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Al-Ahram Weekly 23 - 29 September 1999 Issue No. 448 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 23 - 29 September 1999 Issue No. 448
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Comment Focus Special Features Profile Travel Living Sports People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters 
Review:Touring virtual Egypt
By Eman Abdel-MoetiDressed in my safari outfit, I assembled my backpack, making sure not to forget my compass, maps, binoculars, jug of water, cameras and all the other necessary paraphernalia for a long journey.
I had decided to undertake an exploratory expedition of Egyptian monuments, along with the country's diverse landscape and wildlife, and see the different peoples of different cultures who are scattered across the land from north to south, and from east to west.
It was exciting to visit remote and exotic places: to sleep at night with the Bedouin, spend mornings swimming in the springs of a western desert oasis, dive into the fascinating subterranean world of the Red Sea and climb the highest mountains, especially those near Sudan's borders in the south.
Thanks to my "navigation interface camel", I was able to roam the country in no time at all. I could visit Islamic, Coptic, Jewish and Pharaonic sites. I could see the remains of monuments that have long been destroyed and others intact in their original place and form. I could also tour the biblical sites such as Al-Tih Mountain in Sinai, the biblical "wilderness" where the Jews roamed for 40 years. And when I was tired of nature and exhausted by the past, I could hop back to the Egypt of the early 20th century, before finally winding up my journey in the present day.
All it takes is a click on the mouse and my navigation camel spirits me off to over 400 Egyptian sites, represented in 3,000 photos, 80 video clips and five animation sequences, as well as maps, diagrams and plans. And all this on only three CD-ROMs. There are many ways to reach my destinations, either by subject, geographically or by site name. For foreign visitors, the text is provided in five different languages: English, French, Italian, German and Japanese.
"Explore Egypt -- The Monuments and Beyond" is the first extensive and comprehensive CD-ROM guide to Egypt. It contains everything that tourists, and even curious Egyptians, usually go out to look for in this country -- the diversity of the people, wildlife, environment and heritage -- and enables you to access them all from the seclusion of your own den.
Video clips, covering the majority of the most celebrated tourist attractions in Egypt, have already been produced by the Egyptian Tourist Authority. The country's spectacular protectorates have been filmed by the Ministry of Environment. But until now, no work has included both the historical sites and protectorates, and presented them on CD-ROM.
Gabriel Mikhail, an architect who spent 16 years in the United States, put the project together. When the government saw his work, they gave him permission to travel wherever he wanted in order to complete it, even to places that are usually off limits to the general public.
Mikhail said that the idea of the project was prompted by the research he did while preparing for his masters degree in museum architecture.
Computer technology creates marvellous vistas of the Mosque of Amr Ibn Al-Aas (above) and a collage of Pharaonic, Coptic and medieval mummies combined with beach and desert scapes
"I ended up visiting places I had never seen before, like the oases and other remote areas that have monuments," he told Al-Ahram Weekly. By the time I had finished, I had so many still-shots and digital images of Egypt. I realised how fascinating my country was and I became increasingly aware of the significance of having one-third of the world's great monuments in one place."
In addition to the thousands of images Mikhail shot for his thesis, his visits to the Red Sea and Sinai prompted him to go even further, and try and cover every aspect of life in Egypt.
"The more I thought about it, the more obsessed with the idea I became," said Mikhail. "Other countries with half, or even less, of the attractions we have in Egypt have succeed in promoting their tourism worldwide with the aid of modern technology. Why not us, I thought?"
The three CD-ROMs bring together a whole mass of material, including aerial and cross-sectional views of long-destroyed temples, and 19th-century photos from the collection of Lehnert & Landrock. The documentation from the late 19th until the end of the 20th centuries is especially comprehensive.
Having obtained the necessary authorisations, Mikhail formed a team of specialists who helped him put the work together. There is music by celebrated composer Hani Shenouda, texts by Egyptologist Yehia El-Masri, Islamic and Coptic insights from Hassan Abdel-Moneim and current information from Magda Sharafeddin on the Ministry of Environment's 18 major protectorates. Red Sea underwater photography was provided by Tamer El-Ana, who has recently received both domestic and international awards for his work. "The rest of the work, the video clips and still shots, even the animation, were done by myself," Mikhail said.
A lot of time and effort has gone into these three CD-ROMs, which should be on the market shortly. "Working on this project has been fascinating for me. I watch Discovery Channel and read National Geographic and I wanted to do the same sort of high-quality work about Egypt," Mikhail said.
"I explored Egypt. I spent nights with the Bedouin in the desert, I went to remote and exotic places," he recalled. "In all, over 60 areas in Sinai alone were covered."
