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Al-Ahram Weekly 1 - 7 April 1999 Issue No. 423 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 1 - 7 April 1999 Issue No. 423
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Submerged antiquities
Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Focus Interview Profile Features Travel Living Sports People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters
AN AMERICAN mission working on underwater archaeology off Sadana Island in the Red Sea and Marsa Matrouh on the Mediterranean have now equipped a laboratory for the conservation of objects retrieved from the sea. It is situated in the basement of the National Maritime Museum in Alexandria. Ibrahim Darwish, the head of the underwater archaeology department of the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA), said "It will specialise in the treatment of antiquities that have been affected by water, not only those of the American mission, but also objects retrieved by Egyptian and French underwater missions."He added: "The facility includes a main laboratory, an artifact treatment building, a storage room, a photographic studio and artifact storage tanks."
Egypt dives
THE FIRST independent Egyptian underwater archaeological mission is starting excavations off the shore of Maamoura and on the western side of Abu Qir, as well as on the Northern Coast between kilometres 38 and 48. Until now Egyptians have participated in foreign underwater missions only.Blind 'see' monuments
THE GREACO-Roman Museum in Alexandria has provided a unique service for blind tourists. It is the first of its kind in Egypt. Each object in the museum has been equipped with a second label, in braille, and blind visitors will be permitted to touch the objects.New Fayoum windfall
A FRENCH-Italian mission excavating in Fayoum have unearthed 245 Graeco-Roman coins, a collection of ostraca (inscribed fragments of stone) inscribed with Greek texts, statues and papyrus fragments in Greek and Demotic describing the personal and commercial transactions between individuals including marriage contracts, rental agreements and accounts. They also found an animal burial ground with skeletons of buffaloes and cows. Gaballa Gaballa, the SCA secretary-general, said, "The skeletons may represent offerings to the goddess Isis."Teeth and food
AN ALEXANDRIA University GP, Dr Hassan El-Sharqawi, found that the teeth of ancient Egyptians were in good condition in early pharaonic times through simple eating habits, but that they deteriorated later, especially in the New Kingdom, when they adopted new eating habits.Multiple tomb
AN OLD Kingdom tomb was unearthed in southern Egypt's Sohag in the Gabaliya area beside the famous White Monastery. It is rock-hewn and at the top of an escarpment. Dating back to around 2,700 BC it was built for Ani, a ruler of the Ninth Province of Upper Egypt. A sloping corridor leads to an entrance hall and two chambers. One contains three rectangular sarcophagi, one for the owner, another for a person called Aker and the third for a woman, Ni-ankh. The second chamber contains two unidentified sarcophagi.Chance discovery
WHILE digging to lay the foundations for his house in Ain Shams area of Cairo, a man found 125 statues and a collection of scarabs plus coloured reliefs and pottery. Mohamed El-Saghir, head of the pharaonic department of the SCA, identified them as Old Kingdom monuments. "This is a large burial ground, some 7,000 square metres . . . and further excavations will proceed." The Tourist Police is protecting the area, construction has been stopped and the objects found will be restored.More mummies
GABAL El-Roum, a mountain range 25 kilometres west of Siwa Oasis, in the Western Desert, has yielded a collection of tombs dating back to Graeco-Roman times. They were dug out of the mountain on three levels. Mohamed El-Saghir said, "Inside a collection of mummies were found and pottery, lamps, offering tables, wooden mummy-masks and one piece of ostraca written in Greek."New Kingdom princess
AN EGYPTIAN mission digging in a burial ground in Quesna in Menufiya Governorate have come across the sarcophagus of an unidentified princess of the Late Period with her mummy intact. They also found hundreds of scarabs, a collection of shwepte figures and some gold jewellery. "This is a major discovery in the Delta," said Gaballa. "It may reveal important facts of a period of history about which we do not know a great deal."Compiled by Nevine El-Aref
