CAIRO - Many Egyptians pass this building every day on their way to work and they take great pride in it. They knew the building was something special, but most of them never realised that it was the Egypt's Institute. Maryam of the Egyptian Mail is one of millions of Egyptians who were shocked when they heard that the Institute had gone up in flames, leaving the country bereft of tens of thousands of priceless books and documents. Last Saturday was another black day for Egypt, when the historic Egypt's Institute, established in 1798 by Napolean Bonaparte during the French Campaign, was torched during the clashes that started last Friday between protesters outside the Cabinet and the military. The fire started on the ground floor of the building, located in Qasr al-Aini Street in central Cairo, spreading swiftly to the first floor. Firemen, who arrived very late, could not initially control the blaze. Eyewitnesses said they had seen thugs throwing a Molotov cocktail at stone-throwing soldiers outside the Shura Council building, but the projectile missed its intended target and instead landed in the Egypt's Institute. The Egypt's Institute, the oldest scientific institute in Egypt and the Middle East, contained the Egypt's most precious library, with about 200,000 volumes. About 40,000 of these were rare books and manuscripts, one of the rarest being an original copy of the ‘Description de l'Egypte', written by the scientists of the French campaign to Egypt (1798-1801). The news of the fire was very upsetting for Egyptians – not only the scientists and the historians, but also those who had never even heard about the Institute before the tragic fire. "Our history and heritage is starting to vanish, and this is a calamity," said Ahmed Abdel Qader, a 32-year-old accountant, who has never set foot inside the Institute. "And what makes me more angry is the fact that this historic building was burnt by Egyptians and nothing was done to stop this happening," he added in an interview with the Egyptian Mail. On the ground floor of the building, there is a large hall with a huge library that contains number of rooms used for storing books. The first floor contains a lecture hall for meeting and seminars, as well as the offices of the head of the Institute and his assistants. The Egypt's Institute, located in Sheikh Rihan Street, is, according to Resolution 1611 of 1995, a listed Islamic and Coptic monument. Minister of Antiquities Mohamed Ibrahim has confirmed that he will contact the French Ambassador in Cairo to ask the French Government to help repair the damaged building. Ibrahim says that an archaeological, technical and engineering committee, formed by the Ministry and headed by Mohssen Sayyed Ali, the head of the Islamic Antiquities Sector, was unable to inspect the building on Sunday because of the security situation. Ibrahim said on Sunday that this incident was shocking, reminding one of the 1972 at the Jewel Palace Museum in the Citadel (the most recent of several in this palace) and the blaze last June at the Balloon Theatre in el-Agouza, which, thankfully, was swiftly extinguished before it could do much damage. The burning of the Institute is just as tragic as what happened to the old Cairo Opera House in Ataba that was completely destroyed by a fire – thought to be arson – in 1969. He added that he was shocked that people could do such a thing to the country's heritage. “This crime was planned by saboteurs. Every Egyptian saw them on satellite TV, setting fire to the ground floor of the building. "The people who did this cannot be described as revolutionaries, who would never do anything so unethical," said Nehal Abdel-Aati, a 20-year-old Faculty of Engineering student. "They can't be even described as Egyptians, as they want to tell the world that Egypt has no place for knowledge," she added in an interview with this paper. Meanwhile, Zein Abdel Hadi, the head of Dar el-Kutub, is one of those specialists who has been unable to sleep since hearing this black news. He says that volunteers managed to save around 30,000 of the 196,000 books in the Institute's collection. “A lot of scientific institutions are helping Dar el-Kutub to save what is left of this invaluable collection and to start restoring and digitalising these rare books and manuscripts,” he adds. Abdel Hadi's deep sadness hasn't prevented him from meeting these revolutionary volunteers who helped save the books that could be saved. He expressed his admiration for their bravery, as they and a number of soldiers rushed into the building to save the burning books, despite the tension between the two sides. “This shows that the revolutionaries are aware of the value of the Institute.” Many Egyptians are now worried that some unscrupulous people might now try and damage other historic buildings, like the Egyptian Museum. Soleiman Hozayen, the head of the Egypt's Institute, has already come up with a plan to repair the stricken building and update its library. The Egypt's Institute moved from Cairo to Alexandria after the French Campaign, before returning to the capital, where countless Egyptian, Arab and foreign scientists attended its monthly meetings, and scientific and cultural lectures. Three very prominent academics associated with the Institute's scientific activities were Mahmoud el-Falaki, the astronomer, mathematician Ali Mashrafa and Maspero, the French specialist in ancient Egyptian history. Zahi Hawas, the former minister of antiquities, says that Egyptians must now be more concerned than ever about protecting the Egyptian Museum after the recent incident. The 20-volume ‘Description de l'Egypte' contained all the research and studies of the French Campaign's scientists did, complete with many wonderful drawings and maps. Other irreplaceable works that were destroyed in the blaze were the ‘Atlas of Lower and Upper Egypt', published in 1752, the ‘Atlas of the old Indian Arts' and the' Atlas Handler', a German atlas about Egypt and Ethiopia, published in 1842, which came from Mohamed Ali's collection and was thought to be the only remaining copy of this atlas in the world. In a statement on Sunday, the National Authority for Cultural Co-ordination condemned what happened, stressing that it is ready to restore any historic building damaged by this fire. The Authority also called on the armed forces, police and all Egyptians all to protect nearby buildings, include the Shura Council (Upper House of the Parliament), People's Assembly (Lower House), Qasr el-Dobara Church, the AUC buildings and others.
