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Al-Ahram Weekly 22 - 28 April 1999 Issue No. 426 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 22 - 28 April 1999 Issue No. 426
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Profile Special Travel Sports People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters Back to the state
By Nevine El-ArefFor the first time ever, a licensed antiques dealer has offered his private collection, comprising 400 genuine antiques, to the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA). Haj Mohamedein Khattab had kept the treasure at his home for 40 years, but decided to donate it to the state, because it is better able to protect it. Khattab took the decision after his home was the target of a failed burglary attempt.
"The decision was not easy, but my only consolation is that the treasure will be in good hands," Khattab said.
Mohamed El-Saghir, head of the Pharaonic department of the SCA, said that Khattab's collection includes Pharaonic masks, scarabs, wooden boxes decorated with coloured scenes, terracotta statues, earthenware utensils, Graeco-Roman coins, Coptic textiles, Islamic pottery, plates and glass lamps decorated with geometrical drawings. Another collection of replicas was also donated by the antiques trader. "These objects are undergoing restoration at the Egyptian Museum at present and will be put on display later," El-Saghir said.
About a year ago, an antiques broker offered Khattab an enticing LE2 million in return for his collection. "The broker asked more than once to buy my beloved treasure. Faced with refusal, he began using threats. I cannot forget the mean look in his eyes," Khattab said.
A few days later, a thief tried to break into Khattab's apartment, but ran away when he was spotted by neighbours.
"After this incident, I feared for my collection and felt unable to protect it," said Khattab. He wrote a letter to Culture Minister Farouk Hosni, offering the treasure to the cultural palace of Sadat City -- halfway along the Cairo-Alexandria desert highway -- which lacks a museum.
"Working as a licensed dealer, it was easy for me to become a millionaire in a matter of a few years. But my hobby of collecting priceless items had precedence over my profession," Khattab said.
Khattab explained that he hailed from Upper Egypt and had learned to love antiques and monuments since his childhood. His hobby later turned into a trade and he opened a bazaar in Cairo's Khan Al-Khalili district. Since that day, Khattab's home literally became a museum.
Khattab is one of 240 collectors who have a government licence to acquire antiques. But he is the first one, and possibly the last, to donate his collection to the state.
