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The planned eviction of the Qurna villagers and demolition of the village on the 16th April was postponed. This postponement was not totally unexpected as there have been numerous attempts at moving the Qurna villagers from the archaeological area in the West Bank at Thebes in the past, all of which did not take place, even though new and better accommodation was provided for them elsewhere in Luxor. This will surly not be the last attempt at moving this village, and one day the government will probably be successful. |
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| The new visitor centre for the Valley of the Kings was opened on the 15th May 2006. This centre has signage in English, Arabic and Japanese and will offer video footage provided by the SCA and National Geographic Channel. This centre will also house the new ticket office and offer books and plans on the archaeological monuments of the region. |
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| At Saqqara, the new Imhotep Museum and Visitor Centre were opened to the public after their initial inauguration by Mrs. Suzanne Mubarak and Mrs. Bernadette Chirac. The museum and visitor centre are welcome improvements to the Saqqara Plateau and helps the visitors understand better the monuments they are visiting. The Saqqara Plateau is one of the largest necropolises in Egypt, housing 18 pyramids, many Early Dynastic, Old and New Kingdom tombs, along with the Serapeum: a gallery of tombs for the Apis Bull. Many of the objects in the new museum were donated from the French Institutes (IFAO) excavations at Saqqara, which have also this year (2006) discovered the eighteenth pyramid at (South) Saqqara. The Imhotep Museum houses some architectural parts of Djoser’s Step Pyramid Complex, the mummy of King Merenre Nemtyemsef I of Dynasty VI, the most complete of the Old Kingdom royal mummies, along with many other select pieces, including Pepy I’s sandals and parts of his
kilt. There is also the Lauer Library where visitors can do some studying. |
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| The Entrance to the Imhotep Museum |
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| The Saqqara Plateau is in the process of having a wall built round it, similar to that, which encloses the Giza monuments. Many of the buildings, including Emery’s House will be moved from the Saqqara Plateau and a research centre for archaeological missions is being constructed on the floodplain below. However, it appears that the constructors did not conduct a survey of the area before the building below the plateau commenced, as mud-brick structures, possibly of the Early Dynastic Period, can be seen in their trenches. |
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| This April restoration of the Great Sphinx at Giza commenced. Archaeologists, conservators, geologists and other scientists are carrying out the work under the auspice of the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA), hoping to rectify previous mistakes in the restoration of the monument. Dr. Zahi Hawass, the Secretary General of the SCA, said “the Sphinx had suffered the greatest damage when workers used cement to restore the statue in the 80s.The Sphinx is like a human being. When you put cement on its body, it stops the breathing of the limestone." The work is to focus on the neck and chest of the Sphinx, which have suffered most from erosion and desert winds. The last restoration work was undertaken in 1996 and was the result of a large international effort. |
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| Scaffolding yet again surrounds the Great Sphinx at Giza |
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| View of the Great Sphinx at Giza from the Sphinx Temple. |
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| Polish archaeologists and conservationists working in Sudan will found a museum devoted to early Christianity in Nubia in the town Banganarti, where they will display their finds in the area. The museum, scheduled to open in 2008, will feature fragments of three early-Christian churches excavated by Polish teams, the earliest dating from the time of Nubia's reversal to Christianity in the 6th-7th century AD, as well as portraits of Nubian kings. Among the objects to be displayed are parts of the Church of the Archangel Raphael, one of the medieval world's main pilgrimage sites, whose basement contains tombs of Nubian rulers. |
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| On the 18th April Egypt celebrated World Heritage Day in the garden of the Egyptian Museum for the third consecutive year. The Cairo Opera Symphony Orchestra played classical melodies in front of French archaeologist Auguste Mariette's mausoleum. Culture Minister Farouk Hosni, Supreme Council of Antiquities Secretary-General Zahi Hawass, and renowned actor Omar Sharif were seated along with Egyptian actresses Nadia Lutfi and Layla Elwi. Archaeologists, restorers and curators, prominent cultural figures, foreign and Egyptian journalists and television presenters also attended.
The idea of holding an "International Day for Monuments and Sites" to be celebrated simultaneously throughout the world was approved by the UNESCO General Conference at its 22nd session in November 1983 recommending that member states examine the possibility of declaring 18 April each year "International Monuments and Sites Day". This is now traditionally called World Heritage Day, and is celebrated worldwide.
This year in Egypt Farouk Hosni honoured former culture minister Tharwat Okasha and renowned writer Neamat Fouad for their devotion to archaeology and all their efforts to enhance, protect and preserve Egypt's heritage. Dr Hawass said the era of President Hosni Mubarak had witnessed several crucial decisions related to archaeology. The first was the halting of the Cairo Ring Road, which was scheduled to pass over the Giza Plateau.
On the fringe of the events, the culture minister opened a photographic exhibition in the museum's millennium hall. The photographs featured the Saqqara necropolis during the 19th and 20th centuries as well as the famous archaeologists who worked there such as Mariette, Selim Hassan, Sayed Tawfiq and Jean Philip Lauer.
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