Of Pyramids birthdays, Sacred Lake buffets and Manial Palace weddings: Nevine El-Aref witnesses the transformation of Egypt's archaeological heritage into a colourful backdrop for the festivities of the rich Only 10 years ago, the five star hotel was the venue of choice for most high-profile occasions. To make your reception, anniversary or wedding an appropriately distinguished event, you only had to hold it at a luxury hotel. Today the tendency is to seek out alternative or exotic locations; and paradoxically it is Egypt's abundance of monuments that answers to this shift of focus -- a far-fetched idea that is proving increasingly popular. At night, after official closing hours, archeological and historical sites drown in music as they become spectacular party venues adorned with carpets, fabric and gleaming silverware -- a cheering sight, definitely, but one that disorients and irritates. Notwithstanding the adventurous spirit and no doubt festive mood of those who rent them out for the purpose, a permit must be obtained from the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA) prior to the proposed date -- something for which those with any interest in archeology should be thankful, after all. Permits have been remarkably forthcoming, but there remains that nagging question about whether such parties are safe for the monuments in question, or indeed becoming of their otherwise widely venerated splendour. SCA Secretary-General Zahi Hawass, for one partisan contender in the ensuing debate, told Al- Ahram Weekly that the celebrations are by and large confined to empty space surrounding the monuments, which act, he added, "merely as a magnificent backdrop". A party taking place in the desert south of the Giza Pyramids, for example, can hardly harm the pyramids themselves; and the same is true of the garden of the Luxor Museum or the backyard of the Karnak Temple. Such is Hawwas's argument. "No one is allowed inside the archaeological sites themselves," the archeologist reassured his adversaries. "Their time-worn sanctity is never compromised..." Speaking of which, the sanctity of monuments from the Islamic era would seem to be less significant, since the festive spirit has lucratively crept inside Islamic buildings. Around Khan Al-Khalili alone three such buildings are on offer: Beit Al-Harawi and Beit Zeinab Khatun in Ghouriya, and Beit Al- Suhaymi in Gamaleya. "Renting out sites in this way is not the invention of the SCA," Sabri Abdel-Aziz, another top-ranking official, told the Weekly, adopting the time- honoured argument that Egyptian officials always revert to when in doubt; if it is done in other countries, it must be alright. "It is an international protocol. Festivals and ceremonies are held regularly at places like the British Museum and the Acropolis in Rome." Abdel-Aziz added that many such places -- ancient Egyptian temples and Muslim palaces, for example -- were intended and used as party venues in their own time -- that is, when they could not possibly have been seen as monuments, and had no historical or archeological value whatsoever. According to ancient wall inscriptions, he said, the 15-day Obit festival, where the annual divine congress of Amun and Mute took place, involved rituals in both the Karnak and Luxor Temples; the god was thought to move from one to the other during that time. Manuscripts also indicate that Mameluke and Ottoman sultans gave lavish feasts in their palaces -- hardly surprising, really. "Why shouldn't present-day Muslims and Copts have their weddings in ancient houses of worship," he argued. Abdel-Aziz also delineated "precautions taken" to preserve and maintain the material and moral condition of the sites. "Disco dancing is forbidden", for example, as is loud music and the more risqué forms of entertainment, like belly dancing. A supervision team assigned by the SCA and the Tourism Police, he added, are sometimes placed among the party goers. While such guidelines are not always followed to the letter, the SCA tends to approve requests from better-known companies, on the grounds that their track records in terms of organisation and abiding by rules and regulations make them trusted clients. Working with such companies, Abdel-Aziz failed to point out, also makes lucrative business. For as Hawass proudly admitted, for the SCA such parties are not only a means to promote tourism but also to raise much needed funds for the restoration and maintenance of monuments; such funds, presumably, are not provided for the SCA's budget. A permit for a party with fewer than 200 guests costs around LE15,000 plus LE500 for security and supervision, figures that are due to increase as of next July, he added with impeccable lucidity -- for those who will enjoy themselves at archaeological sites should also to contribute to preserving them. Weighed against the sanctity of monuments -- perhaps not so surprisingly -- such profits evidently gain the upper hand. Companies like Jaguar and Canon, and well-to- do individuals -- the exotically oriented merry- makers who make up the bulk of the SCA's clients -- find out about the availability of historical sites through personal contacts. Mohsen Shafik, Middle East division manager for Abercrombie & Kent's and Anglo AKORN, for example, told the Weekly that it was on the advice of personal connections that the company began to organise its functions at many such sites -- the Pyramids, Saqqara, the Manial and Manesterly Palaces, as well as the temples of Karnak, Hatshepsut and Luxor -- on a range of occasions from the launching of a new product to weddings, an anniversary or simply a reception. Depending on venue, programme, catering and set- up, Shafik said, an event costs a foreign company like A&K up to US$500 per guest, with the parties ranging from 20 to 1,500 predominantly American and European guests -- a forbidding grand total, but comparable to what would be paid at a five-star hotel -- taking the added interest of "a magnificent backdrop" into account. As a prospective client the company's job involves coordinating the event, Shafik explained. "Sorting out catering, lighting, entertainment, staff and the set-up that brings them all together. Mainly logistics," he added. On average it takes him three or four months to draw up a complete plan; but for a few days before the big night, work at the site is a daily business that takes up a whole working day. A great deal of attention is paid to the site's preservation -- to ensure that it does not undergo any damage consequent on the relevant gathering. "We pay a deposit prior to the event, which is not refundable if any damage is done to the site or if it is not left in the spotless state in which we enter it," Shafik supplied. "We're always very conscientious about keeping the site clean -- a work ethic that our suppliers and others we work with also share." At the same time the company does not contribute to the renovation or maintenance of the listed sites -- testimony to the purely commercial nature of the procedure. Other companies -- Travel Specialist Team (TST), for example -- adopt a more rhetorical approach. "We are always very careful to protect the sites," Tarek Nassef, the owner of TST, told the Weekly. "As Egyptians this is our heritage and our image so we pay attention to preventing any harm." Nassef has evidently not thought of the cartoonish aspect "our image" adventitiously acquires in the process. TST has been organising such "incentive events" since the mid-1980s; and Nassef's recollection of the difficulties he encountered on organising the first of them -- a gala dinner at the Karnak Temple, back in 1988 -- suggests that conditions have improved immensely since then -- fortunate for the SCA and its clients but, one cannot help suspecting, not so fortunate for the monuments and our image. "It was the first time a historical site would be turned into the venue for a 380-guest private party, and the Antiquities officials just didn't know what to do," he said. "They didn't even know how much to ask for as a fee, and it took three attempts to finally obtain a permit -- 24 hours before the event was due." In 1988, the event cost Shafik's French sponsor company (Mondiale Assitance) LE30,000 for the permit alone, he remembered, "a huge amount at that time". Today it costs far more, but Nassef is willing to pay it. Additional reporting by Nevine Khalil
