Developing the panoramic surroundings of the National Museum of Egyptian Civilisation in Fustat is on the government's priority list now that Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif has given the go ahead, says Nevine El-Aref Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif called the planned National Museum of Egyptian Civilisation "one of the country's mega projects" when he spoke to reporters last Saturday after touring the museum site together with the Cairo governor and the ministers of construction, tourism and environment. The tour to check on the museum's progress came at the invitation of the Minister of Culture Farouk Hosni. Nazif went on to say that the museum would not only help preserve Egypt's cultural heritage but would also encourage tourism by focussing on Egypt's diverse civilisation from the pre- dynastic to the modern eras. This would satisfy the taste of all visitors, he said. Nazif issued instructions both to Cairo Governor Abdel-Azim Wazir and the Minister of Housing Ahmed El-Maghrabi to eliminate all obstacles that might stand in the way of the upgrading of the scenery in the vicinity, and at the same time to put forward a final vision of the whole area that would promote it as a tourist- friendly zone. Hosni said the example of the museum would embody the Ministry of Culture's policy of building museums aiming at transforming the ministry into a huge cultural, educational and economic association. The site of the new National Museum of Egyptian Civilisation is aptly chosen. In addition to being in the neighbourhood of the Citadel of Salaheddin and of Old Cairo's religious antiquities, which include the Amr Ibn Al-Aas Mosque, the Hanging Church and the Beni Ezra Synagogue, it is located in the core of what was once the historic city of Fustat, Egypt's first Islamic capital, founded in the seventh century by the Arab conqueror Ibn Al-Aas. The stage for the museum was set in 2000, with the Cairo Governorate removing all encroachment on the site and offering the Ministry of Culture the 32 feddans they needed for construction. In 2002 Mrs Suzanne Mubarak laid the foundation stone, and in July 2004 the first phase of the project was completed. This aimed at preparing the site for building work by carrying out a routine but extensive pre-building inspection to check if any antiquities were buried below ground. An up-to-date storehouse, similar to the ones at the Louvre in Paris and the British Museum in London, has been built on site. Egyptologist Ayman Abdel-Moneim, who is directing the project, told Al-Ahram Weekly that such museological storage, with a very sophisticated security system connected directly with the police commissariat, was the first of its kind to be built in Egypt. To access the storage, magnetic cards from two inspectors will be required. To tighten security measures and abort any attempt at theft, each showcase has its own code connected to a special device which in turn registers the time and the ID code of the curator who is opening it. A laboratory to restore pieces in the museum's chosen collection was also among the achievements in the first phase. The second phase of the project, the actual construction, is now in mid- stage and is scheduled to be completed in 2007. The planned four-storey building -- of which the first two floors will be devoted to exhibits, the third to a documentation centre and the fourth to an archaeological and historical library -- has an exceptional architectural design to integrate with its surroundings as well as to symbolise the ages in Egypt's past. The conception of the building reflects several aspects of Egyptian civilisation. Its large, square shape represents the base of a pyramid, while a gallery equivalent to a pyramid ramp leads to a smaller building representing the valley temple, which will encompass a 400-square-metre educational institute and a conference hall. To emphasis the pyramid-shape of the complex, the building has a benben -shaped top which will house the archaeological library. "The Nile, handwriting, handicrafts, society and faith are the five main component themes of the National Museum of Egyptian Civilisation," Abdel-Moneim said, adding that exhibits featuring the skills and achievements that Egypt's history had witnessed would be featured within the museum's walls. A commercial zone, along with a cafeteria, restaurants, a cinema and a theatre, are to be installed in the museum garden. Bazaars and shops will also be built and rented out for LE2 to LE3 million per month, which will serve for the museum's maintenance. Abdel-Moneim said the entire task would be completed by 2008, the date set for the museum's official opening. Zahi Hawass, secretary-general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA), added that on display would be 25,000 artefacts carefully selected from the principal museums in Egypt: the Egyptian, Islamic and Coptic museums in Cairo, the Graeco-Roman and Alexandria National museums in Alexandria and the Luxor Museum, as well as major archaeological storehouses such as those on the Giza Plateau and at Saqqara. "These will be carefully selected by a scientific committee which is now digging through the halls and storage areas of these museums as well as storehouses of major archaeological sites to unearth artefacts needed for the Museum of Egyptian Civilisation," Hawass said. He said that 50 per cent of the collection had already been selected and was now being restored and documented.
