A major Egyptology conference features election reform, controversy and a lot of colourful history. Nevine El-Aref reports from Grenoble, France This week, in the city where Jean-François Champollion explored his first history books on the long road towards deciphering the mysterious hieroglyphics on the Rosetta Stone, 2000 Egyptologists from around the world gathered to discuss the latest developments in their field. The ninth International Congress of Egyptologists (ICE), continuing through 12 September, is held every four years. The eighth congress was held at the foot of the Pyramids in Giza. This time around, Grenoble, the capital of the French Alps, is playing host. At the ALEXPO conference hall, the aura of Ancient Egypt is everywhere. A doorway has been decorated to look like a shrine, adorned with colourful images of the Pyramids, the Sphinx, Karnak's Hypostyle Hall, the Nile and the Egyptian Museum. This year's congress has been somewhat overshadowed by a debate over two amateur French archaeologists' request to look for the mysterious sepulchral chamber inside Khufu's Great Pyramid. The fact that Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA) has denied them access to the monument -- on the grounds that they are not affiliated to a scientific institution, among other reasons -- has become fodder for discussion at many of the congress sessions. Media covering the event are anxious to talk about nothing else. SCA Secretary-General Zahi Hawass has stood his ground. "I am the guardian of the Pyramids," he said, over and again. "I will not allow any amateur to probe into it. It is a world heritage site like the Notre Dame. Would the French allow me to drill into it?" The controversy looks set to heat up even more next week when the Frenchmen present their theories on the location of Khufu's secret chamber to the congress. Hawass plans to hold a press conference the next day to respond to their claims. Otherwise, the important, and mostly scholarly, discussions of Egyptology's intricacies flowed smooth. Hawass told the gathering's opening session that the event was an excellent chance for scholars from around the world -- who might not otherwise meet -- to interact in person. He also called on the president of the International Association of Egyptologists (IAE) to reengineer the association's goals towards serving more Egyptologists and helping to preserve monuments that are a world cultural heritage. "The new millennium has come and gone. I believe that this is the moment for us to ... reposition the organisation so that it reflects today's world and helps us work together to achieve our common goals of understanding and preserving our shared cultural heritage," Hawass said. Also attending the opening were Grenoble Mayor Michel Destot, a representative of France's foreign minister, a deputy of Egypt's ambassador to France, and Egyptologist Jean- Claude Goyon, the president of the Champollion Association. Hawass warned the attendants of the dangers of not doing more for conservation. Within a century, he said, many monuments would either be destroyed, or "fall into oblivion". He urged the IAE to promote the field globally, and play a major role in upgrading Egyptologists' skills by providing scholarships and fellowships. "To achieve these goals," Hawass posited, "we need strong leadership... [and] vision," someone willing to "volunteer his or her time to help implement far-reaching changes. It should be someone who actively wants to lead us into the new millennium," Hawass said, "who believes in the possibilities... and is willing to work hard". He suggested that the association change the way it elects its president, shifting from the passive nomination method currently used, to a more active style of campaigning. The organisation, he said, did not just need a facelift; "it is time for a complete makeover." Outlining his own organisation's most recent efforts to preserve Egypt's historic and cultural heritage, Hawass said the SCA had been busy restoring monuments, building new museums and bringing back stolen artefacts that had been smuggled out of the country. Increasing the historical awareness of both children and adults has also been a top priority. Over the next two years, Hawass also announced, a huge Egyptology centre would be built in Luxor. With its comprehensive library and museum, the centre would serve as a place to help Egyptologists upgrade their skills and knowledge. It would also host 20 young Egyptologists on scholarships from around the world every year. All of Grenoble seems to have been infected with Egypt fever. Posters of Pharaohs are everywhere, dominating the city's bridges, trains, bus stations, shops and restaurants. While walking along the riverbank, it's easy to be overwhelmed, for instance, by the sheer density of images from Karnak. These are mostly promotions for the Karnak Cachet exhibition currently on display in Grenoble, and featuring 28 of the 779,000 objects discovered by Georges Legrain in 1904. The Champollion Association's Goyon told Al-Ahram Weekly that he chose the items --26 of which come from the Egyptian Museum in Cairo -- for their beautiful carvings, as well as for the fact that they represent the different strata of Ancient Egyptian society, from the 13th dynasty through to the Ptolemaic era. "These objects are a testimony to the ordinary life of the Ancient Egyptian," Goyon said, as they reveal details of clothes, hair, and fashion, as well as common traditions. In Vif, on the outskirts of the city, another exhibition is taking place at the house where Champollion lived in 1807. The famous Egyptologist's desk, bedroom and library are all on display, as are his family souvenirs, and portraits of the man himself and other family members. Former Vif mayor Jean Nourey told the Weekly that the negotiations to purchase Champollion's house began in 1998 and finally succeeded in 2001. Champollion's descendants, he said, agreed to sell the house for 600,000 euros as long as it was continually conserved, and its historic value maintained. Back at the ALEXPO conference centre, yet another exhibition celebrates the life and work of a more recent Egyptology pioneer -- Selim Hassan. CULTNAT director Fathi Saleh told the Weekly he first saw the need for such an exhibit in 1998, when he was Egypt's cultural attaché in France. During a yearlong celebration of Franco- Egyptian cultural cooperation, Saleh was dismayed that while tremendous exhibitions were held to celebrate the work of various French Egyptologists, renowned Egyptian experts like Selim Hassan and Gamal Mokhtar were never even mentioned at all. This was the best way to pay homage to these Egyptologists, he said. The exhibition features 20 black and white photographs of Selim Hassan excavating and inspecting sites in Giza, Saqqara, Tanis, Luxor and Aswan. His hand-written reports and some of his books are also on display. Saleh said Hassan's family offered the collection to CULTNAT. Among its most important items are the photos showing the temple of Nubia in situ. While most of the Egyptologists at the congress will be heading home on 12 September, the aura of Egypt will continue to fill the Grenoble air, with the three exhibitions remaining open to the public for another four months.
