Egypt to retrieve ushabti from Netherlands
A precious 4,000 year old ushabti from the 19th Dynasty will finally return to Egypt. The artifact, discovered in Saqqara in 1985, stolen and then auctioned, was identified by experts at a museum in Lyden, the Netherlands, after it was presented to them by an amateur collector who had bought the item without knowledge of its provenance.
Dutch authorities delivered the ushabti to representatives of the Egyptian government.
Ushabtis are small mummy-form figurines, complete with hieroglyphs meant to represent the deceased and to act as his substitute when required by the gods to perform manual labor in the afterlife. The wealthier the deceased was, the more ushabtis were placed in his tomb. Its size and numbers make them an easy target for smugglers to illegally export from Egypt.
Abducted Egypt tourists freed
A group of Western tourists and their Egyptian guides, who were kidnapped 10 days ago by gunmen, have been freed. The 11 hostages - five Italians, five Germans and a Romanian - and their guides are said to be in good health.
The group, abducted in a remote border region of Egypt, are now en route to a military base in the capital, Cairo. During their captivity they were moved around a lawless desert area straddling Egypt, Sudan, Libya and Chad. No ransom was paid, Egyptian officials said.
The freeing of the Westerners was reported on Egyptian state television and confirmed by Italian officials.
India to help Egypt in conserving a key tourist destination
India will help Egypt in conserving and maintaining one of its key tourist spots in Cairo. The Baron Palace, also known as Hindu Villa, is facing decay because of lack of appropriate care by the authorities there.
A three-member team of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), the premier organization for archaeological research and protection of the cultural heritage in the country, will soon travel to the African nation to assist it in conserving and maintaining the the palace, which was built in 1905.
The Baron Palace, located in the new city of Heliopolis in Cairo is named after Belgian builder and the resident of Place Baron-General Edouard Louis Joseph Empain. Baron Empain founded Heliopolis district, 10 km from Cairo, as he bought 6,000 acres of land in desert with one Egyptian pound from Nubar Pasha. The palace hosted King Albert and Queen Elizabeth of Belgium during the pre-World War I visit to Egypt.
ASI, which conserves the majority of temples and archaeological sites in India, has lately started spreading its wings abroad with a number of countries submitting proposals to it requesting its expertise in conserving and maintaining historical places, religious and heritage buildings.
Six kidnappers killed by Sudanese Army
Sudanese forces have killed six kidnappers who abducted 11 European tourists and eight Egyptian guides in a remote desert in southern Egypt nine days ago, Sudan’s presidential advisor has said.
A Sudanese soldier was also injured in the clash, Egypt’s official MENA news agency quoted the Sudanese army as saying, adding that the hostages were now being held at a place called Tabbat Shajara, just inside Chad. The 19 hostages, who were snatched at gunpoint during a desert safari on September 19, were “all well” and appeared to be moving from Sudan towards Egypt.
An Egyptian security official told AFP that the kidnappers and German negotiators had agreed a deal but that “negotiations were still ongoing to work out details”. The kidnappers have demanded that Germany take charge of the payment of an $8.8m ransom, an Egyptian security official said last week.
A woman’s adventure with sexual harassment in Egypt
A well detailed account by a female tourist of her encounter with sexual harassment. I counted nine instances by men from different social strata. At least, she acknowledges this is not an isolated national case, if that is some sort of relief.
Harassment in Italy is notorious. But the cat-calls I experienced in Venice and Rome pale in comparison to the shockingly sexual statements and shameless groping my roommate and I endured in Egypt.
This isn’t to say we didn’t expect it. After all, the United States warns its female citizens that they are “vulnerable to sexual harassment and verbal abuse” when traveling unescorted in Egypt. In a survey released by the Egyptian Center for Women’s Rights this summer, 98 percent of foreign women and 83 percent of Egyptian women reported that they’d been sexually harassed in the country.
So we prepared. I spent nearly $200 on more “appropriate attire” for the weeklong summer vacation, stocking up on long-sleeved shirts and ankle-length hippie skirts. We learned the Egyptian word for “No” — it’s “Laa.” I packed a pair of sunglasses to avoid eye contact, a scarf to cover my curves and a hat to cover my long hair when necessary.
Physically, we were prepared. Mentally, not so much. So if you’re a woman planning to travel alone, or even with other women, to Egypt to explore truly one of the most amazing civilizations in ancient history, I hope you learn from a few of our mistakes.
Though we don’t deserve it and shouldn’t have to tolerate it, this harassment is currently part of the price we pay to see the last standing wonder of the world.
By Lynn Doan for Hartford Courant
Book Review: War in Ancient Egypt: The New Kingdom (Ancient World at War)
In this book Anthony Spalinger, a well-known Egyptologist at the University of Auckland, New Zealand, introduces us to the Egyptian war machine under the war pharaohs of Dynasty 18 and the Ramesside dynasty.
Spalinger does not deal with the weapons of warfare in detail, but the focus (and therefore the strong point and the greatest contribution of the book) is on the socio-political aspects of warfare; the military classes and logistics, showing how the military was organized, fed, and equipped, which made the Egyptian war machine so effective and creating a world power. The sources analyzed and discussed include texts, iconography, and artefacts. Spalinger is also well acquainted with the German and even the Russian literature on the topic. Of great value to classicists are the many comparisons made, for example, to the way in which the armies of Alexander the Great were organized, again with regard to logistics.
The book has sixteen chapters. Each chapter has an excursus (printed in grey) which gives more information on logistical matters and other issues, and deals with the important literature in which such matters are discussed, followed by notes which also include references to the literature.
There is a chronology as well as maps showing the famous battles of Megiddo and of course Kadesh. Figures (line-drawings but also black-and-white photos) provide additional information on weapons, horses, and scenes of battles (seven dealing with Kadesh). It is quite ironic that the cover depicts the boy-pharaoh Tutankhamen in his chariot pursuing Kushites, although he cannot compare with the great warriors Thutmoses III and Ramses II. Nevertheless, it is a representation typical of the New Kingdom.
Spalinger’s book is no general overview or an introduction to warfare in Egypt covering all periods of Egyptian history. It is a sound and thorough “tour de force” on military logistics, an important contribution not only to Egyptology, but to the study of ancient warfare and warfare in general, and therefore essential reading for all military historians. The way in which the author devotes attention to the minutest details with precise mathematical calculations can be illustrated by the discussion of the Egyptian army under Thutmoses III in the Aruna pass. In spite of all the detail (exact times, e.g. travel speeds, food needed, amounts of troops, horses, etc.) the book is a joy to read.
Review by Sakkie Cornelius
Book Review: Osiris: Death and Afterlife of a God
Osiris, ruler of the netherworld, played a central part in the religious life of the ancient Egyptians, and his cult grew in popularity down the ages, resonating in all the cultures of the ancient Mediterranean. This is the first book to tell the story of the cult of Osiris from beginning to end. Drawing together the numerous records about Osiris from the third millennium bc to the Roman conquest of Egypt, Bojana Mojsov sketches the development of the cult throughout 3,000 years of Egyptian history. The author proves that the cult of Osiris was the most popular and enduring in any ancient religion. She shows how it provided direct antecedents for many ideas, traits, and customs in Christianity, including the resurrection after three days, the concept of god as trinity, baptism in the sacred river, and the sacrament of the Eucharist. She also reveals the cult’s influence on other Western mystical traditions and groups, such as the Alchemists, Rosicrucians, and Freemasons.
Kidnappings not stopping tourists
Eleven clients booked by the adventure-tour operator Explore have been offered the chance to switch to another tour, but are all keen to go ahead. The company’s next tour, which is due to depart on October 17, will include several days in the Gilf Kebir, an uninhabited region of dramatic rock sculptures and prehistoric cave art. It was there that eleven tourists and eight Egyptian guides were seized by gunmen, taken over the border into Sudan and are allegedly held in Lybia. Reports emerged that the kidnappers were seeking a ransom of 6 million euros (8.8 million dollars).
Other tour operators report that clients have been in touch seeking reassurance after initial media reports misreported that the kidnap had taken place in the popular tourist city of Aswan. The Foreign Office has not advised against travel to any parts of Egypt.
The vast majority of Egypt’s 9 million tourists each year visit pharaonic sites along the Nile River or Red Sea beach resorts, a world away from the Western Desert and the Gilf al-Kebir.
The Gilf, a desert plateau 500 miles southwest of Cairo, has only recently become a popular destination. It rewards those who make the daunting trek with spectacular vistas of sand dunes and desert cliffs, as well as a treasure trove of prehistoric cave art. Around 2,000 tourists visited the area in the past year, up from only a handful a year less than a decade ago.
The area is uninhabited, but is a crossroads for nomadic tribes in all three countries, used by smugglers trafficking drugs, vehicles and even illegal migrants. It lies only 180 miles from Darfur and eastern Chad, where aid groups have been forced to cut back on travel because of frequent hijackings of convoys and kidnappings by armed groups.
Egyptian security officials said there were two similar incidents in January 2007 and in 2003, but would not provide details. The incidents were kept quiet and not made public at the time, the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk about the issue.
American Muslims Shifting Ramadan Focus From Food to Community
The ninth month of the Islamic calendar, Ramadan is the time when Muslims believe the Koran was revealed to the Prophet Muhammad. Islam calls for Muslims to abstain from food, drink and sex from dawn to dusk, sharpen their self-discipline and focus on becoming closer to God. Traditionally observed daily with big family or neighborhood meals after sunset, some in smaller Muslim communities are celebrating the holiday just a few times a week. Others, particularly since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, have used the holiday for activism, organizing iftars around Islam-related films or lectures or interfaith events. These changes represent soul-searching by some Muslims about how to create an American Islam, a trend pushed in particular by progressive Muslims seeking gender equity and more engagement with other faiths.
Ramadan remains important to American Muslims, the majority of whom were born outside the country. Fasting during Ramadan is one of the five pillars, or foundations, of Islam and is “very important” to more than three-quarters of American Muslims, according to a Pew Research Center poll released last year.
Sustainable development in Cairo’s Gammaliya district
Gammaliya has been the commercial and industrial center of Cairo since the end of the 19th century. It has, moreover, the highest concentration of Islamic monuments in the world. Adli Bishai, director of a project in Gammaliya now known as FEDA (Friends of Environment and Development Association) set up to the task of evaluating the condition of the area, including past conservation efforts, and to remedy errors and place the historic zone under a unified body as opposed to many ministries and government-sponsored organizations.
Sceptical colleagues and friends told him it wouldn’t work. They pointed out that the plan, as he envisioned it, would entail working with different ministries which were subject to the law and unlikely to change. He was warned that it was totally unrealistic to expect them to collaborate.
Undaunted, Bishai moved ahead. He started in 1993 by setting up FEDA, a non-governmental organization, and proposed a framework for sustainable development based on a balance between resource management, environmental protection, human development and economic growth. It was an enormously ambitious plan. Fifteen years down the line, however, the impossible is well on its way to being achieved.
FEDA’s success so far, Bishai hastens to point out, is due largely to public participation. “When people are encouraged to get involved in what is happening to the district in which they live and work, and when they see that it is an improvement to their lives and has the possibility of being an even better one for children, they work conscientiously to contribute to its achievement,” he says. Step by step FEDA is transforming the area, and the local population is enthusiastic about what is happening.
The project zone lies south of the Fatimid walls of Cairo. Within this confined area lies the largest concentration of ancient mosques, sabils, madrasas, souks, hammams, religious schools and hostels in Greater Cairo, as well as huge non-functional khans or wekalat. The latter — inns for traveling merchants built around a vast courtyard with stables and warehouses at ground level and living accommodation above — is where Bishai focused his attention.
“FEDA’s aim was to restore and reactivate the vast derelict inner space of the wekalat and use them to ease the population pressure and pollution elsewhere,” he says. “Simply, to clear the rubble and make it functional.”
Bishai says that the aim at the outset was to improve the quality of life by bettering hygiene through environmental control and community development services. “We are making use of existing buildings, not by transforming them into museums, but by making them useful to the community,” he says. In other words, they are being rendered into a condition in which they continue to play a traditional role in community life.
Anyone who has tried to “get things done” in Egypt will realize how enormously difficult it has been to achieve all this, especially when the physical infrastructure of the whole area, including sewerage, water and electricity, also had to be upgraded. This was done in cooperation with the Cairo governorate.
FEDA has introduced some singular additional activities, using art and cultural awareness as an effective educational tool. This is new to Egypt. As for the rising generation, FEDA has attempted to direct attention to marginalized groups in Gammaliya, including working children.
Excerpted from a report by Jill Kamil for Al-Ahram
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