The small, steep pyramids rising up from the desert hills of northern Sudan resemble those in neighboring Egypt, but unlike the famed pyramids of Giza, the Sudanese site is largely deserted.Members of the Sudanese security forces guard the historic Meroe pyramids in al-Bagrawiya, 200 kilometers north of Khartoum, Sudan. The pyramids at Meroe are deserted despite being a UNESCO World Heritage site like those at Giza in Egypt [Credit: AP/Mosa'ab Elshamy]Tour guides wait for tourists to offer them camel rides at the historic Meroe pyramids in al-Bagrawiya, 200 kilometers north of Khartoum, Sudan. The pyramids at Meroe are deserted despite being a UNESCO World Heritage site like those at Giza in Egypt [Credit: AP/Mosa'ab Elshamy]
The pyramids at Meroe, some 200 kilometers (125 miles) north of Sudan's capital, Khartoum, are rarely visited despite being a UNESCO World Heritage site like those in Egypt. Sanctions against the government of longtime President Omar al-Bashir over Sudan's long-running internal conflicts limit its access to foreign aid and donations, while also hampering tourism.
A general view of the historic Meroe pyramids site, in al-Bagrawiya, 200 kilometers north of Khartoum, Sudan. The steep, small pyramids rise over the desert hills, a stunning reminder of the ancient Nubian kingdom that once ruled Egypt and ones not nearly as often visited those of its neighbor [Credit: AP/Mosa'ab Elshamy]A view of the historic Meroe pyramids in al-Bagrawiya, 200 kilometers north of Khartoum, Sudan. The site once served as the principle residence of the rulers of the Kush kingdom, known as the Black Pharaohs. Their pyramids, ranging from 6-meters to 30-meters tall, are some 4,600 years old [Credit: AP/Mosa'ab Elshamy]
The site, known as the Island of Meroe because an ancient, long-dried river ran around it, once served as the principle residence of the rulers of the Kush kingdom, known as the Black Pharaohs. Their pyramids, ranging from 6 meters (20 feet) to 30 meters (100 feet) tall, were built between 720 and 300 B.C. The entrances usually face east to greet the rising sun.
Hieroglyphics are pictured inside a room at the historic Meroe pyramids, a sign of the influence of ancient Egyptian civilization on the Sudanese Meroite kingdom, in al-Bagrawiya, 200 kilometers north of Khartoum, Sudan. The pyramids bear decorative elements from the cultures of Pharaonic Egypt, Greece and Rome, according to UNESCO, making them priceless relics [Credit: AP/Mosa'ab Elshamy]Local tourists visit the Meroe pyramids in al-Bagrawiya, 200 kilometers north of Khartoum, Sudan. Sudan’s tourism industry has been devastated by a series of economic sanctions imposed over the country’s civil war and the conflict in Darfur [Credit: AP/Mosa'ab Elshamy]
The pyramids bear decorative elements inspired by Pharaonic Egypt, Greece and Rome, according to UNESCO, making them priceless relics. However, overeager archaeologists in the 19th century tore off the golden tips of some pyramids and reduced some to rubble, said Abdel-Rahman Omar, the head of the National Museum of Sudan in Khartoum.
Sudanese security guards walk next to one of the Meroe pyramids, in al-Bagrawiya, 200 kilometers north of Khartoum, Sudan. The site once served as the principle residence of the rulers of the Kush kingdom, known as the Black Pharaohs. Their pyramids, ranging from 6-meters to 30-meters tall, are some 4,600 years old [Credit: AP/Mosa'ab Elshamy]Names of visitors are seen carved into the stones of one of the Meroe pyramids, in al-Bagrawiya, 200 kilometers north of Khartoum, Sudan. The pyramids at Meroe are deserted despite being a UNESCO World Heritage site like those at Giza in Egypt [Credit: AP/Mosa'ab Elshamy]
On a recent day, a few tourists and white camels roamed the site, watched by a handful of security guards. Sudan's tourism industry has been devastated by economic sanctions imposed over the conflicts in Darfur and other regions. Al-Bashir's government, which came to power following a bloodless Islamist coup in 1989, has struggled to care for its antiquities.
A view of the historic Meroe pyramids in al-Bagrawiya, 200 kilometers north of Khartoum, Sudan. The steep, small pyramids rise over the desert hills, a stunning reminder of the ancient Nubian kingdom that once ruled Egypt and ones not nearly as visited as those of its neighbor [Credit: AP/Mosa'ab Elshamy]A Sudanese tour guide and a member of the security forces observes a temple at the Meroe pyramids site, in al-Bagrawiya, 200 kilometers north of Khartoum, Sudan. The pyramids at Meroe are deserted despite being a UNESCO World Heritage site like those at Giza in Egypt [Credit: AP/Mosa'ab Elshamy]
Qatar has pledged $135 million to renovate and support Sudan's antiquities in the last few years. But Omar said Sudan still receives just 15,000 tourists per year.
Author: Maggie Michael | Source: The Associated Press [April 26, 2015]
Egypt has taken legal actions to restore dozens of artifacts smuggled to Israel amid the rising illicit digging activities carried out in several Egyptian archaeological sites following the 2011 uprising, sources told Youm7.Damaged Pharaonic objects lie on the floor and in broken cases in the Malawi Antiquities Museum [Credit: AP/Roger Anis]
The move comes after extended diplomatic talks, carried out between the Egyptian Embassy in Tel Aviv and officials from the Israeli government have failed, the source added.
“In order to return the smuggled artifacts, the Israeli government stipulated the reinstatement of Egypt’s ambassador to Israel, who was pulled in protest at Israeli airstrikes on the Gaza Strip in November 2011,” according to the source.
Head of the Restored Antiquities Department (RAD) Ali Ahmad told The Cairo Post that there are 126 artifacts in question spanning several eras of Egypt’s Paranoiac history.
“These artifacts, including clay vessels, vases and figurines were monitored during a routine search of international auction halls periodically carried out by members of the RAD,” said Ahmed.
In November 2014, former Egyptian Antiquities Minister Mohamed Ibrahim contacted the Interpol to “follow up with the responsible authorities in Jerusalem and to ask the Israeli authorities to conduct background checks on the proof of ownership and explain how it left Egypt as a prelude to reclaim,” AFP reported.
Based on UNESCO’s 1970 Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property, the Egyptian Embassy in Tel Aviv filed a lawsuit to restore the artifacts, the source said.
“The lawsuit in order to proceed, the Israeli court is expected to summon an antiquity expert from Egypt to rule on the authenticity of the mentioned,” the source said, adding the Egyptian government also has to prove “the artifacts are registered in the antiquities ministry’s archives and that they were stolen from archaeological sites, museums and the ministry’s storerooms.”
According to Ahmed, if an artifact was found on an e-commerce website or listed at an auction house abroad, the RAD contacts Interpol, the Egyptian tourism and antiquities police and the Foreign Ministry’s cultural relations department which, in its turn, informs Egypt’s embassy in the country where the artifact has been detected to stop the sale until it is proven the artifact left Egypt in a legal way.
“In order to stop the sale of an artifact, Interpol requires information including the laws of the country where the artifact was detected. Among required information is when and from where the artifact was allegedly stolen along with a full description of the registered artifacts,” according to Ahmed.
The artifact’s provenances (document that trace an artifact’s chain of ownership back to its excavation), is among the evidence required to prove Egypt’s legibility.
Egypt’s political turmoil since the January 25 Revolution in 2011 and its consequent security lapses left much of the country’s cultural heritage vulnerable to looting. In spite of the efforts of the Egyptian government in tracking smuggled artifacts inside Egypt and in auction houses abroad, many items are unaccounted for.
Author: Rany Mostafa | Source: The Cairo Post [May 25, 2015]
Egypt said on Sunday it has recovered 123 ancient artefacts that had been smuggled outside the country and were later confiscated in New York.Egyptian sarcophagus that dates back to the Greco-Roman era found in a garage in Brooklyn in 2009 [Credit: U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement]
Egypt's major archaeological sites were targeted for looting after the 2011 uprising that toppled former president Hosni Mubarak.
Thousands of artefacts, most obtained from illicit digs, later surfaced on the international market, at auction and on websites.
The 123 artefacts to be returned were "illegally taken outside Egypt, and have been confiscated by the US customs authority in New York," Antiquities Minister Mamdouh al-Damati said in a statement.
One of two Middle Kingdom wooden boat models being returned by the US to Egypt [Credit: U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement]
"Egypt proved its ownership of the artefacts and the United States has decided to return them."
The items were on a ministry list of smuggled items, and include a group of coloured coffins dating back to the 26th dynasty, a stele from the new kingdom and several Graeco-Roman coins.
Officials say the artefacts will be repatriated in the next few days.
Egypt has signed several agreements that enable it to reclaim such ancient pieces after proving their ownership and that they had been smuggled abroad.
Militants tried to attack the ancient temple of Karnak in southern Egypt on Wednesday, with a suicide bomber blowing himself up and two gunmen battling police. No sightseers were hurt in the thwarted assault, but it suggested that Islamic extremists are shifting targets from security forces to the country's vital tourism industry.A suicide bomber blew himself up on Wednesday just steps away from the ancient Egyptian temple in Luxor, a southern city visited by millions of tourists every year, security and health officials said. No tourists were killed or hurt in the late morning attack [Credit: AP]
The violence left the bomber and one gunman dead, the other wounded and arrested, and four other people wounded. The temple was not damaged.
The attackers carried guns in backpacks, and one wore a belt of explosives. They rode in a taxi through a police checkpoint to a parking lot and sat at a cafe and ordered lemonades, witnesses told The Associated Press. The taxi driver, suspicious after they refused his offer to help with the packs, alerted police.
When a policeman approached, the bomber tried to hug him, but the policeman wrestled away. Seconds later, he detonated the explosives, and the others pulled automatic weapons from their bags and opened fire wildly, sending a small group of European tourists running for cover, the witnesses said.
The attack followed one this month outside the famed Giza Pyramids in which gunmen killed two policemen. The violence points to a change in tactics by Islamic militants against the government of President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi. For two years, attacks have been centered in the Sinai Peninsula, mostly by a group that has sworn allegiance to the Islamic State group and largely focused on retaliation against police and soldiers.
A campaign against tourism, one of the main sources of foreign revenue, could deal a blow to el-Sissi's promises to repair Egypt's economy.
Tourism has just started to show signs of recovery after plunging in the turmoil since the 2011 uprising that ousted autocrat Hosni Mubarak. The first five months of this year saw tourism revenues up 9 percent from the same period last year, Tourism Minister Khaled Ramy said.
Ramy said he expects the slow recovery to continue despite the attack, and he underscored how police had thwarted it.
"Security forces were there. It's a very important message to everyone," he told the AP on a flight from Cairo to Luxor.
Mohammed Sayed Badr, the governor of Luxor province, said the attack was "an attempt to break into the temple of Karnak."
"They didn't make it in," he said.
But witnesses noted it was civilian bystanders who alerted police to the threat.
A crowd looks on at the site of a suicide bombing, near Karnak Temple in Luxor, Egypt, Wednesday, June 10, 2015 [Credit: AP]
Karnak, one of Egypt's biggest attractions, is a giant complex of temples, statues, obelisks and columns built by pharaonic dynasties alongside the Nile. The oldest sections date back nearly 4,000 years.
Access to the site is through a gate and a roadblock, leading to a parking lot and visitors' center hundreds of yards from the ancient structure, which is reachable only on foot.
The waiter who served the men said only one spoke to him and had an accent from northern Egypt, while the others stopped talking when he approached. When they paid their bill, he said he refused to take their tip.
"They looked scary. ... One of them had really bad eyes," said the waiter, who asked to be identified only by his first name, Ikrami, for fear of problems with police for talking to the media.
Another cafe employee, Abdel-Nasser Mohammed, said the taxi driver reported his suspicions about the men to police. As the three walked away, a policeman approached them, leading to the tussle between the officer and the bomber, Mohammed said.
The bomber triggered the blast near a public restroom, and the other two opened fire. One ran toward the visitors' center, and a policeman shot him in the head, Mohammed said.
Tourist shop owner Sheik Ahmed Abdel-Mawgoud said he been standing near the restroom only seconds before the blast.
"When the explosion happened, I ran for cover and told my friend, a tour guide, to run with the tourists with him. I screamed at him, 'Terrorism!'" he told the AP. h The exchange of fire with police lasted several minutes, witnesses said, and two policemen were among the wounded.
Only a handful of tourists and Egyptians were in the temple at the time, security officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media.
AP video of the scene showed what was believed to be the remains of the bomber covered with a black sheet with pools of blood nearby.
The monument "is safe and unaffected and visitors continue to arrive," temple director Mohammed Abdel-Aziz told the AP. Four groups of foreigners visited after the attack.
There was no claim of responsibility, but the attack bore the hallmarks of Islamic militants who have operating in the Sinai Peninsula.
Egyptian security officials stand guard as tourists visit the ruins of the Karnak Temple in Luxor, Egypt, Wednesday, June 10, 2015 [Credit: Hassan Ammar/AP]
Last year, the main Sinai-based insurgent group, Ansar Beit al-Maqdis, pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group, which has destroyed archaeological landmarks in Syria and Iraq, viewing them as idolatrous.
The violence in Sinai accelerated and spread to other parts of Egypt following the 2013 military overthrow of Islamist President Mohammed Morsi. The militants say the attacks are in retaliation for a massive crackdown on Islamists in Egypt.
A senior security official said investigators are looking to see whether the Luxor attackers are Egyptians and whether it marks an expansion of the violence to southern Egypt, which was a breeding ground for the militants of the 1990s and 2000.
In the 1990s, Islamic militants targeted tourism to try to undermine the economy. The deadliest attack was in Luxor in November 1997, 58 people were killed at the 3,400-year-old Hatshepsut Temple.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to reporters, said the new breed of militants were unknown to the authorities. But he said the latest attack was a qualitative shift in the militants' target.
The attack coincided with a major regional economic summit, hosted by el-Sissi at the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh.
Luxor is home to some of Egypt's most famous ancient temples and pharaonic tombs, including that of King Tutankhamun. The city has been one the sites hit hardest by the sharp downturn in foreign visitors since the 2011 uprising.
Before the turmoil, tourism accounted for as much as 20 percent of Egypt's foreign currency revenues, with as a high of 14.7 million visitors in 2010.
After the uprising, those numbers plunged to 9.6 million, and then fell lower in 2013 after Morsi's ouster. Tourists have been coming back slowly, with revenues jumping to $4 billion so far this year, compared with $1.9 billion in the same period in 2014.
Beach resorts in southern Sinai and along the Red Sea coast have drawn most of the visitors, with cultural sites like Luxor seeing only a trickle. Most tourists in the searing heat of the summer months come to Luxor only for a one-day trip from the Red Sea resort of Hurghada.
Wednesday's attack is likely to result in cancellations in bookings for Luxor, although the blow is cushioned by the fact that it is low season and most tourists stay away until October.
Three major German operators, TUI Deutschland, the Germany branch of Thomas Cook and L'TUR, said they are temporarily canceling excursions to Luxor, but stressed that most of their customers are at Red Sea resorts or on Nile cruises.
"We have no reason to advise against traveling to Egypt at the present time, since the German Foreign Ministry hasn't changed its security guidance," said L'TUR spokesman Thomas Pluennecke. "But, as a precaution, we have stopped all excursions to Luxor. Of course we take the situation seriously."
Authors: Sarah el Deeb & Haggag Salama | Source: The Associated Press [June 10, 2015]
For more than a decade, he was the self-styled Indiana Jones of Egypt, presiding over its antiquities and striding through temples and tombs as the star of TV documentaries that made him an international celebrity.In this June 18, 2015 photo, Zahi Hawass, Egypt's former head of antiquities, speaks during an interview with The Associated Press in his office in Cairo. For more than a decade, he was the self-styled Indiana Jones of Egypt, presiding over its antiquities and striding through temples and tombs as the star of TV documentaries that made him an international celebrity. But four years after the 2011 uprising that toppled President Hosni Mubarak and nearly ended his own career, Hawass can be found in a cramped office, lamenting the state of the antiquities bureaucracy he once ruled like a pharaoh and dreaming of a new museum whose fate lies in limbo [Credit: AP/Hassan Ammar]
But four years after the uprising that toppled President Hosni Mubarak and nearly ended his own career, Zahi Hawass can be found in a cramped Cairo office, lamenting the state of the antiquities bureaucracy he once ruled like a pharaoh and dreaming of a new museum whose fate lies in limbo.
His trademark wide-brimmed hat and safari vest may be hung up for now, but he is brimming with ideas on how to revive Egypt's antiquities and bring back tourists after years of unrest.
A long-planned new facility out by the pyramids, called the Grand Egyptian Museum, was intended to open this year, but the government says it is short the one billion dollars needed to complete the project.
"Government routine cannot work for museums," Hawass said in an interview in his office, asserting that state bureaucracy is one of the main reasons the current Egyptian Museum has fallen into disrepair. For the new museum, "the directorship, the curatorship, it can be from America, from Germany, from England, from any place in the world. You need this museum to be international."
He also says private, international sponsorship is needed.
"If you pay $10,000, I put your name, written on the wall of the museum. If you pay $100,000, I put your name on the facade of the museum. If you build a whole gallery, I will name (the gallery after you)," he said, adding that the government should announce that Egyptian monuments belong to the entire world, not just Egyptians.
As to the challenge of moving artifacts from the current museum in downtown Cairo over bumpy roads to the site of the new facility on the city's outskirts, Hawass says "any TV channel" would pick up the tab in return for exclusive rights to document the artifacts' restoration and transport. "They will run in competition to do this," he said.
Hawass knows TV. He was once a staple on the Discovery Channel and had his own reality show on the History Channel called "Chasing Mummies," the promo for which introduced him by saying "100,000 years of history belong to one man... Only he holds the key to the world's greatest ruins."
The productions earned him droves of fans abroad but led to accusations of grandstanding in Egypt, where he was seen by many as a self-promoter who mistreated subordinates and abused his position for personal gain. He lost his job as head of antiquities after the 2011 uprising and faced corruption charges, of which he was later cleared.
But his swashbuckling antics gave a boost to Egyptian archaeology, with fundraising efforts and international tours of King Tut artifacts generating tens of millions of dollars.
His name is still associated with many of Egypt's most famous digs, including grand discoveries such as the Valley of the Golden Mummies in Bahariya Oasis in 1999 and the mummy of Queen Hatshepsut almost a decade later. He has long campaigned to bring home ancient artifacts spirited out of Egypt during colonial times, and once said he had managed to recover 5,000 pieces.
Zahi was an outspoken supporter of his longtime patron Mubarak, and has praised President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, who led the military overthrow of an Islamist president in 2013 and was elected last year. But that support has not translated into an official role other than promotional work for tourism in Egypt.
When asked about the state of antiquities today, Hawass says things have improved over the last year, carefully avoiding direct criticism of anyone in particular. But he points out that there is still theft, mismanagement and corruption - noting two incidents in recent months in which artifacts were found to have been replaced with replicas.
"This did not happen before," he said, adding that in order to prevent such abuses, "we need to restore the people before we restore antiquities," by boosting employees' salaries and providing them with health insurance.
Hawass insisted during the interview that he is focused on writing and has no desire to return to his previous position as head of the country's antiquities. "People come here every day and ask me to come back... I think I did my duty, and it's time for me now to publish all that I discovered."
But at the glitzy launch of his latest book earlier this month at a ceremony at a five-star hotel attended by hundreds of Cairo's elite, he was less guarded about possible ambitions to return.
"Maybe," he said, as a torrent of fans pressed to take photos next to him.
Author: Brian Rohan | Source: The Associated Press [June 30, 2015]
In a cultural event held by Alexandrina Bibliotheca on Monday, Ibrahim said the project will be a culturally entertaining one that will completely change tourism in Egypt.
“After the Mediterranean Sea submerged ancient Alexandria as result of an earthquake, excavation works have helped to recover thousands of relics that date back to different historic eras like the pharaonic, Ptolemaic, Romanian and Islamic.”
“Doubles of these relics are still underwater, which led us to think about the first underwater museum in Egypt. According to our designs, it will be a glass one,” he added.
Among the obstacles that face the project, Ibrahim included “the wide areas of submerged antiquities underwater, the necessity of having a large number of archaeological divers to carry out periodic maintenance. Also, ships and sailing boats will be banned from navigating above the museum area.”
Mona Mokhtar, a tour guide who holds a master's degree on maritime museums said, “My master's thesis came down to the fact that 65 percent of tourists in the world look for entertainment, while 10 percent search for culture and 25 percent for other reasons, including treatment.”
“Constructing the first underwater museum in Egypt will be a mix between entertainment and cultural tourism, as it will offer diving and historic information on the story of Egypt's submerged antiquities and the eras they belong to,” Ibrahim said.
A collection of 32 ancient Egyptian artefacts is to return back to Egypt in June after Egypt successfully asserted ownership of the objects.A collection of 32 ancient Egyptian artefacts will be repatriated to Egypt from Switzerland in June [Credit: AhramOnline]
Ali Ahmed, director of antiquities repatriation, told Ahram Online that the objects included limestone and wooden statues as well as a collection of limestone blocks from chapels across dfferent pharaonic periods.
The objects were seized by the Swiss police within the framework of a bilateral agreement between Egypt and Switzerland that prohibits the illegal import and export of cultural properties.
Minister of Antiquities Mamdouh Eldamaty said the objects are to be handed over to Egypt’s ambassador to Switzerland at the Federal Office for Culture in Bern during an event to mark tenth anniversary of the passage into Swiss law of a prohibition on illegal trade in cultural property.
The Antiquities Ministry's decision to demolish a Hellenistic-era archaeological site in Alexandria was carried out on Thursday, destroying the ancient ruins and leveling the area into a flat lot.View of the Hellenistic-era archaeological ruins of a Al-Abd Theater that were bulldozed on Thursday [Credit: Egypt's Heritage Task Force]
The site of Al-Abd Theater in Camp Shizar , which was discovered in 2013, dates back to the Roman and Hellenistic eras 323 BC and lies in a residential neighborhood just a block inland from the Mediterranean coast.
The Facebook group Egypt's Heritage Task Force, who campaigned unsuccessfully to save the site, posted photos of the site before and after it was destroyed. The group claimed the Antiquities Ministry was ceding the land over to a contractor to build on the lot.
The empty lot of Al-Abd Theater archaeological site in a residential zone after being levelled [Credit: Egypt's Heritage Task Force]
Alexandria Antiquities Director Mostafa Roshdy said the site was demolished after residents complained it threatened the architectural stability of the adjacent buildings. “The technical report said the depth of the excavations threaten the surrounding buildings and recommended to close the site,” he told newspaper Youm7.
One resident, Mostafa Hussein, complained after he noticed cracks appearing in his neighboring building.
The Hellenistic-era ruins of Al-Abd Theater before it was demolished [Credit: Egypt's Heritage Task Force]
Archaeologists were able to recover some artifacts from the site before the ancient structures were destroyed. “So we decided to evacuate the site, take some of the artifacts that can be moved to the museum and leave the rest that are cracked and are difficult to restore,” Mohamed Mostafa, from the Antiquities Ministry, told the Youm7 earlier this month.
The demolition of the archaeological site demonstrates the difficulty of governmental authorities to both appease locals and responsibly manage the country's rich archaeological history with limited resources. Archaeological sites across Egypt also face looters, in addition to restoration and maintenance issues related to lack of funding.
He added that the buildings in the Pyramids Plateau and the area from Al-Remaya Square until the Fayoum Road are encroachments on archaeological sites.
“Antiquities are not a priority for decision-makers in Egypt,” he said, noting that the scientific advisors have noted include archaeologists. “And all that people are interested in is whether it was the Jews who built the pyramids.”
“Sixty artifacts were stolen from the Egyptian Museum, in addition to many other pieces from the museums of Kantara. Mit Rahina and Malawi,” he said. “And there are 300 acres of the archaeological area in Abu Sir from which artifacts were stolen.”
He said Israel stole 45,000 artifacts from Sinai during the occupation, of which 38,000 were repatriated in the 1990s. “They wanted to keep four particular pieces, but I refused and told them only the Egyptian people have the right to dispose of them,” he said.
“There are neglected archaeological sites in Maadi, Helwan, Imbaba, Giza, Memphis and Old Cairo,” he said.
For his part, Syndicate Chairman Tarek al-Nabarawy said he cannot understand why the historical house of President Nasser has also been neglected, despite its great political and historical value.
In collaboration with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Egypt's embassy in London, the Ministry of Antiquities succeeded to recover a piece of a column that was stolen and illegally smuggled out of the country many years ago.The recovered piece [Credit: Ahram Online]
Ali Ahmed, head of the Antiquities Repatriation Department, told Ahram Online that the returned piece is carved of sandstone and engraved with a scene depicting the god Amun Re. It was a part of a column found at Tuthmosis hall at Karnak Temple on Luxor's east bank.
The piece was in the gallery of Karnak that was subjected to looting in the aftermath of January 2011 revolution.
The piece is registered in the Ministry of Antiquities official documents and dates back to the 18th dynasty. It is 36cm wide and 29cm tall.
Minister of Antiquities Mamdouh Eldamaty explained that the piece was in the possession in a British citizen who bought it from the market without knowing that it was a stolen piece. Upon his knowledge, the British citizen agreed to return the piece back to Egypt.
The piece is to be sent to the restoration lab of the Egyptian museum for inspection and restoration before returning it to its original position in Karnak.
The Ministry of Antiquities approved the development of the Mons Claudianus archaeological site into an open air museum to exhibit the quarrying process used in Egypt during the Roman era.The Mons Claudianus archaeological site that stretches from the Red Sea to Qena province is to be restored with the view of developing it into an open air museum of Roman era quarrying in Egypt [Credit: Wikimapia]
Mons Claudianus is an area for granite quarries and houses a garrison, a quarrying site, a complete workers settlement with a horse stable and a granite water container.
Fragments of granite items have also been found, along with broken columns and a number of engraved ostraca (broken pottery).
Minister of Antiquities Mamdouh Eldamaty told Ahram Online that during the Roman era, the area was called Granodiorite and it was used as a mine to collect construction materials.
A wall relief fragment was hacked out from the 3,850 year-old tomb of Djehutyhotep, according to a Tuesday Facebook statement by the Catholic Leuven University archaeology mission.Close-up view showing scratches made by tomb robbers [Credit: KU Leuven - Egyptologie]
The fragment in question measures 30 by 50 centimeters (12 by 20 inches.) The archaeology mission, currently carrying out excavations where the tomb is located, has posted photos of the wall and the fragment before and after the looting.
“We have since been trying to get reliable information on this matter from the antiquities authorities. The reports we now have are consistent in confirming the grave news that the tomb has been entered and that a relief has been stolen,” said the statement.
Co-founder of Egypt’s Heritage Task Force archaeologist Monica Hanna told The Cairo Post that she first reported the shocking looting and extensive destruction of the tomb on May 11.
The tomb is located in Deir el-Bersha, an archaeological site from the east bank of the Nile to the south of Egypt’s Delta governorate of Minya, according to Hanna.
“A small scene to the east of the entrance has been hacked out. It was damaged already in Newberry’s day (1891-1892), but it still showed the well preserved top part of a man carrying a chest towards Djehutihotep. It was also one of the few reliefs where the head of a figure was still in good condition,” said the statement.
Scene at the tomb showing Djehutyhotep standing and being purified. To the right is a mark showing the fragment reportedly hacked out [Credit: KU Leuven – Egyptologie]
We have no photos at our disposal that confirm what the other walls of the tomb look like, according to the statement.
Deir el-Bersha was the necropolis for the governors of ancient Upper Egypt’s 15th province during the First Intermediate Period (2160B.C.-2040B.C.) and the Middle Kingdom Period (2040B.C-1750B.C.), according to Hanna.
Head of Upper Egypt Antiquities Department Aly el-Asfar has confirmed to the Cairo Post an attempt to loot the tomb but said the attempt was foiled by security forces, saying that the tomb is “sound and safe.”
“The tomb of Djehutyhotep was penetrated earlier this month but the assailants did not take anything from the tomb,” Asfar said, adding that the police forces have arrested the assailants.
Djehutyhotep was most likely a nomarch (province governor) during the reign of the 12th Dynasty Pharaoh Amenemhat II (1922B.C-1878B.C.) all the tombs in the area are badly preserved except for Djehutyhotep’s tomb, which is renowned for the great quality of its decorations.
Author: Rany Mostafa | Source: The Cairo Post [May 26, 2015]
Police have arrested two curators of a new Cairo museum for allegedly stealing ancient artefacts and replacing them with replicas, the antiquities ministry said on Wednesday.An Egyptian soldier walks between replica of pharaonic statues placed at the site of Egypt's new Museum [Credit: AFP]
Looting of the country's cultural heritage has increased since the popular uprising that ousted Hosni Mubarak in 2011 and during the years of political turmoil that followed.
The huge National Museum of Egyptian Civilisation was created in collaboration with UNESCO and has yet to open to the public.
"Two curators were arrested while replacing a pharaonic statue of (fourth dynasty) King Menkaure, discovered in Luxor's Karnak temple, and an ancient Islamic lantern with fake ones," Antiquities Minister Mamdouh al-Damati said in a statement.
The arrests came following a police investigation into ancient Islamic artefacts being stolen from the museum's storage area and later being put up for auction in London.
A ministry committee will make an inventory of the "priceless" collection that includes artefacts from prehistoric times to the present day, the statement added.
The tomb of Djehutyhotep in Deir el-Bersha, famous for its scene of a colossal statue being dragged by ropes, got looted ten days ago.The tomb of Djehutyhotep at Deir el-Berhsa [Credit: Osiris.net]
According to an Egypt’s heritage Task Force report, looters have hacked out the tomb’s unique scenes and may have proceeded to smuggle them.
Deir el-Bersha, situated on the east bank of the Nile just north of Tell el-Amarna, was the necropolis (cemetery) of the First Intermediate Period (about 2160-2040 BC) and Middle Kingdom (about 2040-1750 BC) governors of the Fifteenth Upper Egyptian province (or nome).
Dating to the 12th Dynasty in the Middle Kingdom, the tomb was made for Djehutyhotep who served as the Nomarch (nome governor) of the Hare Nome (a prefecture within the Ancient Egyptian state) and is considered as Deir el Bersha’s most important funerary monument.
From the tomb of Djehutyhotep, Deir el-Bersha, Egypt 12th Dynasty, about 1850 BC. The famous scene of four teams of men dragging a huge statue of him [Credit: Egypt's Heritage Task Force]
The tomb has been known to the modern world since 1817, when the first drawings of some of its scenes also appeared.
It is particularly renowned for the scene (now destroyed) of four teams of men dragging a huge statue of him. Having being repeatedly looted, it was published and restored by Egyptologist Percy Newberry at the end of the 19th century.
Recent work on the site has been done by the Catholic University of Louvain mission.
Several objects from the tomb are now in the Cairo, British and Metropolitan museums.
Switzerland has returned 32 cultural treasures dating from the Pharaonic and Roman periods to the Egyptian Embassy in Bern, the Federal Office of Culture announced on Monday. The objects had been involved in a cantonal criminal procedure.A selection of the 32 ancient artefacts recently returned to the Egyptian Embassy in Bern [Credit: Swiss Federal Office of Culture]
Four of the pieces are of exceptional rarity, cultural significance and aesthetic quality. These include a bust of a pharaoh wearing a crown, a fragmented stone slab (known as a stele) depicting the patron goddess of Thebes from the era of the New Kingdom (circa 1500−1000 BC), and two architectural fragments with cult scenes from the Roman period (circa 753 BC to 476 AD).
The objects were returned to Egypt in conjunction with the celebration of the 10th anniversary of the Federal Act on the International Transfer of Cultural Property. The federal act marked the implementation of the 1970 UNESCO Convention on the illegal transfer of cultural goods.
On Tuesday, an international meeting will take place in Bern under the title “The UNESCO Convention of 1970: 10 years of implementation in Switzerland − The preservation of cultural heritage and the duty to care for cultural goods”.
The event will include discussion of the practical enforcement of the act both nationally and internationally, and the effect it has had on museums, archaeologists, art dealers, collectors and government authorities in its first ten years.
Following diplomatic negotiations, Egypt has succeeded to stop the sale of a unique ancient Egyptian statue at auction hall in Germany.The ivory statue dates from the Late New Kingdom to Early Late Period [Credit: Aton Gallery]
Minister of Antiquities Mamdouh Eldamaty announced that legal procedures and investigations are now taking place in Germany in order to return the statue to its homeland.
Eldamaty told Ahram Online that the statue was discovered in 2008 in Aswan by a Swiss archaeological mission and was stored since in the Elephantine archaeological galleries.
In 2013, the Elephantine galleries were subject to looting and the statue was stolen among other objects.
At the time, the Ministry of Antiquities created a list of the stolen objects and put it on the red list of Interpol, in order to guarantee its return if it appeared in any auction hall or on the antiquities trading market.
Ahmed Ali, head of the repatriation of stolen antiquities section, said that the statue is carved in ivory and depicts a figure holding a gazelle on its shoulders.
The Lighthouse of Alexandria, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World that was badly damaged by three earthquakes, will be rebuilt nearby its original location.The lighthouse is thought to have had three distinct sections, as this 2006 computer-generated image shows [Credit: WikiCommons]
In its meeting last week, “members of the Permanent Committee of the Egyptian Antiquities have approved an old project, submitted previously by the Alexandria governorate, aiming to revive the lighthouse,” Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities SCA Dr. Mostafa Amin told Youm7.
He explained that members of the committee agreed on reconstructing the Lighthouse on an area of land located a few meters to the southwest of the landmark’s original location. A comprehensive study has been completed and submitted to Alexandria governorate for final approval, he added.
The Lighthouse, also known as the Pharos, was badly damaged due to a series of earthquakes hit Alexandria and the Mediterranean area between the 3rd and 12th centuries, Greco-Roman archaeology professor Fathy Khourshid told The Cairo Post Tuesday.
“A severe earthquake in 1303 caused a huge destruction of the monument before the Mamluk Sultan Qaitbay in 1480 reused the monument’s ruins to construct a fortress (currently standing and bearing his name) on the original location of the Pharos northwest of Alexandria,” according to Khourshid.
Built by the Greek architect Sostratus of Cnidus for the purpose of guiding sailors into the harbor, the tower was completed and inaugurated during the reign of Ptolemy II Philadelphus (285 B.C.-246B.C.), said Khourshid.
“The original building comprised three stages: a lower square section with a central core, a middle octagonal section and a circular section at its top,” he added.
Its top used to have a mirror that reflected sunlight during the day while a fire was lit at night in order to guide ships, said Khourshid.
In 1994, remains of the original building were unearthed on the floor of the sunken part of Alexandria’s eastern harbor.
With a height estimated at 130 meters, (420 feet) the tower was the tallest manmade structure on Earth for many centuries.
Author: Rany Mostafa | Source: The Cairo Post [May 06, 2015]
The 2,000-year-old mummified body of a Egyptian child in a casket that was found at a rubbish dump in France is to go on display for the first time after more than a year of careful restoration work partly funded by public donations.The Egyptian mummy of a 5-year-old girl was found in 2001 [Credit: Joel Saget/Getty Images]
The story of how the relic was discovered has entered local legend in Reuil-Malmaison after a resident, who has never been identified, turned up at the municipal dump in 2001 and asked where to throw her unwanted goods.
“She said: ‘Where shall I put this, it’s a mummy?’ We weren’t sure exactly what she was talking about. She just said she was clearing her cellar,” Jean-Louis Parichon, an employee at the dump, recalled shortly afterwards.
“I immediately saw it was an extraordinary thing and put it to one side. Then when I’d stopped being astonished, I called the town museum.”
After years of examination, experts declared that the mummy had been brought from Egypt by one of Napoleon’s generals in the mid-1850s.
The mummy, whose name from the hieroglyphics is Ta-Iset (she of Isis), is believed to date from around 350BC and comes from the Akhmim region in upper Egypt on the east bank of the river Nile.
Radiographic scans revealed that the mummified body is that of a girl “in her fourth year” measuring 92.5cm. The skeleton is well preserved and whole, the head is bent towards the chest, and the quality of the wraps and cask suggest a child of the Egyptian middle classes.
Although the linen bandages and coverings decorated with hieroglyphics were badly damaged, a stylised bird feather and inscription revealed the name Ta-Iset.
“A cut from a knife is visible on the side showing that certain people have already tried to see if [the casket] contained precious metals or amulets,” said Marie-Aude Picaud, director of the history museum at Reuil-Malmaison.
The town council contributed to the restoration, but a large part of the cost was raised by public donations.
Ta-Iset will now go on display in a temperature-controlled room at the town’s history museum.
Author: Kim Willsher | Source: The Guardian [May 13, 2015]
All stolen artifacts from the the Graeco-Roman Museum’s store in Alexandria were recovered Monday, head of the central administration for antiquities Youssef Khalefa announced.Graeco-Roman Museum, Alexandria [Credit: Web]
Some 47 artifacts were stolen on Saturday, including a granite statute of a man and a woman, 31 coins of the Graeco-Roman era and 15 pots and bottles used to store perfume, Khaleefa told Youm7.
The pieces have been placed in temporary storage until the re-inauguration of the museum after restoration work is completed. The store contains some 2,500 pieces.
Earlier on Monday, eight people allegedly involved in the theft were arrested and referred to prosecution. They will be detained for four days pending investigations.
Preliminary investigations into the incident showed damages to door locks of the store as well as other artifacts were broken.
Work at the museum was halted for five years due to political circumstances following the January 25 Revolution in 2011. The Minister of Antiquities recently stated that the total repairs at the museum will cost 10 million EGP ($1.3 million.)
Palmyra is in danger. As Islamic State fighters clash with Syrian government forces around the historic site, it is worth considering what the loss of this wonder, dubbed the "Venice of the Sands", would mean for the world's cultural heritage.Palmyra is one of the best-known ancient sites in the world [Credit: EPA]
Palmyra is the last place anyone would expect to find a forest of stone columns and arches. Travellers in the 17th and 18th centuries were repeatedly astonished by what they saw: a vast field of ruins in the middle of the Syrian desert, roughly half-way between the Mediterranean coast and the valley of the River Euphrates.
For anyone visiting, however, the key reason for the site's prosperity is immediately apparent: ancient Palmyra sits at the edge of an oasis of date palms and gardens.
It was as a watering place on a trade route from the east that Palmyra's story begins, and the very name Palmyra refers to the date palms that still dominate the area (the origin of its Semitic name, Tadmor, is less certain; a derivation from tamar - date palm - is favoured).
Palmyrene power
For such a remote city Palmyra occupies a prominent place in Middle Eastern history. From modest beginnings in the 1st Century BC, Palmyra gradually rose to prominence under the aegis of Rome until, during the 3rd Century AD, the city's rulers challenged Roman power and created an empire of their own that stretched from Turkey to Egypt.
Palmyra was once a thriving trade hub to rival any city in the Roman Empire [Credit: AFP]
The story of its Queen Zenobia, who fought against the Roman Emperor Aurelian, is well known; but it is less well-known that Palmyra also fought another empire: that of the Sasanian Persians.
In the middle of the third century, when the Sasanians invaded the Roman Empire and captured the Emperor Valerian, it was the Palmyrenes who defeated them and drove them back across the Euphrates.
For several decades Rome had to rely on Palmyrene power to prop up its declining influence in the east.
Unique attributes
Palmyra was a great Middle Eastern achievement, and was unlike any other city of the Roman Empire.
The remains, like the ancient theatre, drew throngs of tourists before the war [Credit: AFP]
It was quite unique, culturally and artistically. In other cities the landed elites normally controlled affairs, whereas in Palmyra a merchant class dominated the political life, and the Palmyrenes specialised in protecting merchant caravans crossing the desert.
Like Venice, the city formed the hub of a vast trade network, only with the desert as its sea and camels as its ships.
Even so, archaeology has revealed that they were no strangers to the sea itself.
Palmyrenes travelled down the Euphrates to the Gulf to engage in seaborne trade with India, and even maintained a presence in the Red Sea ports of Egypt.
The wealth they derived from the eastern trade in exotic goods they invested in imposing architectural projects in their home city.
The well-preserved remains of edifices such as the great sanctuary of the Palmyrene Gods (generally known as the Temple of Bel), a grand colonnaded street and a theatre stand to this day.
Historical threat
What has been excavated has revealed a vibrant Middle Eastern culture with its own distinct sense of identity.
UNESCO describes Palmyra as a heritage site of "outstanding universal value" [Credit: AFP]
The Palmyrenes were proud to adorn their buildings with monumental writing in their own Semitic script and language rather than relying exclusively on Greek or Latin (which was the norm elsewhere).
Palmyra developed its own artistic style, and its own take on Classical architecture. Decorative patterns on its buildings and its inhabitants' styles of dress speak of widespread connections with east and west.
Chinese silks have been found adorning mummies in Palmyrene tombs. Theirs was a cosmopolitan culture with an international outlook.
Yet we still know comparatively little.
Only small parts of the site have been excavated. Most of the archaeology lies just beneath the surface rather than deeply buried, and it is particularly vulnerable to looting.
Like other sites in Syria Palmyra has undoubtedly been plundered during the present conflict. But given the track record of ISIS in Iraq there are reasons to fear systematic looting and destruction should Palmyra fall into their hands.
If that happens, a major chapter in Middle Eastern history and culture will be yet another casualty of this tragic conflict.
Author: Prof Kevin Butcher | Source: BBC News Website [May 15, 2015]
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