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Courtesy of SCA
A few years ago, looters have tried to cut into pieces a colossal red granite statue of the 19th Dynasty king Ramesses II at the southern quarry of Aswan.
By Tom Perry,
Reuters
CAIRO - The keeper of Egypt's archaeological treasures sees hope for the nation's future in its pharaonic past.
Mohammed Ibrahim, head of the antiquities ministry, likens Egypt's turbulent emergence from autocracy to the periods of decline that afflicted the nation on the Nile between the fall and rise of its three ancient kingdoms.
"We have passed through similar periods like that, even in antiquity," said Ibrahim, custodian of the pyramids, tombs and temples that bare witness to one of the world's oldest civilizations. "Every time Egypt passes through this period, it recovers very quickly, very strongly."
But for now, Ibrahim's ministry, is suffering from the repercussions of unrest that has hit the economy hard, driving away the tourism which pays his ministry's bills.
Excavation work led by the ministry has ground to a halt because of the financial squeeze. The unrest has also stopped many foreign-financed digs by deterring the archaeologists.
But the 59-year-old Egyptologist is upbeat: foreign archaeologists are starting to come back. And while the periods of decline between the ancient kingdoms could last 200 years, he expects Egypt to bounce back much sooner this time around.
"Egypt will be something new," he told Reuters in an interview at his offices in the medieval citadel that towers over the mosques of Cairo's Islamic quarter.
Head of Egyptian antiquities since late 2011, Ibrahim fills a post occupied for a decade by Zahi Hawass, who left office several months after the uprising that swept former President Hosni Mubarak from power after 30 years of autocratic rule.
With a doctorate in Egyptology from France, his career includes time as director of Sakkara, an ancient necropolis south of Cairo best known for the stepped pyramid that was a forerunner of the pyramids at Giza.
The job of managing Egypt's ancient antiquities is more complicated today than it was in Mubarak's era. The rise of Islamists repressed by the deposed autocrat has brought with it calls from a radical, if tiny, fringe for the destruction of pharanoic monuments on the grounds that are contrary to Islam.
Ibrahim says the issue has been exaggerated out of all proportion by the Egyptian media. Investigations were only able to uncover one such fatwa, or religious edict, he said.
Nevertheless, Ibrahim asked Egypt's Sunni Muslim authorities, including the prestigious al-Azhar mosque and university, to speak out.
"They all said we have more than one fatwa saying that pharaonic monuments are not against Islam, or Islam is not against pharaonic monuments," Ibrahim said. "So now this case is closed."
Recovering stolen artifacts
Ibrahim has also been trying to recover artifacts stolen at the height of the uprising in 2011. The greatest losses were at the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir Square, where some 40 artifacts went missing.
"We found about 15 objects, 29 artifacts are still missing," said Ibrahim. He takes pride in the fact that the museum housing King Tutankhamun's treasures has been kept open through the spasms of turmoil since the revolt to "send a positive message."
In an effort to draw back tourists, Ibrahim has reopened tombs and temples closed for years because of restoration.
These include Sakkara's sprawling underground Serapeum, the catacombs where mummified sacred bulls, or Apis, were buried. The Serapeum had been closed since the late 1990s. Six tombs have also been reopened at Giza plateau, together with the Pyramid of Chephren, the second largest.
He says the Grand Egyptian Museum being built near the Giza pyramids will be completed by August, 2015.
In another initiative to boost visitor numbers, Ibrahim said the aviation ministry would soon open routes from Red Sea beach resorts to Luxor and Aswan. "This also might encourage them to go ... at least for a day," he said.
In Luxor, home to the Valley of the Kings, Ibrahim laments hotel occupancy rates have slumped to 17 percent in the winter months that should mark the high season for cultural tourism.
"Egypt is still safe and welcoming those who want to come here," said Ibrahim. "If you want to help us, the only thing we need from you is to come back."
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The photo included with the story illustrates the real threat to Egypt's antiquities: not Islamic fundamentalism, but industrial-level looting of archaeological sites by organized gangs. Unfortunately, the reporter seems to have chosen to ignore the issue altogether. It would have been useful to know what if anything the antiquities chief is doing with the 30,000-plus employees, or what the Interior Ministry that formerly handled security on sites is doing, or what the Egyptian military is doing, to fill the security gap that now exists.
Larry, could you please explain to us how an English professor at the University of Chicago becomes a self-appointed antiquities looting expert......and more importantly, why???????????????????? Your past is a bit inexplicable and an explanation of what is in it for you is warranted.
As the photo illustrating this story indicates, the threat to Egypt's antiquities comes not from Islamic fundamentalists nor from a decline in foreign archaeological digs nor from a dropoff in tourism per se, but from industrial-scale looting of archaeological sites by organized mafias. The reporter would have served us better by asking the antiquities head whether he is taking any steps to put some of the 30,000 employees on his payroll out onto the sites to take up some of the security slack caused by the Interior Ministry's disarray, or whether he is putting any pressure on the Interior Ministry to do its job again, or whether he is putting any pressure on the Egyptian military to step into the security breach and put a stop to the destruction of Egypt's heritage at the hands of looters.
Larry your a bit of a loon
It's a good thing Indiana Jones is finished up there.....
At the top of the story, the pyramids, etc., don't "bare" witness but rather "bear" witness. Thanks.
History shows us that Islamic fundamentalists and ancient artifacts don't mix. Monuments have been destroyed or damaged (the Buddhas in Afghanistan, the Sphinx in Egypt come to mind) by them, no one knows what may have happened to the items lost from the Museum, but some of those recovered were damaged.
I do not share the good director's optimism.