SCA to take legal action in mosque robbery case
The Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA) is taking legal action against the workers of Mengak Al Youssefi Mosque after some of the mosque’s antiques located in the citadel area were stolen last Friday. Decorative parts of the menbar (the preacher’s pulpit) of the mosque made of ivory and ebony were stolen along with its doors and platform.
The Ministries of Endowments and Culture were playing the blame game, with neither claiming responsibility for the incident. Hamdy Zaqzouq, Minister of Endowments, said in previous statements that the responsibility in such cases lies also on the antiquities authority that is supposed to supervise these mosques. On the other hand, Minister of Culture Farouk Hosni refuted these allegations saying that the antiquities entity’s role is to reconstruct these mosques and protect them from construction violations. He also called for establishing a department at the Ministry of Endowments to protect these sites and guarantee security presence at all times especially at night when these incidents are likely to occur.
Mengak Al Youssefi Mosque dates back to the Mamluki era and was built in 1349 (750 in the Islamic calendar) by Prince Mengak Al Youssef.
Spanish team to clean and restore the funerary temple of Thutmose III
Meet archaeologist Myriam Seco. This sort of Spanish “Indiana Jones” is a specialist in the search for hidden treasures. While few are likely to know her name, Seco is an eminence within the small circle of Egyptology.
Permanently settled in Egypt, Seco and her team will embark in six weeks of hard work. Their mission: cleaning and restoration of Thutmose III funerary temple in Luxor.
Nobody since the 60’s had a chance to trace the sand in this area. However, thanks to a grant of the Egyptian Supreme Council of Antiquities, Myriam Seco and her team will work there until October 30. The project includes mapping, photographic documentation and the availability of the temple so that it can be seen by tourists without affecting the restoration work.
Around a dozen people from different nationalities (Egyptian, Lebanese, Brazilian, Japanese, German and Spanish) will start work on the west bank of Luxor, about 700 kilometers from Cairo, with the aim of trying to unearth some of the mysteries of the sixth pharaoh of the XVIIIth dynasty.
Thutmose III (1479-1425 BC) is one of the greatest rulers in the history of ancient Egypt, and his fame could not be overshadowed by his predecessor on the throne, the great Hatshepsut. After his death without progeny, Thutmose III began a glorious era of conquests and imperial expansion in Syria, Palestine and Nubia. Despite the fact that his funerary temple has not been preserved so well as that of Hatshepsut, Thutmose has bequeathed to history the expansion of the Temple of Amen at Karnak and the construction of seven huge obelisks of which four are still visible in Istanbul, Paris, Rome and New York.
The Spanish archaeologist explained that the project, funded by the oil company Cepsa for the next three years, will conduct an initial exploration of the land and the consolidation of temple structure still preserved, such as the pylon and the outside wall of mud. The team will be digging in front of the first pylon (the monumental entrance to the temple) to look for the location of the pier where the funerary boat approached.
Myriam Seco assures that this is an excavation with a great potential for discoveries, as can be seen through aerial imagery, such as statues and wall reliefs.
Translated from GACETA.es
UNESCO backs plan to build underwater museum in Alexandria, Egypt
The United Nations cultural agency announced today it will help Egypt build an innovative underwater museum in the Bay of Alexandria on the site of archaeological remains thousands of years old.The idea for a museum, located by Cleopatra’s Palace and the mythical 3rd Century B.C. Alexandria Lighthouse, also known as Pharos, comes amid the growing recognition of the importance of underwater cultural heritage.
The first-of-its kind museum will be partly above water and partly submerged where visitors will be able to see archaeological artefacts on the seabed, according to a press release from the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
“This project will certainly enhance the appreciation of underwater cultural heritage and raise awareness of the urgent need to protect it from looting,” said the Director-General of UNESCO, Koïchiro Matsuura.
“Until UNESCO’s Underwater Cultural Heritage Convention enters into force, there is no specific international law that can protect it against treasure hunters,” Mr. Matsuura added.
The museum represents a major advance in underwater cultural heritage exhibitions and UNESCO has established an International Scientific Advisory Committee to help with the construction of the project, expected to begin later this year.
UNESCO have also produced a documentary film focusing on its Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage and the importance of saving submerged cultural property, increasingly vulnerable to pillaging with the development of more sophisticated and affordable diving equipment.
Book Review: The Secret of the Great Pyramid
The Secret of the Great Pyramid: How One Man’s Obsession Led to the Solution of Ancient Egypt’s Greatest Mystery Bob Brier and Jean-Pierre Houdin. Collins/Smithsonian (240p) ISBN 978-0-06-165552-4
Since its construction 4,500 years ago for Pharaoh Khufu, the Great Pyramid of Giza has remained an engineering mystery. According to Egyptologist Brier (The Murder of Tutankhamen) and architect Houdin, the monument was designed by Khufu’s brother Hemienu, an architectural genius, and built in two decades by 25,000 paid Egyptian construction workers. Having studied the structure minutely and using computer graphics to visualize every aspect of the pyramid and its construction, Houdin offers a radical proposal of how the huge limestone and granite blocks were raised: the pyramid was built from the inside out around a mile-long ramp corkscrewed up to the top, which remains in the pyramid’s walls. The authors’ prose is lucid, aided by drawings and photos, and the theories are intriguing but inconclusive until permission can be obtained from Egyptian authorities to thermally photograph the pyramid and determine its internal structure. The highly technical nature of some of the architectural and engineering material makes this book more suitable for experts in archeology and architecture than for buffs.
Sphinx Safe as Groundwater is Removed
Within two months the Archeological Engineering Center at Cairo University (AEC) will pump out the underground water in the area surrounding the Sphinx in a LE 2 million project. This comes amid concern for the safety of the ancient structure from underground water and other environmental elements.
Dr Hafez Abdel Azim, head of the AEC described the water movements under the Valley Temple of Kafre as stable. Up to seven experimental wells have been dug, pumping 260 cubic meters of water every hour. Thirty-three monitoring points used to detect movement of the Sphinx’s body have also confirmed that the structure is stable.
Interview: Zahi Hawass
Andrew and Whitney Bayuk’s interview of Zahi Hawass on 28 July 2008 is truly revealing of the many archaeological activities going on in Egypt today. These include research, excavations, restorations, improvements and new projects.
Research:
The 18th dynasty mummies CT scan and DNA research continues. The latest is a much publicized study of the two mummified fetuses at Tutankhamen’s tomb. This research is aimed at establishing the parentage among well reknowned figures such as Akhenaten, Nefertiti and Tutankhamen.
Excavations:
New finds continue to sprout all over Egypt. At Saqqarah, a pyramid of a queen of King Teti and other tombs were found.
At the Valley of the Kings, the entrances of 2 tombs, KV 64 and KV 65 have been cleared and excavation will start in October. One of these could be the Tomb of Ramses VIII. Work at the Tomb of Seti I has revealed that it is even larger than thought, with a possible second chamber at the end of a large tunnel recently discovered.
Evidence of a temple at Deir el Bahari might lead to the discovery of the Tomb of Amenhotep I. And the search continues for the tombs of Queen Nefertiti, Thutmose II, Ramses VIII and all the queens of the 18th Dynasty. The Royal Ladies were not buried in the Valley of the Queens as the tombs here were first built in the 19th Dynasty.
Restoration:
A comprehensive laser survey is being conducted at the Step Pyramid of Djoser. Hawass mentions that “the laser survey is very important. If you need to restore anything we must first record all the stones. And all the stones cannot be recorded without using the laser. The Japanese Team now are doing all the computation for each stone then we can really know what’s weak, what’s strong, this is the only way to restore the pyramid.” Other restoration projects in the area are happening at the Serapeum and the South Tomb.
At Giza, the Pyramid of Menkaure is closed and the Pyramid of Khafre will soon follow. The Great Pyramid of Khufu will remain open with a limit of 300 visitors a day.
At the Valley of the Kings, the Tomb of Tutankhamen closes everyday from 12:00 to 2:00 pm with a limited number of visitors allowed entrance every day.
Improvements:
The entrance at the Giza Plateau now has x-ray security. The unearthed second boat of Khufu is now visible to the public via camera on a TV screen. The boat will be restored and reconstructed.
In Aswan, visitors now have a better experience at the Unfinished Obelisk and the temples of Edfu and Kom Ombo. At Kom Ombo, tourists arrive and see the temple from the water. They can now visit the Crocodile Museum, a new installation dedicated to the animal worshipped at Kom Ombo.
In Amarna, a new modern road will bring visitors in less time. The tombs are improved now, and work is going on the Visitor Center, to introduce the site.
New Projects:
The biggest addition at Giza is the new Grand Museum. The giant statue of Ramses II have been moved there from Ramses Square. The conservation rooms are finished and the construction of the museum will start in October. After its inauguration (5 years?) all 4500 objects from Tutankhamen will be exhibited there as well as most of the objects at the Cairo Museum, which is being transformed into an Open Museum about Egyptian art.
Construction at the Civilization Museum in Old Cairo is finished. Al-Muizz Street in Old Cairo, with its beautiful mosques and houses is now a no car zone and an incredible experience to walk at night.
Near Alexandria, the finished National Museum of Rashid, about the Mameluke period, will soon be opened.
Construction of the Akhenaten Museum in Mynia is finished. It will tell the public about the history of monotheism and its only about Akhenaten and the royal family of Amarna.
Sweeping Aside the Living at Luxor to Resurrect the Dead
Luxor is in the process of creating an open-air museum on the city’s west bank, where a third of the world’s archeological sites are located, including such renowned monuments as Queen Hatshepsut’s Temple and the Valley of the Kings.
The project is part of an overall endeavor to make Luxor a modern tourist site, where they will be alone with the ancient structures. It will cost the Egyptian government 1.2 billion Egyptian pounds ($200 million) for all renovations, including restructuring the famed temples of Karnak and Luxor in the east bank as well as creating a new bazaar for shopping opportunities.
Not everyone is pleased with the makeover, though. Thousands of people will be forced out of their homes for the open-air museum project. The idea of recreating the ancient past in a manner identical to the Pharaoh’s is inspiring, even bold. But residents of the Luxor area hope that in the process the government will remember that contemporary Egyptians are also important.
Egypt fire damages church of ‘Jesus footprint’
An electrical fault is blamed for a fire that destroyed the altar and an historic icon at the Sanctuary of the Church of the Virgin Mary in Sakha, just outside Kafr el-Sheikh, north of Cairo.
The town of Sakha is known to Copts as Pekha-Issous (Jesus foot) for the Holy Child’s foot-print was marked, here, in bas-relief on a rock. The rock was preserved, but hidden for centuries for fear of robbery, and only unearthed again 13 years ago and put on display at the church. The stone was not damaged by the fire.
The information from Associated Press is scant at this moment. More information and photos about Christianity in Egypt and the Coptic Church can be found here.
Step Pyramid at Saqqara to be laser scanned
An Egyptian-Japanese-American mission has been organized to create a virtual three-dimensional model of Egypt’s oldest pyramid.
The so-called Zoser Scanner will be carried on the backs of professional climbers as they rappel down the faces of the pyramid’s six gigantic steps. It uses infrared signals to gather coordinates and elevations of the thousands of points on the monument in order to create a virtual three-dimensional model of the Step Pyramid, which will be a valuable reference for restorers, archaeologists, and architects involved in the restoration of the pyramid and for the continual monitoring of its condition.
The survey is being conducted in collaboration with a Japanese mission headed by Kosuke Sato of Osaka University and an American mission led by Mark Lehner, director of Ancient Egypt Research Associates (AERA). This project intends on completing the archaeological documentation of the Step Pyramid in order to better understand its various stages of construction. A variety of laser scanners will be used, including the Zoser Scanner, which was custom designed to scan the pyramid by Develo Solutions of Osaka, Japan.
Sato pointed out that for more than 70 years French architect Jean-Philippe Lauer had comprehensively studied and restored the Step Pyramid complex. Although his seminal work was indisputably considered the foundational study on pyramids, his theories were based on his schematic plans and sections, which are not facsimiles of the actual state of the monument.
The laser scanning survey of the Step Pyramid will take four weeks to complete, and next year the second phase for the pyramid’s internal structure will start.
The Step Pyramid is the earliest large stone structure, an architectural achievement of the vizier Imhotep for pharaoh Djoser of the Third Dynasty (c. 2687-2668 BC).
Another threat to the Sphinx: this time is the birds
Crowds of pigeons, doves and sparrows have been landing on the Sphinx, eating out the sandy rock and leaving acidic droppings.
Senior tour guide Bassam El Shammaa sees this as an indication that underground water is seeping through the monument like water in a sponge, causing serious damage to the legendary structure.
El Shammaa launched an on-line campaign last year called “Save the Sphinx”, but that website is no longer active.
-
-
Translator
By N2H
