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Al-Ahram Weekly 20 - 26 April 2000 Issue No. 478 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 20 - 26 April 2000 Issue No. 478
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Heritage Features Travel Living Sports Profile People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters More than just a house
By Dahlia HammoudaSoft oriental tunes filled the evening air of the open court area in the midst of this ancient house. A veiled young woman in traditional Egyptian garb sat in a terrace overlooking the courtyard bedecked with softly lit trees and plants. The atmosphere was serene and enchanting at Beit Al-Suhaymi on the day of its reopening after undergoing six years of restoration work.
At Culture Minister Farouk Hosni's invitation, Mrs Suzanne Mubarak attended the inauguration on 16 April and was given a tour of the unique cultural landmark. Later, she was presented with the Beit Al-Suhaymi key by Hosni. Mrs Mubarak is well known as a champion of the arts and has lent her support to several projects that cultivate awareness of Egypt's heritage, both old and modern.
One of the most beautiful historic sites in Fatimid Cairo, Beit Al-Suhaymi is located in Haret Al-Darb Al-Asfar, which opens on Al-Mu'ezz Street to the west and overlooks Al-Gamaliya Street to the east. Like numerous other antique buildings, Beit Al-Suhaymi was drastically affected by the 1992 earthquake and was badly in need of restoration. The funding required for such restoration far exceeded what the Ministry of Culture could allocate, which is where the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development stepped in. Realising the historical and cultural significance of the place, the Arab Fund agreed, in 1992, to undertake the documentation and restoration of the Al-Suhaymi house with a grant of $3 million.
Covering some 2,000 square metres, the five-floor house (or beit) has a total of 115 halls and chambers surrounding a main court, itself more than 200 square metres. Another open area contains a water-wheel and grinding mill, typical elements of a medieval Cairene house. The interior is lavishly decorated with floors of coloured marble and intricately worked ceilings, doors and cabinets that demonstrate the splendid art of interlocking woodwork.
Project Director Asaad Nadim, addressing the audience at the opening, said that it had swiftly become apparent that the restoration should not be confined to one building only, but should be extended to encompass the surrounding area as well. In 1995, the Arab Fund agreed on a second phase with an additional grant of $1 million and expanded the project to become one of "area restoration and development." The project encompassed the development of all Haret Al-Darb Al-Asfar, including the Sabil-Kuttab Qitas (a public fountain with a Qur'anic school attached) and the houses of Mustafa Gaafar and El-Khurazati, all of which are now reopened.
According to Nadim, the Beit Al-Suhaymi Area Documentation, Restoration, Conservation and Development Project has started a tradition that combines the highest levels of conservation of monuments together with upgrading the quality of life for the community living around these monuments.
"Such a comprehensive view in dealing with a monument within its surroundings would remain merely an unattainable dream if it did not come down to earth and become a reality," Nadim said. "In Al-Darb Al-Asfar, it did."
The same sentiments were reiterated by Culture Minister Hosni. In his speech at the event, Hosni said that the project had become a model for the restoration and upgrading of a site in its totality.
Mrs Mubarak at the opening ceremony of Beit Al-Suhaymi
photo: Ahmed Afifi
"The success achieved in the Al-Darb Al-Asfar project stands as a living witness to the ability and skill of the Egyptian school in restoring Islamic monuments," he said. "Such a school can now proudly stand on an equal footing with any other school in the world."
Hosni said that the project has helped put aside any apprehensions about the challenge of restoring historic Cairo. "It has enhanced our confidence that the promise of an enchanting Islamic Cairo is within reach," he said.
The meticulous restoration of Beit Al-Suhaymi makes it a rewarding stop in Old Cairo, but perhaps the most significant achievement of this project is the way it has transformed the people who live in the area. A documentary film run at the opening showed how representatives of the project visited each house in the area to explain the project in detail, as well as its cultural significance and its impact on their lives and the lives of others. In this way, the barriers that first separated project specialists from the locals were overcome. Slowly realising that the work was to their benefit, local inhabitants began to show interest and turned from being mere spectators into partners.
Gaballah Ali Gaballah, general secretary of the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA), said the restoration of a monument must be only one element of a whole operation for the substantial upgrading of all its surrounding conditions -- a cultural, economic and social upgrading.
"People working in the field of antiquities have come to realise that the permanent upkeep of a given monument is not their responsibility alone," Gaballah said. "It is primarily the responsibility of its true owners -- the local men and women who conduct their daily lives around the monument. And, in turn, the monument lies deeply in their consciences, whether they are aware of it or not."
President Hosni Mubarak has asked Prime Minister Atef Ebeid to award Abdel-Latif Al-Hamad, chairman of the Arab Fund, the first class order of the republic in recognition of his contributions in funding numerous projects, in addition to facilitating projects in Egypt. Culture Minister Hosni has also given the Beit Al-Suhaymi key to Al-Hamad and Ebeid.
