Were last weekend's allegations over objects missing from the Museum of Islamic Art's new display aimed at stirring up more controversy over the Ministry of State for Antiquities? Nevine El-Aref reports The well-known Egyptian writer Farouk Goweida, who writes a column in Al-Ahram daily, wrote last Friday under the heading "Who did plunder the Museum of Islamic Art [MIA]?" that 80,000 objects had gone missing from the Ministry of State for Antiquities [MSA] -- among them are a gold incense burner that once belonged to French Empress Eugenie; the gold and diamond sword collection of the Taymour Pasha family; 130 handmade tapestries and carpets of Mohamed Ali Pasha Ibrahim; as well as the swords that belonged to Napoleon Bonaparte, Murad Bey, the Mamluk Sultan El-Ghuri. Goweida also complained that there was no masharabiya (decorative woodwork) gallery in the MIA's new exhibition scenario, while several objects had been transferred to the presidential palaces during restoration. Goweida also asked why the MIA has only 2,500 pieces on show out of the 90,000 in its collection? At the end of his column, Goweida asked Prosecutor- General Abdel-Meguid Mahmoud to conduct investigations as to where these objects now were and to punish any criminals, if indeed there were any. Minister of State for Antiquities Zahi Hawass, however, has rebutted Goweida's accusations and blames him for listening to "amateurs" who have fuelled him with false information. He also invited Goweida to visit the MIA and see for himself that all the objects he mentioned were safe in the museum's storehouse. Hawass insists Goweida's accusations are unfounded and that all these objects are in the museum. He said that, as an example, only 10 carpets out of a larger collection of 156 were on show, while Taymour Pasha's swords were locked in an iron safe inside the museum. The Eugenie incense burner is in a showcase in the jewellery section. The masharabiya collection, Hawass says, has been taken off general display, but 20 pieces are exhibited in the Omayyad gallery while the others are stored. "Not a single object of the MIA was transferred to any presidential palace, rest house or even museum; on the contrary, all the MIA objects were stored inside the MIA during restoration," Hawass told Al-Ahram Weekly. "Only 50 stone items were transferred, and these went to the MIA stores at the Salaheddin Citadel." Mohamed Abbas, director-general of the MIA said that new museological techniques dictated a decrease in the number of objects on display so as to provide a better display space and to highlight the beauty and historical importance of individual items. "This technique will allow museum visitors to admire and understand the exhibited objects," Abbas said. He pointed out that the MIA planned to hold periodical exhibitions to display the objects in storage. In addition, a special gallery is being created to display 20 unique swords. Last Saturday a press conference was held at the MIA after Mohamed Abdel-Maqsoud, supervisor-general of the minister of state for antiquities' office, and Attia Radwan, head of the ministry's museum sector, led a tour of the MIA to show the objects under debate. Mohamed El-Kahlawi, the chairman of the MIA told reporters that the 100,000 objects in the MIA collection were all safe. Some 50,000 of these are vase fragments, coins and clay vessels which are not suitable for display. El-Kahlawi said UNESCO required that for security reasons the MSA could not display some unique jewellery and weaponry items in MIA's open galleries until it could provide secured rooms. Among the objects not allowed to be shown are the swords collection of Taymour Pasha and collection of the gold and diamond incense burners. To support El-Kahlawi's statement, Mona Gohar, the curator of the jewellery collection, showed these objects to journalists attending the press conference. In a ministry press release Hawass called on journalists to be sure of the facts and the credibility of their informants before publication, since such rumours always created a free- for-all among the public and led Egyptians to be unnecessarily concerned about their priceless heritage. Abdel-Maqsoud warned that spreading such rumours could lead to the deterioration of this heritage. Following last Friday's noon prayers there was a protest at the Sultan Hassan mosque, and several people headed towards the MIA intending to enter it with the aim of protected it and preventing any further robberies. "Imagine what could be the loss if this had happened?" Abdel-Maqsoud told the Weekly, and he warned that the adverse publicity could all be part of an attempt to discredit the ministry.
