Dig Days:
A curse of monumental proportions
As per the Al-Ahram Weekly article on the 250th anniversary of the British Museum (see Egyptian party in London, 24-30 July 2003), I travelled to London to give lecture in honour of that esteemed institution. Egypt has a great history of cooperation with the British Museum and I was happy to celebrate this relationship and see my good friends and colleagues, such as Vivian Davies, the curator of the Egypt Department of the British Museum.
The seats of the Museum's auditorium were all reserved, as was another room where 200 people could listen to my lecture and watch me on video. One hour before I was to lecture I arrived at the Museum and met the director, Neil Macgregor and Vivian. Vivian immediately told me, "We have a curse! The electrical system broke. This is the first time in history for this to happen." An electrician was there working on the problem so I took it easy, relaxed and talked with our ambassador, Adel El- Gazar. Vivian then informed me that the lecture could only be held in the small auditorium because of the electrical problems and that 300 people would therefore not be able to attend. A decision was reached: Egyptologists would not be allowed to attend the lecture and the Museum would return the ticket price to everyone else excluded, with a promise that they could attend the subsequent reception for free and meet me.
The lecture went well and we were able to subdue the "curse". Questions posed by attendees showed that ancient Egypt is in the hearts of everyone. The reception afterwards was pleasant as Ambassador Adel charmed the guests while I posed for many photographs and signed autographs for everyone. Overall, the night was a great success for Egyptian public relations.
The next night, Neil hosted a dinner in the Egyptian Gallery of the Museum, in front of the statues and near to the famous Rosetta Stone. In the evening heat, Neil and I exchanged speeches. He gave me a warm greeting and I, having removed my jacket in the sweltering heat, started in with, "it is well known that I talk to the Pharaohs. I can hear them and I clearly understand their wants and desires." I could see the ironic smiles on the 70 faces of the dinner guests. I continued to say, "The Pharaohs inside the British Museum are telling me that it is hot and humid in the Museum and they are asking me to save them! They are also telling me that they miss Egypt and they talked about their native town. I have to give them an answer." Everyone laughed good-naturedly at my aural gift for hearing the homesick cries of Egyptian monuments in exile. This comic episode was not the last the dinner guests heard of such matters.
At dinner, I raised the subject of having the Rosetta Stone on loan to Egypt for a three month exhibit when the new annex of the Cairo Museum is opened. I explained that this would give Egyptians who can't travel to London the opportunity to see this great artefact in their -- and its -- native land. I did not say that we needed it returned to Egypt forever because our good relationship with the Museum does not necessitate such a suggestion. But as an Egyptian I would like to see the unique artefacts that are outside Egypt shown to the Egyptians. These artefacts include the Rosetta Stone; the bust of Nefertiti in the Berlin Museum; Zodiao in the Louvre; statues of Hatshepsut as a man in the Metropolitan Museum; the statue of Hemiunu, the architect of the Great Pyramid, in the Hildesheim Museum and the statue of Ankhkaf, the architect of the pyramid of Khafre. I was happy to see that Neil liked the idea. Vivian's riposte was that the British Museum would also like to show the golden mask of King Tutankhamun in a special exhibit.
In spite of the "curse of the lights", the trip was very important to strengthen the relationship between Egypt and the British Museum.
Al-Ahram Weekly Online : 28 August - 3 September 2003 (Issue No. 653)
Located at: http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2003/653/he2.htm