Al-Ahram Weekly | Egypt

		20 - 26 June 2002 Issue No. 591 Home news	Current issue Previous issue Site map
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Oldest excavation
THE EGYPTIAN mission working at the pyramid builders' cemetery on the Giza plateau two kilometres southeast of the Sphinx has stumbled on what is believed to be the oldest intact sarcophagus ever found, writes Nevine El-Aref.
They have uncovered a 4,600-year-old rock-hewn tomb containing an intact limestone sarcophagus, belonging to Nysw-Wsert, the administrative supervisor of the builders of the pyramids.
"The newly excavated sarcophagus remained sealed as on the day it was buried awaiting discovery by our mission," said Farouk Hosni, the minister of culture.
He said the archaeologists who made the discovery had found the seal on the sarcophagus intact and the body of Nysw-Wsert, the tomb's owner, still inside the sarcophagus.
Four other burial pits belonging to members of Nysw- Wsert's family were found in the tomb's front room, as well as pieces of pottery and 80 jars of beer.
Zahi Hawass, general secretary of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, explained to Al-Ahram Weekly that the tomb structure was shaped like that of King Khufu, who was buried in the Great Pyramid.
"It shows that the pyramid builders were not slaves because they constructed their tombs for eternity near their kings and queens," said Hawass.
Nysw-Wsert's tomb is built of limestone and has its own valley temple and ramp. "The newly discovered tomb has its own burial chamber with two openings, similar to Khufu's burial chamber, to allow the soul of the deceased to move in and out of the chamber," Hawass said.
Fighting hard
IN ORDER to seek medical treatment in the US for a neurological disorder, human rights activist Saadeddin Ibrahim -- charged with defaming Egypt -- has filed a lawsuit to overturn a travel ban imposed on him. Ibrahim, who holds dual US and Egyptian citizenship, is being retried on charges that include violating Military Decree 4 of 1992, which prohibits receiving foreign funding without official permission.
In February, Egypt's Court of Cassation -- the country's highest appeals court -- quashed a conviction on those charges and ordered a retrial. Ibrahim, who is a sociology professor at the American University in Cairo (AUC), was released from jail after serving more than eight months of a seven-year sentence handed down last May by a Cairo state security court.
He was barred from leaving the country pending a retrial before a state security court. Repeated requests by his defence team that he be allowed to seek medical treatment abroad have been of no avail. So last week, his lawyers filed a case in the Administrative Court requesting that he be allowed to go to the US for treatment. They also filed another suit seeking permission to retrieve documents from the Ibn Khaldun Centre for Developmental Studies (ICDS) which Ibrahim ran before its closure following his arrest in June 2000. His retrial is due to continue on 25 June.
Johannesburg in sight
CELEBRATING the 5 June World Environment Day, Egyptian environmentalists looked forward to a world summit on sustainable development, reports Mahmoud Bakr. On Friday, the Arab Office for Youth and Environment (AOYE), in cooperation with the German Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, celebrated World Environment Day at a ceremony in Cairo. State Minister for Environmental Affairs Mamdouh Riyad, attended. He emphasised the importance of uniting the efforts of government and non-government bodies in preparation for the Johannesburg world summit at the end of August. Arab, African and Muslim countries, he said, must coordinate their proposals at the summit, and he strongly advocated partnerships with all countries to improve the environment. He hoped that the Johannesburg conference would produce an action plan which could be carried out and had mechanisms to finance and monitor what was agreed upon.
Emad Adli, the head of AOYE, said that his organisation had met several like-minded institutions throughout the country preparatory to the summit.
Turning to the domestic environmental scene, Riyad said: "Protecting the environment is not the responsibility of government bodies alone. It is the responsibility of society as a whole."
A trickle of compensation
IT IS STILL unclear when and how the families of the victims of Egypt's worst train accident, in which 373 passengers were killed and 64 severely injured, will be awarded compensation, writes Gihan Shahine. Although the matter remains moot, the government has finally revealed that LE13.4 million were raised in the media-hyped donation campaigns launched soon after the accident on 20 February. The value of the donations was kept under wraps -- raising much scepticism over the destiny of the funds -- until it was made public on 8 June.
Minster of Insurance and Social Affairs Amina El-Guindi recently announced that relatives who have death certificates for victims will receive LE25,000 in compensation. The estimated figure for death certificate holders is around 243, but those whose loved ones were burned beyond recognition in the inferno should expect nothing. "Only those with death certificates will receive compensation," insisted El-Guindi.
"We reported my father's death to the police, and are ready to provide witnesses, but officials said it will take at least a year to obtain a death certificate for him," complained Hassan Mustafa, whose father's body was unrecognisable after the disaster. "The bureaucracy is killing us. We have no source of income."
The Islamic Research Centre, however, has approved a parliamentary proposal to amend the laws regulating the issuing of death certificates. Currently, there is a four-year waiting period before a death certificate can be issued for a "missing" person, and a one-year waiting period for those reported killed in a ship or aeroplane accident. The amendment, which is still under consideration, stipulates that death certificates should be issued within a year for unidentified fatalities in big accidents.
Support for families of train disaster victims is only one of many causes in recent times for which money has been collected, but not distributed to those for whom it was intended. Some people, whose homes were destroyed by the 1992 earthquake, claim that they have not received any of the donations collected on their behalf.
Arab promotion
AN EGYPTIAN road show headed to Morocco and Tunisia last week to attract tourists from those countries to Egypt. Rehab Saad reports.
A group of tourism officials led by Adel Abdel-Aziz, head of the Egyptian Tourist Authority (ETA), hoteliers and travel agents interested in the Arab market, travelled to Morocco and Tunisia between 13 and 18 June. The team met officials, travel agents and journalists to whom they explained what Egypt had on offer for visitors from those two countries in the way of entry visas, accommodation, apartment ownership and tourist investments. Egypt recently issued a new regulation that allows citizens of Morocco and Tunisia to obtain an Egyptian visa in less than 72 hours. They can also own more than one apartment in Egypt.
The road show to Morocco and Tunisia is one of a series that Egypt has sent to the Arab world. Previous road shows went to the Gulf countries, Syria, Lebanon and Jordan.
Tourism officials believe that such road shows will help relieve the current slump in international tourism.
Compiled by Nevine Khalil

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