After three years of indecision, the cabinet approved to hand back the building of the former National Democratic Party (NDP), burnt down during the January 2011 Revolution, to its original owner, namely, the neighbouring Egyptian Museum. The decree was issued under the 49th article of the constitution, which stipulates that the state should preserve cultural heritage. “I am very happy that the cabinet has finally approved our demand to return the land of the former NDP building to the Egyptian Museum,” Minister of Antiquities Mohamed Ibrahim told Al-Ahram Weekly. The decision, Ibrahim pointed out, was taken after the approval of the ministry's board chairman who sees that the former NDP building does not have any distinguished or unique architectural elements whether inside or outside that would place it on the list of the National Organisation for Urban Harmony (NOUH). According to documents held at the Egyptian Registry and Land Survey Authority, the land that houses the former NDP building was part of the museum when the latter was constructed in 1901. It was originally used as a dock for cargo vessels transporting antiquities down the river from Luxor, Aswan and the rest of Upper Egypt to the Egyptian Museum for restoration or display. In 1887, a ceremony was held at the dock to welcome the royal mummies recovered by the then antiquities director Gaston Maspero from a secret cache in Luxor where they were hidden by New Kingdom priests. Maps drawn up in 1911 and 1926 show a bookshop and cafeteria on the land, with museum workshops and storehouses due west. After the 1952 Revolution, the land was taken over from the Egyptian Antiquities Authority, now the Ministry of State for Antiquities (MSA), to be used by various departments of the regime. The last incumbent was the NDP, which shared the large Nile-side premises with the National Council for Women, various national agencies and the Arab Bank. On the evening of 28 January 2011, the building was gutted by fire in the middle of demonstrations in Tahrir Square. Ibrahim explains that the building in its recent condition is a time bomb close to the museum as it presents a threat to the museum and its priceless collection. “The building is unsafe and it could lean at any time,” Ibrahim pointed out, adding that he assigned a legal and archaeological committee to inspect the condition of the building and to take all legal procedures to remove it from the National Organisation for Urban Harmony (NOUH) list. Ibrahim told the Weekly that the ministry is putting together a development plan for the Egyptian Museum in an attempt to return it to its original look in 1901 and will use the newly regained land in the development process. Ibrahim explained that the museum, which is short of space, could use the area as an open-air museum showcasing part of its collection. The land could also be used as a hall for temporary exhibitions to attract more visitors. Ibrahim said that not all of the building need be demolished, and a small section could be conserved and kept in site as part of the story of the 2011 Revolution, serving a similar purpose to the Berlin Wall. Some archaeologists suggest that the land should be turned into a garden similar to the one built by the Pharaoh Amenhotep III at the Karnak Temple. This garden could be planted with papyri and lotus flowers and house a collection of ancient Egyptian artefacts.
