11 - 17 January 2001
Issue No.516
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Al-Ahram Weekly On-line 11 - 17 January 2001 Issue No.516 |
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Battles old and new
Some of ancient Egypt's most famous sites are testament to successful military endeavours. A Pharaoh whose military campaigns were triumphant was a rich Pharaoh -- and rich Pharaohs weren't stingy with their thanks to the gods. And though we often see reliefs in tombs, temples and fortresses that depict the daily lives of the royals and even the masses -- farmers, craftsmen, engineers -- little is offered about the military and its soldiers.
Artefacts offering insight into a broad spectrum of Egyptian military life, though excavated decades ago, are only now being collected into a permanent exhibit. Many antiquities were plundered by the Israelis during their occupation of Sinai, including the unique Moshe Dayan collection of inscribed tombstones. An agreement signed between Israel and Egypt in 1992 stipulated that all antiquities excavated by the Israelis in Sinai between 1967 and 1982 were to be returned, including private collections. The artefacts were eventually recovered in 1994, but were then unceremoniously piled into storage by the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA).
Now, a museum has been constructed for the express purpose of housing the artefacts and will be inaugurated by Culture Minister Farouk Hosni shortly. The location of the museum, on the Qantara East-Pelusian road in Sinai, is somewhat obscure, but according to Mohamed Abdel-Maqsoud, director of antiquities for Sinai and the Suez Canal cities, it is the place to which the artefacts historically belong.
A one-storey building with 12 halls, the Qantara East Museum was constructed with modern specifications in mind -- but not all the recovered artefacts will be on display. Only some 1,000 of the more remarkable pieces have been chosen for the exhibit. The collection highlights military life across the ages, including weapons and military instruments used by ancient Egyptians, such as iron masks, arrows, wheels and shields. Starting with pre-historic times, the display marches on through later periods, from Pharaonic, to Graeco-Roman, to Coptic and finally, Islamic.
The star of the show is the Moshe Dayan collection, comprised of nine well-preserved Graeco-Roman tombstones. Gaballa Ali Gaballa, secretary-general of the SCA, said that a special section of the museum will display newly discovered items unearthed during the digging of Al-Salam Canal, which brings water from the Nile to Sinai. These include the skeleton of a horse dating to the Hyksos era, statues of different ministers of Qantara East and a number of war reliefs belonging to Kings Seti I and Ramses II. A pamphlet describing the objects on display will be available for visitors.
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