The legendary opening of the Egyptian Museum, inaugurated by Khedive Abbas Helmi II in 1902, was replayed last week with a thoroughly modern twist in celebration of its centenary. Nevine El-Aref reports A deep, strong Pharaonic beat filled the evening air surrounding the Egyptian Museum while the night sky played host to laser beams and trackers depicting the Giza Pyramids, the temples of Luxor and various Pharaonic patterns. Flowers, torches, knights on horses and dozens of soldiers wearing red tarboushes and dark blue suits lined the route leading to the Arabian tent in which the celebrations were held. Onlookers were transported back in time to the gala opening of the museum in 1902 by Khedive Abbas Helmi II in the presence of French archaeologist Gaston Maspero, Egyptian royalty and high- ranking officials. Upon invitation of Culture Minister Farouk Hosni, Mrs Suzanne Mubarak -- along with scores of Arab dignitaries, Egyptian officials and public figures -- attended the celebration marking the museum's 100th anniversary. She was given a tour of the two exhibitions specially organised for the centenary, namely the documentation exhibition and the hidden treasure exhibition. In recognition of her role as champion of the arts and supporter of projects which cultivate awareness of Egypt's heritage, Zahi Hawass, general secretary of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, presented Mrs Mubarak with a commemorative set of stamps, gold and silver coins as well as publications specially issued to mark the event. During the course of the events Mrs Mubarak presented a bronze statue depicting the goddesses Maat to 16 archaeologists, both Egyptian and foreign, former directors, curators and museum staff, to commemorate their efforts to breathe new life into the museum for the centennial celebrations. A 30-minute documentary produced by the National Geographic Society on the history of the museum as well as the restoration of the basement was screened as part of the celebration. A number of new features have been introduced to mark the 100-year milestone. Visitors to the museum now enter the neo-classical building through a white marble gate, and the building itself has been restored to its original deep- rose colour. The most dramatic change, however, is happening in the basement. 500 square metres of its vast area have been given over to an exhibition entitled "The Hidden Treasures of the Egyptian Museum" featuring around 250 objects which have lain lost and forgotten in dusty storerooms or vaults for years. "For the last four months we have been digging around inside the basement of the Egyptian Museum and the storerooms of about 15 major sites in Egypt and we found these objects. No one has ever seen them before," said Hawass. "We always thought that the display of the boy king Tutankhamun in the upper floor of the museum contained all objects found in his tomb in 1922. But during our 'excavation' in the basement we stumbled upon another 40 artefacts belonging to his collection, 30 of which are gold amulets and small pieces of jewellery meant to protect the wearer against evil or bring luck." Other items never seen before include one of the world's oldest prosthesis. It is a well-preserved mummified foot with a wooden artificial toe. The whole foot is wrapped in linen and the toe is accurately reproduced and attached to the foot with linen threads. "This was found in the Sheikh Adul Gurna area of Luxor and provides proof that ancient Egyptians practiced prosthesis surgery," said Hawass. The new exhibits also featured a statue of Kai, the high priest of the Pharaoh Cheops, who built the Great Pyramid of Giza between 2589 and 2530BC. The statue shows Kai wearing a white kilt and sitting in a chair, with miniature statues of his children at his feet. His face bears a smile -- rare among ancient Egyptian statues. There are also two well-preserved painted limestone statues from the Old Kingdom -- a seated scribe and a servant baking bread in front of an oven. Both statues were found hidden inside the storage of the Faculty of Antiquities in Cairo University and have been there ever since the late Egyptologist Mohamed Abu-Bakr discovered them last century. Other objects include a limestone statue of Ramses II as a sphinx holding an Amun-shaped jar from the Karnak collection; gold amulets discovered in the tomb of the Bahariya oases governor; a painted limestone statue from Giza of the priest Kay sitting on a chair with his son and daughter beside his legs, and a gold cobra-shaped crown from the Tell Meqdam area from the 22nd dynasty. The basement was restored by the Ministry of Culture in order to provide a suitable display for these priceless items. "It was in dire need of restoration anyway," said Ayman Abdel-Moneim, head of the restoration project. He explained that since the museum opened a century ago, the basement had never been restored, and the artefacts it housed had never been organised despite their ever-increasing number. "When we first stepped inside the basement it was a mess," he admitted. "The artefacts were sitting on wooden and iron shelves. There was dust and cobwebs all over the place, and the walls were full of cracks. Now, with the project nearing completion, the basement is turning into an exhibition worthy of the hitherto unknown but essential part of Egypt's heritage." It has been a tremendous challenge, and all those involved in the restoration and re-discovery of forgotten works of art have been overwhelmed by the whole project. "It was not an easy task," said Hussein Ahmed Hussein, the engineer in charge of the basement restoration. "[The basement] was so filled with antiquities that it was difficult for our workers to get in at all." He explained that before starting work the 30,000 stored artefacts had to be carefully removed to a safe place inside the basement. "The place was swept, all the cracks had to be treated, and the walls were treated," said Hussein El-Shabouri, professor of engineering at Alexandria University, who designed the basement display. He went on saying that an ethereal ambiance was achieved by painting the basement's walls with a colour best described as a cross between grey and beige. A fibre-optic lighting system was installed to allow visitors to see the treasures in bright light, while at the same time protecting the exhibits from the destructive glare of the sun. The conversion of the basement, according to Hawass, was akin to "mission impossible". Elwi Farid, the maestro who organised the centenary celebration, said that the documentation exhibition features original maps of the museum's location, the original museum design signed by the French architect, stamps and coins minted especially for the 1902 opening and the quill used by Khedive Abbas Helmi II to write a few words in the guest book. "This is not simply the centennial anniversary of one of the greatest museums in the world, but also a demonstration of the fact that it is a living museum, moving onwards from 1902 to the 21st century," said Minister of Culture Farouk Hosni. He added that: "As soon as the celebration is over, there is a plan to extend the uses of the museum to include an educational feature, which will be realised over the course of a year." Hawass explained that courses will be run for children and adults to teach them more about their Egyptian heritage. The children's courses will be run at the weekend only, for young people from six to 16, and there will also be workshops for teaching ancient art forms. The courses for adults, on Pharaonic civilisation, will begin on 4 January and will run four times per week for six months. "This course is for foreigners as well as Egyptians." A new visitors' route is to be laid out in the museum. The path will start at the entrance, take the visitor past the garden exhibits and then on through the various halls of the museum. Upon completion of the tour, people will exit through a new annex where there will be gift shops, book shops and a conference hall. The current offices of the museum's curators will be transferred to the annex, and there will be an archaeological school for children, laboratories, a library and a museum for the blind. Mamdouh El-Damatti, director-general of the Egyptian Museum, says the museum for the blind will be furnished with replicas of some of the museum's objects in order to allow visitors to touch the objects and become more aware of their ancient heritage. Information in Braille script will be provided for each exhibit. To alleviate summer conditions in which temperatures can rise as high as 40�C -- unpleasant for both visitors and artefacts -- a central air- conditioning unit is to be installed. An Italian museologist has been employed to help re-organise the exhibits in the museum building, which will be provided with more appropriate lighting and labels." Hosni said. El-Damatti narrates that this landmark of down-town Cairo was originally designed by French architect Marcel Dourgnon in 1896, the year also in which the foundation stone was laid in Qasr Al-Nil (today's Tahrir Square). It took four years to build the magnificent neo-classical building. Its two stories, arranged around an atrium, comprise more than a hundred rooms, while its vast basement houses the many artefacts that flow into Cairo from excavations around the country. The museum was designed to facilitate chronological display of the treasures on the ground floor and general arrangement on the upper floor. 36,000 objects were displayed initially; this figure has since increased to 160,000. The unique display presents the entire course of a civilisation, from pre-dynastic time right through to Roman times.
