Mostafa Waziri, Secretary-General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, inaugurated Saturday a temporary archaeological exhibition at the Luxor Museum, in the presence of the Japanese Ambassador in Cairo, the Museum Director, and several officials of the Supreme Council of Antiquities.
Waziri said that the exhibition features 747 artefacts that shed light on the ancient Egyptian ornaments in its various forms, uses, and materials throughout the history, where gold dominated the jewellery industry in Ancient Egypt.
He pointed out that the pieces vary between a set of bracelets made of gold found in the Luxor Temple between 1966 – 1968, and a braided golden bracelet decorated with a snake head and four circles from the work of the French mission in Luxor; and a pair of gold earrings, one with three beads of vines, and another one with five beads of gold, and a gold ring for a child whose top was in the form of a scarab that had been found in the excavations of the American-Dutch mission in Pyrenees in the Red Sea, in addition to two pieces of gold in the form of bracelets. And another of gold in the form of a shell from the excavations of the Spanish mission from the area of the antiquities of Qurna, and a group of rectangular chips on each of them a cartouche of King Ramses XI, and a votive column with 29 gold coins that were found in Draa’ Abu el-Naga during the excavations of the Spanish mission, and a vessel Pottery from the Greco-Roman period.
The exhibition also includes 690 archaeological works dating back to the eras of the Roman and Byzantine Empires, found in the excavations of the White Monastery in Sohag, and 4 gold dinars from the Umayyad era written on them Islamic words.
It also displays the treasure of the White Monastery in Sohag. It was called the White Monastery in relation to the colour of the stones used in its construction. It is dedicated in the name of Anba Shenouda, the head of the Almohads, and it dates back to the fourth century AD. It currently includes a church consisting of a central nave surrounded by three wings, preceded by a structure consisting of three large semi-circular niches whose walls are decorated with various religious drawings.
It also includes the remains of buildings, known as the Industrial City, which is located to the south and north of the ancient church, containing the remains of a laundry and press.
