"Giza at the turn of the century" was the theme of this year's Egyptian World Heritage Day celebration. Nevine El-Aref took part As one of the seven ancient wonders of the world, one of the most unique monuments on the globe -- and one that must be protected -- the Giza Pyramids are listed on UNESCO's World Heritage list. To mark this year's World Heritage Day, the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA) chose "Giza at the turn of the century" as the theme of an exhibition of photographs and artefacts that attempt to shed light on this distinguished archaeological site, its controversial history, and recent discoveries there. Last Monday, the Egyptian Museum's backyard was the stage for the telling of the history of the three main Giza Pyramids, and their neighbour, the Great Sphinx. While a fine spring breeze filled the evening air, dimly lit, pyramid-shaped textile models decorated the museum garden grounds. The models were ornamented with black and white archive photographs featuring the Giza Pyramids and the Sphinx during the various stages of history, as seen by foreign travellers, historians and explorers. Entering the museum's centennial hall, the assembled guests were overwhelmed by the 28 pieces of art carefully chosen from among the treasured collection of Giza artefacts on display in the Egyptian Museum or stored in the Giza storehouses. The exhibition was laid on to highlight the major discoveries carried out on the Giza Plateau since the dawn of archaeology. Among the most important objects are the coloured limestone statues of the Fifth-Dynasty chief funerary priest Mersu-Ankh, along with his wife and two daughters. Egyptologist Selim Hassan unearthed these in 1929 while he was clearing Mersu-Ankh's mastaba. "They are a very fine example showing how strong the relationships were within an Egyptian family," SCA Secretary-General Zahi Hawass said. The jewellery of Queen Hetep-heres, mother of the Fourth-Dynasty builder of the Great Pyramid, Khufu, is another of the exhibition's attractions. Plainly illustrating the skill of Egyptian artisans, it includes a number of silver bracelets ornamented with coloured precious stones inside a box of ebony wood. Alabaster, wood and gold containers used for the queen's personal objects are also among the pieces on show. The 48-metre-long basalt statue of the dwarf Berni-Ankhu unearthed by Hawass has attracted popular attention, not only because of its extremely fine carving but also because it is genuine proof that the ancient Egyptians applied the school of reality art. The statue shows the dwarf's physical defects. Hawass points out a hieroglyphic text on its back that says, "He who daily pleases his master" -- which could have been Ankhu's job in the royal palace. Accompanying it is a photographic exhibition featuring 50 black and white photographs of the plateau and Pyramids Road in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Viewers will be astonished by an old panorama view of this now-overcrowded area, discovering it was once an empty green space with the Pyramids on one side and the Nile on the other. The Sphinx appears as it then was, half-buried in sand, with the three Pyramids as its backdrop. The photographs also shows foreign and Egyptian explorers on excavations; the French antiquities director Auguste Mariette, the Italian archaeologist Ernesto Schiaparelli and the German Uvo Holscher are shown sweeping the sand of the Giza Plateau in search of more treasure. Egyptologists Mark Lehner and Hawass are pictured inspecting the Pyramid-builders' cemetery and their city. Workmen wearing white Arabian headgear and wide costumes are also shown busy at work, along with the restorers who put together the fine wooden bars of Khufu's solar boat. During the celebration, Hawass awarded Culture Minister Farouk Hosni with a gold medallion for his devotion to restoring and preserving Egyptian monuments, as well as for his leading role in calling to a halt the construction of a section of the Cairo Ring Road that would have gone through the Pyramid Plateau archaeological zone. Hawass said Hosni was the backbone of that campaign. He also pointed out that President Hosni Mubarak's decision to stop construction on that section of the Ring Road proves Egypt is capable of preserving and protecting its monumental heritage. Hawass said it would become an annual World Heritage Day tradition to award someone who had devoted his or her life to Egypt's heritage with the medallion.
