Tag: ancient

Egypt runs country’s 1st special itinerary for visually impaired

Take a moment to imagine the amount of art heritage, breath-taking legacy, and masterpieces visually impaired people are deprived of, just because they are not capable of seeing them.

In an attempt to open a window of light to those who want to climb out and discover the enticing, fulfilling ancient Egyptians legacy, the Minister of Antiquities, Khaled El-Anany, inaugurated the first special itinerary for the visually impaired at the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir Square on Saturday.

The inauguration witnessed the attendance of the Egyptian Minister of Tourism, Rania Al-Mashat, and the Minister of Youth and Sports, Ashraf Sobhy. This was alongside the ambassador of Italy in Cairo, Giampaolo Cantini, and a number of other ambassadors from 16 countries.

The initiative aims to allow the visually impaired a chance to read and explore some of the showcased antiquities at the museum through a route which visitors get to explore, touch statues identical to the original ones, and read about them in the braille language.

The first of its kind initiative in any Egyptian museum, has been developed by the Italian Archaeological Centre of the Italian Cultural Institute in Cairo. This is in collaboration with the Egyptian Museum and the Museo Tattile Statale Omero in Ancona, in the framework of the programme “Vivere all’Italiana” of the Italian Ministry for Foreign Affairs.

The itinerary includes 12 statues from different pharaonic eras including the Narmer Palette for the Early Dynastic, a Triad of King Menkaura dating to the 4th dynasty of the Old Kingdom, a Sphinx of king Amenemhat III belonging to the Middle Kingdom, and a New Kingdom’s Statue of Amenhotep son Hapu.

According to a press release published by the ministry, “every object in the path is made in very hard Egyptian stone (such as granite and greywacke) and it can be touched and acknowledged with labels in braille language and electronic audio devices.”

The itinerary also provides visitors with the chance to touch and learn about a pyramidion of the pyramid of King Amenemhat III belonging to the XII dynasty, and a seated statue of the goddess Sekhmet, and the reign of King Amenhotep III.

The development of the itinerary took place with the “expertise of the Omero Museum in Ancona, where the visually impaired enjoy art with the rest of the public,” the statement reads.

It adds that the main aim of the initiative is sharing with Egypt the Italian know-how in the field through a capacity building approach.

Italy is one of the leading countries in the field of allowing visually disabled people an equal opportunity as others to explore and enjoy the heritage of nations and the artefacts displayed in museums.

The itinerary is only the start of applying the whole idea across the whole museum, as well as number of other museums across the country. All of this is in order to allow all people an equal chance to learn about the Egyptian civilisation.

The Egyptian Museum comes as the second historical exhibit to provide people with visual disabilities to learn about the history.

Last week, the ministry of antiquities announced it is applying a new system for visually impaired visitors through printing cards with the description of the halls and the showcased relics in the museum. This new system will start on Tuesday.

Elham Salah al-Din, head of the Museums Sector at the ministry of antiquities, said in a press release that this step comes to strengthen communication among all community members.

Salah al-Din also said it is considered a part of the museums’ sustainable development plan.

The cards will follow a special needs department at the museum, and the project will start running with a number of visually impaired visitors and several NGOs supporting people with vision specific needs, added Salah al-Din.

The displayed antiquities are not only limited to the Egyptian heritage, it reaches out to display the lifestyle of a particular oriental culture, such as Syrian, Turkish, and even Chinese.

June 24, 2019
Study uncovers genomic data linking extinct giant ground sloth to modern species

Benefiting from the remains of an ancient giant ground sloth, or Mylodon darwinii, researchers have uncovered important genomic data. The emblematic creature was named after Charles Darwin, whose discovery of fossilised remains in South America is considered to be one of his significant scientific achievements, according to a new study published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B.

Using a bone fragment which dates back nearly 13,000 years, scientists teased out and reconstructed DNA fragments to obtain a high-quality mitochondrial genome and nuclear genomic information. According to the study, the analysis proves for the first time that the giant ground sloth—which went extinct approximately 10,000 years ago—is a close relative of the modern two-fingered sloth, which is believed to be one of the world’s slowest mammals.

The study suggested that the two species diverged from one another approximately 22m years ago. The much smaller modern sloth evolved over time to inhabit trees, where they spend virtually their entire life suspended upside down.

“Our study confirms the convergent evolution of the two, tree dwelling modern sloths from two distinct lineages of extinct giant ground sloths,” said Hendrik Poinar, lead author of the study and director of McMaster University’s Ancient DNA Centre and principal investigator at the Michael G DeGroote Institute for Infectious Disease Research. “This means tree-living evolved independently, twice, which is remarkable.”

The scientists said the sample was exceptionally well-preserved. It was taken from the famous Mylodon Cave in Chile, which derives its name from the numerous remains of ground sloths found inside. The constant cold and dry conditions of the cave have preserved a scientific treasure trove including bones, claws, faeces, and even large pieces of mummified skin still covered with blond fur.

“The incredible conservation of the bone sample we used in this study offers promising prospects for sequencing the full genome of this extinct species because of the high percentage of DNA that it contains,” said Frédéric Delsuc, co-author of the paper and director of research at the Centre National de Recherche in France, adding, “this will certainly generate more insights and information into their unique features and ultimate extinction,” he added.

These remains that were found at the exceptional site of Mylodon Cave, in Patagonia, Chile, were the first non-human samples used by scientists in early genetic tests, which yielded genuine ancient DNA. Advances in sequencing technology have led to a deeper understanding of ancient and extinct species, including the Columbian and woolly mammoths, giant lemurs, and steppe bison.

May 16, 2018
Authorities stop five ancient handwritten Qurans being illegally smuggled to Egypt

An illegal attempt to smuggle an ancient rare collection of Ottoman Qurans into Egypt was prevented by the Egyptian authorities on Sunday, according to the Ministry of Antiquities’ official Facebook page.

The Customs Authority stopped three parcels coming from Ethiopia, and after examining them, five hand written copies were found alongside six handles of old swords carved from animal bones.

“The parcels included five Qurans from the Ottoman era, written in large Naskh calligraphy on old papers and covered with leather,” said Hamdi Hamam, director general of the Antiquities Unit at Cairo International Airport.

Head of the Antiquities Unit in Egyptian Ports, Ahmed El Rawi, explained in the press release that the parcels were seized in the Cargo Village at Cairo International Airport, and when the archaeological committee from the Antiquities Unit at the airport inspected the batch, they confirmed their authenticity.

Some of the copies were not organised according to the normal Quran index, but rather a grouping of the Quran’s verses. Hamam asserted that “the five seized Qurans are in a very bad conservation condition, and they are in dire need of restoration.”

A water container made of animal leather was also found with the relics inside the parcels. El Rawi said that all the artifacts are in custody until the completion of investigations.

June 18, 2017
Judicial officials suspected of antiquities smuggling

News reports, including the state’s official media, had published Sunday stories accounting for the arrest of two brothers who are senior prosecution officers on accusations of looting antiquities, with the collaboration of some police officers.
(FILE PHOTO / AFP / MAHMOUD KHALED)

A new media gag has been ordered by Prosecutor-General Hisham Barakat, this time regarding a case that obtained wide media attention in the past two days, that includes the involvement of senior officials in antiquities smuggling, according to MENA.

News reports, including the state’s official media, had published Sunday stories accounting for the arrest of two brothers who are senior prosecution officers on accusations of looting antiquities, with the collaboration of some police officers.

It appears that the Administrative Control Authority (ACA) was behind the case, as they were allegedly able to catch the suspects through listening in on their conversations. ACA is legally entitled to investigate corruption cases of state administrative bodies, public associations and institutions, organisations to which the state contributes in any form, as well as the business and private sector undertaking any public work.

This comes in only a week after the Criminal Court in Cairo postponed a trial of seven suspects to July for one of the largest antiques robbery operations back in 2003, for attempting to smuggle over 200 rare artefacts, which were later revealed a wider international business. According to state-owned media Al-Ahram, two suspects in the case were in possession of 57,000 pieces in their houses, at an estimated cost of EGP 320m.

Egypt has been struggling to recollect different antiquities smuggled and sold in auctions all over the world.

As for the media gag, at least five similar decisions took place in different court cases since the beginning of 2015, three of them involving police personnel as possible culprits.

One of the gags was strongly contested by activists on social media, as it involved the death of a young lawyer named Karim Hamdy, allegedly due to police torture.

May 4, 2015
British museum’s plan to sell ancient Egyptian statue under fire

The Sekhemka statue, carved during Egypt’s 5th dynasty, is expected to retrieve between £4m and £6m at auction Thursday
(Photo Courtesy of the “Save Sekhemka Action Group”)

By Simone Egarter and Menna Zaki

A financially struggling British museum listed an ancient Egyptian statue for auction this week, drawing ire from the Egyptian government and sparking controversy among antiquities experts.

The London auction house Christie’s is expecting to raise more than £4m from the Egyptian Sekhemka statue, which is scheduled for auction Thursday. The statue, a remnant of the 5^th dynasty in Egypt, is approximately 4,500 years old. It was discovered in the burial city of Saqqara near Cairo, which is believed to have been the domain of Sekhemka, who was an administrator at the highest level, possibly even in the royal court.

Ashraf Al-Kholy, the Egyptian ambassador in London, met with the board of directors of Chrisite’s Auction House where he demanded the suspension or postponement of the sale, according to a Monday foreign ministry statement.

Al-Kohly said the sale, which he called an offense against the ancient Egyptian civilisation, violates the ethical norms that govern international museums.

The ambassador has contacted the manager of the Northampton Museum England, which is responsible for the sale of the statue, urging the museum to halt the plan. The Egyptian Embassy in London has also reached out to several institutions including Arts Council England, which expressed its opposition to the sale of an ancient artefact for material gain.

The best action, Al-Kholy said, is to return the piece to its native country.

The Northampton Borough Council first contacted the Egyptian government two years ago about plans to sell the statue, which has been on display at the Northampton Museum since the 1890s after it was entrusted to the museum by the Marquess of Northampton, according to the Northampton Herald & Post.

“According to UNESCO’s 1970 Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property, Egypt has no right to claim the recovery of the statue,” she said. “The statue left Egypt before this convention was put in place and this was confirmed by the Egyptian Government on June 15.”

Concerned citizens have banded together to oppose the sale, forming the “Save Sekhemka Action Group”. More than 1,000 people have ‘liked’ the group on Facebook. A petition to save the statue has collected 199 signatures.

“The statue has been on display for more than 100 years,” said Ruth Thomas, vice chairman of Save Sekhemka Action Group. “It has been very popular, especially with schoolchildren.”

Bestselling writer Alan Moore, best known for the book “V for Vendetta”, publicly condemned the sale of Egyptian history and public art as unethical.

“If this means that councils, when they are in financial trouble, can sell off things which have been entrusted to them, this obviously means that I can never make a donation to the museum again,” he told the Northampton Herald & Post.

“I would have thought that anybody who would have been thinking of making a donation would be thinking twice. How can anybody across the country thinking of making a donation to a museum make the donation in the knowledge that a few years in the future perhaps 100 years in the future the council might decide to sell it off?”

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in coordination with the Ministry of Antiquities has launched a broad effort to return smuggled Egyptian antiquities.

As a result of these efforts, Minister of Antiquities Mamdouh Damaty announced Monday that Egypt has secured the return of eight wooden artefacts from Copenhagen, Denmark, after a Danish court judgment stating Egypt’s entitlement to restore the artefacts, according to a ministry statement. Another antiquity, a 19 cm piece of cartonnage – a material used in funerary masks – inscribed with three lines of hieroglyphics, was recovered through the Egyptian Embassy in Paris.

July 8, 2014
One day in Cairo

The external courtyard of Mohammed Ali mosque in the Citadel
Photo by Rachel Adams

I always like to start a trip to a new city with a climb up a local hill. Cairo’s Citadel complex, to the east of the Nile and south of the centre, not only gives you a great view of the metropolis from the fascinating Islamic side, but also a glimpse of the city’s Saladin and Ayubbid eras. And on a good day, it offers rich people-watching opportunities and an introduction to the cultural mix that is modern-day Cairo.

I went on the Sunday morning of Eid, and despite the drop in tourist numbers since the revolution, it looked like a cruise ship had just offloaded a whole batch of visitors. Add a hundred or so sunburnt and slightly overweight Europeans to a gaggle of excitable Egyptian teenagers on a day-trip and you’ve got a queue of about ten minutes before you can start the short climb to the hilltop sights.

Around the corner, studio photographers can give you an Egyptian costume, pop you on the lawn with the mosque behind, take your photo on film and have it processed and printed in time for your descent.

After deciding against having my portrait taken (I’ll definitely be getting one the next time I visit, I just need to build up the courage to don a belly-dancing outfit in public, in broad daylight), I wandered into the complex’s crowning glory that is the limestone and alabaster Mosque of Mohammed Ali.

Modelled along classic Ottoman lines, Cairo’s most striking non-pharaonic landmark took 18 years to build (1830 – 48) and its spiky protracted minarets are visible from all around Cairo. Remove your shoes before entering, find a cool wall to lean against and as your eyes adjust to the dark, admire the decorative cupola, concentric chandeliers and colourful striped masonry.

I’ve found that when I visit a tourist attraction alone here, I am very often cornered by various Egyptians who want to know my name, where I’m from and more importantly, where all my friends are. People ask to have their photo taken with me which is great for the self-esteem, until the groups become more prepubescent and I start to question their motives. As I sipped a Fanta outside the National Military Museum and tried to convince myself (unsuccessfully) that I really should go in, I was approached by a 19 year old called Abdul who was very keen to practice his English. He had many, many questions to ask me.

Detail of a wooden door with Islamic design, Khan al Khalili
Photo by Rachel Adams

Which is better, British English or American English? What is Ireland (after much deciphering)? What are you doing in Egypt? Who do you live with? How can you live with an Egyptian woman? This is not in our culture! Can I come with you to the Egyptian Museum? Why not? After making my excuses I managed to escape and made a swift exit down the hill before I could be cornered by any more young Anglophiles.

By this time I wanted to get out of the heat, so I hopped in a taxi and asked for the Egyptian Museum. The massive stone monuments on the ground floor are awe-inspiring, but I headed straight upstairs to gaze in magpie-like glee at Tutankhamen’s treasures. The room storing the young pharaoh’s funerary accoutrements is darker than the rest of the Museum for preservation purposes, showing the golds, reds and blues in all their splendour.

In terms of curation, the sheer amount of artefacts on display is phenomenal. The ‘gods’ room is bursting at the seams with miniature deities and Meketre’s space is a delightful insight into daily life 4000 years ago, with models of boats, their crews and nets complete with fish being brought from the water.

Labelling is at turns quaint, moving or completely absent: English, Arabic and French in carefully handwritten cursive calligraphy; the label for a ‘heart scarab’ contains part of a spell’ “O! My heart, do not stand as a witness against me in the Tribunal;’ but are the necklaces in the jewellery room made of glass, or lapis lazuli and carmine?

You could spend all morning admiring the artistry on the countless coffins (many are so well-preserved you can almost feel the weight of the paint on the brush) or you can have a break at the strategically placed and pleasantly breezy cafe just outside the exit.

A simple feta cheese sandwich will cost you EGP 20, is generously filled and comes with crisps and salad. Team that with a freshly squeezed lemon juice and you can while away an hour or so watching tourists come and go and admiring the pharaonic limestone limbs which line the side of the cafe. They look a little forgotten and give the cafe a sort of architectural salvage yard feel, but don’t let the haphazard curation get to you too much.

Late afternoon is a good time to head back towards Old Cairo. Al-Azhar road cuts through Khan al Khalili market, and both sides are made up of delightfully traffic-free alleys and tiny streets.To the left of Al-Azhar road (as you leave the city centre) you will find a concentration of stalls and shops selling a tourist-centric idea of Egypt. Products on offer range from clothing and plastic tat, to quality handcrafted inlaid boxes, leatherware and gold.

For a more local shopping experience, you can wander back towards Al-Azhar, cross over and take any of the alleyways into the ‘Egyptian’ side – ‘Al Ghoureya,’ again, a commercial hub but one which sells everyday goods like bed linen, clothes and groceries. A wander around this side is pleasant impossible to navigate for the newcomer. I was ‘helped’ by a cunning guide, who seeing my camera and sensing that I was probably lost, had me on a whistle-stop tour of the many mosques hidden therein before I had a chance to say ‘Sharia al-Muizz li-Din Allah.’At the end of our half an hour, I realised that in typical tourist fashion, I’d been fleeced and he had probably earned his week’s wages in one go.

A tourist police officer and friend rest in Khan al Khalili
Photo by Rachel Adams

I’d read about a place to eat in Al-Azhar Park called Citadel View Restaurant, so I hopped in a microbus going towards it. The park is lovely at night. Families picnic, teenagers run around and as the sun goes down you can watch as the lights of the Mohammed Ali mosque are turned on. The food is good, a generous buffet of (mainly) fried fish, meats, samosas and vegetables is complemented by a varied salad bar and an excellent range of desserts including fresh fruit. After dinner you can stroll around the landscaped gardens, see a concert at the outdoor auditorium, or just take in the night sky and the view of the Mosque. It’s a lovely way to end a day around Cairo.

September 26, 2012