supreme Council of Antiquities employees closed the temple of Abydos in the Upper Egyptian governorate of Sohag and closed all storage units that maintain the museum Tuesday, in solidarity with archeologists striking across Egypt.

The Temple of Abydos is the seventh archeological site to be closed down by council employees protesting against the Council’s lack of response to their demands. Other monuments that were closed include the Nubian Museum in Aswan, Abu Simbel, Wadi el-Sebou, and museums near Lake Nasser.

Youm7

Archaeologists working in the Nubian fund closed down six archaeological sites in Aswan, including the Temple of Abu Simbel, the Temple of Wadi el-Seboo, the Temple of the Mayor and a number of museums located on Lake Nasser, in protest against the lack of response to their demands.

The staff at the Museum of Nubia shut down the museum yesterday and went on a strike until their demands were met. They were joined today by a group of colleagues.

They called upon their colleagues in all districts to close down archeological sites and museums until their demands are met.

Book of the Dead of Sobekmose to go on display at the Brooklyn

Art Daily

Following a three-year-long conservation project, the final section of the rare, thirty-five-centuries-old Egyptian Book of the Dead of the Goldworker of Amun, Sobekmose will go on long-term view on September 28. One of the most important funerary texts of the New Kingdom, in part because it is an early version of the Book of the Dead and casts light on the development of all later manuscripts, the papyrus is about twentyfive feet long. In an unusual feature, it is inscribed on both sides.

The Book of the Dead is a present-day name for ancient Egyptian texts containing a number of magic spells intended to assist the deceased in the afterlife, and which were placed in the coffin or burial chamber. The Book of the Dead of Sobekmose, created during the Eighteenth Dynasty, probably during the reign of Thutmose III or Amunhotep II (circa 1479–1400 b. c.e.), contains nearly one hundred “chapters,” almost half of the total known group of Book of the Dead texts.

Thousands of unregistered antiquities found in museum

Al Masry Al Youm (Marwa Yassine)

Azza Farouq, dean of Cairo University’s Faculty of Archaeology, has revealed that 3000 unregistered antiquities were found recently in the rest rooms of the faculty’s museum on campus.

“Some pieces were destroyed by the humidity,” she said.

Museum curators use the rest rooms as storage places.

“Not registering antiquities is a crime,” Farouq said, adding that she has formed a special committee to register the items.

Preliminary reports said that the pieces are rarer than others displayed in major Egyptian or foreign museums, and that they have a high value.

Tasmanian Museum mummy under the scanner

The Mercury (Kane Young)

Modern technology has helped finally wrap up an age-old debate the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery's ancient Egyptian mummy is, in fact, male.

The mummy, plus three stuffed thylacines and five preserved baby thylacines, had CT scans at Hobart's Calvary Hospital yesterday, designed to give museum researchers more detailed information about the popular pieces.

Scans of the mummy confirmed it is an adolescent male and his major organs may still be intact. The scans will now be sent to experts overseas for further study.

In the TMAG's collection since 1897, the mummy which spent years on display under the museum's stairs was originally thought to be a female who died in about 1500BC.

Mamluk era arms market falls into disrepair

Ahram Online (Farah El Akkad)

The once bustling Souq Al-Selah Street lies in the heart of Islamic Cairo surrounded now by piles of refuse, as it slowly decays and slips out of the collective memory.

Those who forged, those who sold and those who bought the weapons have long since died, but will the old buildings of Souq Al-Selah Street (Arms Market Street) meet the same fate?

It is an interesting street: a narrow lane only 220 metres long, located to the right of Al-Rifaai Mosque in the heart of Islamic Cairo. Description de l’Egypt (1798) describes its location in a semi-isolated area on the eastern side of Old Cairo, ending at Al-Darb Al-Ahmar and Al-Ghuriya district. The street, which dates back to the 8th century, was first known as Souq Al-Ezzy.

However, over the years, the popular name became Souq Al-Selah due to the numerous workshops that sold all kinds of weaponry. The street saw its golden years during the Mamluk era when it was considered the Citadel’s main source of arms. A famous Mamluk prince, Ezz El-Din Bahdar, dwelt on the street itself and was in charge of supervising the arms industry.

Tourism linking cultures in Aswan

Egyptian Gazette (Mohamed Salah Attia)

The Minister of Tourism Mounir Fakhri Abdel-Nour opened, on Tuesday, global festivities organised in Aswan to mark World Tourism Day, launched in collaboration with the UN World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO).

In his speech, the Egyptian minister emphasised that the tourism industry, whether in its cultural, social or economic aspect, is the backbone of the national economy.

Addressing international celebrities, who took part in the opening ceremony, Abdel-Nour highlighted the role of the tourism industry in providing jobs, helping to preserve traditions and heritage and saving the environment.

In an acknowledgement of Aswan's history as a hub of the world's ancient civilisations and many cultures, UNWTO decided to launch this year's great tourist event in the renowned and beautiful Upper Egyptian town. This year's global festivities unfurled the banner 'Tourism linking Cultures', to heighten the values of mutual understanding and respect and global peace.

Exhibition: Lost Egypt - Ancient Secrets, Modern Science

Des Moines Register (Michael Morain)

With photos and video.

With a little decoding, the hieroglyphic banner at the Science Center of Iowa gave a pretty big clue about the museum’s next exhibit. It read: “Show … me … the mummy.”

Turns out, the mummy in question is “Annie,” the 2,300-year-old star of “Lost Egypt: Ancient Secrets, Modern Science.” The traveling show will open the day after Thanksgiving and remain through the spring, with artifacts and interactive displays that reveal how archaeologists use modern technology to understand ancient civilization, SCI staffers announced Wednesday.

From what scientists can tell, Annie (a nickname for anonymous) was about 17 years old when she died during a period of Egyptian turmoil. (Sound familiar?) Ancient embalmers probably didn’t know her name — they would have marked it on her coffin — but she was buried with considerable ceremony, with a gilded mask and an elaborately painted sarcophagus.

Archaeologists suspect her body may have been found in the Nile and buried according to customs described by the early Greek historian Herodotus.

Restored Moez Street needs rescuing again

Al Masry Al Youm (Fatma Keshk)

Bearing the name of the first Fatimid Caliph ruling Egypt, Al-Moez Leddine Allah al-Fatimy, and founded in 969 AD, Moez Street is the oldest main street of the Fatimid capital Cairo. Three years ago a massive restoration project of the street was completed, but it has recently begun to fall into disrepair.

The Hakim mosque, the complex of Al-Nasser Mohamed Ibn Qalawon, the Barqouq complex and Wekalet Al-Rab'a are some of the most famous monuments on Moez Street, from the Fatimid period (969-1171 AD) all the way through the Ottoman period (1517-1805 AD). These monuments also present the diverse Cairene architectural styles at the time, from mosques, houses, and schools to sabils (public water fountains for drinking, installed as memorials for people).

Aside from its archaeological and historical uniqueness, Moez offers a lively narrative of the social history of the inhabitants of Hussein, one of the most densely populated districts of Cairo.

Village family in Luxor cut off road against tour bus

Youm7 (Mostafa Gabr)

Families from the village of Marye in western Luxor cut off road leading to the temples of the King's Valley, holding up a tour bus behind the crowded cars across the road.

It was a response since the governorate didn’t give them alternative apartments contracts in place of the apartments they were displaced from.

A member of the people’s committee to solve the problem of Marey village, Hamdy el-Hanafy, said they met the governor of Luxor, Ezzat Saad, yesterday to finish off their problems and to sign in the compensation lists.

Photo for Today - Temple of Luxor

Roman shrine to Isis

Resignation of SCA head refused

A few days ago a number of news sites reported that the new head of the SCA, Mohamed Abdel Fatah, had resigned from his position. The reason given was that he felt that he could not do the job properly without being given full authority, and that the SCA had become completely paralyzed. Here are some of those links:

Egyptian Gazette
Ahram Online
CRIEnglish


In a telephone interview he expanded upon his reasons for resigning:

In a telephone interview with Ahram Online, Mohamed Abdel Fatah, secretary general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, confirmed his resignation of the post. “I am fed up,” Abdel Fatah said angrily. “All these protests stand against proceeding with archaeological works properly,” he said.

“I cannot be responsible without concrete authority in my hands,” Abdel Fatah said. In fact, Abdel Fatah cannot put into effect any of his decisions until he has the approval of Prime Minister Essam Sharaf.

He also asserted that there are specific people who are behind all protests in front of the Council for personal gains.

The latest news, from Ahram Online, is that the government has refused his resignation, but that Abdel Fatah has refused to return to the job until he has been given the authority needed to move forward. Here's an excerpt:

A day after the resignation of Mohamed Abdel Fatah, head of the Egyptian Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA), the Cabinet scheduled an appointment with him on Sunday to discuss the issues behind his resignation.

In a telephone interview with Ahram Online, Abdel Fatah said that he would not return to the post without having full authority in the post.

Repairing the Book of the Dead

Brooklyn Museum (Rachel Danzing)

With photos.

Repairing papyrus can be a little like putting a jigsaw puzzle together. In order to make sense of the many small pieces at hand, we take advantage of the various examination techniques we have here in the lab.

One method of examination we use is the use of transmitted light, which is light which passes through a transparent material from one side to the other. Transmitted light is very useful in understanding how a sheet of papyrus is made and therefore, how it fits back together.

Use of the microscope is another instrument which makes our work easier. Under magnification, and in combination with transmitted light, we can see clearly what we are doing and this makes our repairs and placing of loose fragments more precise. It’s important to make as few and as small repairs as possible in order to stabilize the piece so that as much as possible of the original papyrus is visible.

EES participation in the AERA Field School at Memphis

Egypt Exploration Society

Dr David Jeffreys, the Director of the Society’s Survey of Memphis, and Judith Bunbury are teaching this autumn on behalf of the EES at the renowned field school run by Ancient Egypt Research Associates, directed by Mark Lehner. Courses are usually taught at Giza but this year are also being taught at Mitrahina (ancient Memphis) to give students experience in working on settlement sites.

The 'blog' for the field school is now online at:
www.aeraweb.org/category/blog/2011-field-season/

Egypt's archeologists threatening strike if demands not met

Youm7 (Dina Abdel Alem)

Protesting archeology workers threatened to begin into work and hunger strikes, close all archeological sites, and steal monuments from museums and stores if their demands are not met.

Protestors are continuing their sit-in, which began Sunday, calling for the official appointment 12,000 workers in Supreme Council of the Antiquities.

Minufiyeh Survey excavating at Ptolemaic cemetery

Minufiyeh Survey (Joanne Rowland)

With photos.

Work continued at a good pace in T9, the trench investigating the northern extent of the main part of the Ptolemaic (and possibly Early Roman) cemetery. More information will become available after Friday when Ashraf el-Senussi joins us from the Fayum to investigate the ceramics that have been collected from the surface layers and from the individual burials until now! As usual the ceramics are all broken into small pieces - sherds - but there is at least one amphora that might be reconstructable!!

Investigation and excavation of the ceramic (double vessel-type) coffins continued as the students got to grips with drawing burials over the course of the week. Some of the students have picked up the main aspects of archaeological drawing very quickly and there have been a number of excellent drawings of the burials in addition to the coffins.

Egyptology for children at Manchester

Asian Image

This Autumn, The Manchester Museum stages Unearthed: Ancient Egypt, an exhibition of Egyptology with a difference.

Children are invited to become an archaeologist for the day and help uncover the stories behind some of the Museum’s ancient artefacts. The Museum has one of the finest collections of Egyptological material anywhere in the UK outside London and now there is the opportunity to experience it in an innovative way.

In a newly created gallery space, visitors will be transported back to the 1920s, the heyday of British excavations in Egypt, entering the mysterious storeroom of fictional archaeologist Dr Digby - played on a specially commissioned series of films by acclaimed author Terry Deary of Horrible Histories and Egyptian Tales fame.

Dr Digby and his assistant require help in cataloguing and investigating the large number of finds from various digs and participating children will be instructed on what to do next via the films.

Egyptian exhibit opens at Washington College

The Elm (Emily Salladale)

What will you be leaving behind when you die? The Ancient Egyptians, whose civilization was one of the greatest of the ancient world, left behind many amazing things that have caught people’s attention throughout the world with their beauty and mystery.

The Washington College community is lucky enough to have a beautiful exhibit with some of these priceless artifacts right within walk¬ing distance. The exhibit is entitled, “For Now and Forever: Funerary Artifacts of Ancient Egypt.”

The exhibit’s curator is Fatma Ismail, a lecturer in Art at WC. Ismail is also teaching the course,“Reading Egyptian Temples: Stone Wall as Mythology, Theology and Ideology.”

The exhibit, located in Kohl Gallery in the Gibson Center for the Arts, does not contain the artifacts people have come to associate with ancient Egyptian burials. There are no mummies or elaborate masks made of gold or jewels on display. Rather, these funerary artifacts have a quieter beauty, and they speak volumes about Ancient Egyptian culture, their unique religious beliefs and funeral practices.

New electronic ticketing system at pyramids

MENAFN

A new electronic ticketing system will be implemented at the Egyptian pyramids archaeological region tomorrow.

Book Review: Making Cairo Medieval

CairObserver (Reviewed by Seif El Rashidi, Aga Khan Cultural Services, Egypt)

Nezar AlSayyad, Irene Bierman, Nasser Rabbat, eds. Making Cairo Medieval. Lanham: Lexington Books, 2005. vi + 266 pp. $83.00 (cloth), ISBN 978-0-7391-0915-1; $29.95 (paper), ISBN 978-0-7391-0916-8.

Published on H-Urban (July, 2005)

Typically, scholarship of the urban development of Cairo has emphasized the dichotomy between its “medieval” and its “modern” quarters, with little critical analysis about how this notion of a dual city came about, or the impacts of this treatment on both perceptions of Cairo and on its subsequent development. Through the work of ten scholars, Making Cairo Medieval examines the idea of a “medieval Cairo”—a concept developed in the nineteenth century by people who were essentially outsiders to the historic quarters of the city, yet whose ideas of refashioning such neighborhoods to create a “medievalized” Cairo continue to affect the policies governing these quarters of the city today.

The first section of the book, “A Medieval City for a Modern World,” sets the framework around which the ideas that eventually led to the “medievalization” of the city developed.

Photo for Today - Temple of Luxor