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Al-Ahram Weekly 3 - 9 February 2000 Issue No. 467 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 3 - 9 February 2000 Issue No. 467
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Features Special Profile Travel Living Sports People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters Egyptologists come home
By Nevine El-Aref
The International Congress of Egyptologists (ICE), held every four years in a different country, will return to Egypt this March, the third time since hosting the first congress in 1969 and again in 1988. The ICE, which will be held from 28 March to 2 April 2000, is a major event among Egyptologists, providing a forum for recent archaeological theories and studies.
The Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA) has made preparations for the ICE congress one of its main priorities. The event will be held at the Mena House Oberoi Hotel, located just before the entrance to the Giza plateau. An estimated 1,200 Egyptologists are expected to attend the sessions, lectures, and workshops planned.
Two gala dinners will be organised by the SCA for ICE members; the first on the opening day in the garden of the Egyptian Museum, and the second on the closing of the congress in the vast complex in front of the Sphinx. Foreign institutes will organise small receptions every night for the duration of the congress.
Zahi Hawass, director general of the Giza Plateau and general secretary of the ICE, said that most of the ICE attendees are members of the International Association of Egyptology (IAE), but other people involved in Egyptology and archaeology will be present. However, purveyors of spurious and unsupported theories will not find themselves welcome to take part. Hawass warned that those who have made a point of issuing false claims that inevitably hurt the field of Egyptology will not be allowed to attend the ICE.
A temporary registration bureau will be established at the Mena House on the opening day of the ICE. Registration fees have been fixed at $180 for foreigners, $50 for foreign students, LE50 for Egyptians and LE25 for Egyptian students. For those who miss the first day of registration, a permanent registration bureau will be provided at the Documentation Centre of Archaeology in Zamalek.
International travel agency Abercrombe and Kent will distribute a conference kit to ICE attendees offering practical information about daily life in Egypt. The gift kit will provide material on the location of Egyptian archaeological landmarks, means of transportation and prices, emergency phone numbers, and information about Egyptian currency.
According to Hawass, the ICE logo will feature the Sphinx with the pyramid behind it. Mahmoud Mabruk, the famous sculptor who helped restore the Sphinx, is now working on a design for the ICE medal of honour. At this year's ICE congress, six Egyptologists will be honoured for their devotion to Egyptology and their work in the field: Harry Smith from England, Sergio Donadoni from Italy, Jean Leclant from France, Reiner Stadelmann from Germany, William Kelley Simpson from the US and Abdel-Aziz Saleh from Egypt. Two Egyptologists, now deceased, will be also honored: Mitheaelovski from Poland and Gamal Mokhtar from Egypt.
The Congress will be comprised of some 400 lectures and more than 10 debates dealing with such various topics as history, architecture, archaeology, art, Pharaonic beliefs and museums. But the highlight is sure to be a Pharaonic exhibition to be held at the Egyptian museum. The exhibition will display roughly 60 Pharaonic artefacts unearthed by foreign and Egyptian missions over the last 25 years.
Among the items to be exhibited are pre-dynastic artefacts from Mansoura discovered by an Egyptian mission; the jewellery treasures of Dush and Tanis discovered by the French; and artefacts discovered by Dutch and Italian missions. Objects from the Giza plateau will include the famous stela of Zoser, found at Saqqara; the statue of a dwarf, from the pyramids area; and four coloured statues of the pyramid builders, found last year in the workmen's cemetery in Giza.
Archaeological trips will be planned by Emeco travel agency for ICE attendees; among them trips to the Bahareya oasis to visit the recently uncovered valley of gilded mummies and to Alexandria to see the treasures recently discovered underwater in the Western Harbour. A trip to Luxor to attend the completion of the restoration of Hatshepsut's temple (started approximately 30 years ago) will be organised, as will trips to Hurghada and Sharm Al-Sheikh.
