From resuming the restoration of Djoser's Step Pyramid and the Graeco-Roman Museum in Alexandria to reassessing Tutankhamun's touring exhibition, Nevine El-Aref reports on the issues topping the antiquities agenda Following the 25 January Revolution and the drastic decrease in tourism to Egypt, the income of the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA) reached its lowest level ever and its budget had to be curtailed. This meant that all development and restoration works in progress had to be put on hold. Among these projects were the structural repair and reinforcement of the inner chambers of Djoser's Step Pyramid at Saqqara and the rehabilitation work of the renowned Graeco-Roman Museum in Alexandria. Media rumours too have taken their toll. It was claimed that delays in processing payment to companies carrying out restoration work on both projects had led to work being neglected. Blocks in inner chambers of Djoser's Step Pyramid were falling, while some pieces in the collection of Alexandria's Graeco-Roman Museum that had been moved further along the coast to the Marina archaeological galleries were deteriorating because of poor storage conditions. To make sure of the credibility of these claims published in newspapers, Mohamed Abdel-Maqsoud, secretary-general of the SCA, sent two archaeological and technical committees to inspect the status of both monuments. The team sent to Saqqara was led by the restoration project's engineering consultant. Hassan Fahmi, who checked the condition of the pyramid and saw that it was still in a consolidated condition, but concluded that the restoration work must be resumed immediately in order to protect the structure of the oldest pyramid in history. The committee also decided to provide funds to resume the restoration work and to begin immediate payment by installment to the company in charge of the work, the first instalment of which would be LE3 million. Abdel-Maqsoud told Al-Ahram Weekly that he would make the required funds available either from the small revenue of the SCA or from the government. "This restoration phase is the most crucial for the fate of Djoser's Step Pyramid," he told the Weekly. "The preservation of Egypt's monuments is the SCA's top priority. We will work hard to provide the financial resources, despite the economic circumstances we are facing," he added. "We do not want the world and history one day to hold us to account for neglecting the ancient structure." Samir Abdel-Raouf, head of the restoration project, said that if the restoration work did not resume immediately then some blocks of the pyramid roof could become detached. "These stones were given a temporary fix by using a pillow of air, but this required an immediate follow- up to avoid any sudden and unexpected fall of a block. The pyramid was in a really dreadful state before restoration began." The deterioration of the pyramid was due to climatic effects, environmental erosion factors and the leakage of subterranean water, not to mention the 1992 earthquake. The restoration plan includes consolidating the pyramid's underground tunnels, monitoring the cracks, restoring the wall decorations and inspecting the natural ventilation inside the pyramid and the southern tomb. A year ago a structural repair and reinforcement system was put into practise. This involved a temporary structural support in preparation for more permanent reinforced steel rods to be inserted diagonally through the steps of the pyramid knitting together the six levels. The Step Pyramid was designed by the architect Imhotep to hold the mummy of the Third-Dynasty King Djoser and preserve it for eternity. At the time of its completion the Step Pyramid was the largest building ever constructed, demonstrating a sophisticated and dramatic leap in architectural size and style. The pyramid complex was enclosed by a limestone wall 10.5 metres high and 1.645 metres long. It covered an area of 15 hectares, the size of a large town at the time of its construction in the third millennium BC. Within the walls was a vast complex of functional and mock buildings, including the north and south pavilions, large underground passages and terraces, finely carved façades, ribbed and fluted columns, stairways, platforms, shrines, chapels and life-size statues. There was even a replica of the sub- structure, the south tomb. At the centre was the Step Pyramid itself, which contained 330,400 cubic metres of clay, stone, reeds and wood. This made the pyramid more durable than its mud-brick forebears. To spruce up the restoration work in the Graeco-Roman museum in Alexandria, Abdel-Maqsoud called on the international community to collaborate in the effort to launch an international appeal to rescue the collection of the Graeco-Roman Museum which represents one of the most important civilisations in the history of Egypt and the Mediterranean. The appeal will be under the auspices of Prime Minister Essam Sharaf, in collaboration between the SCA the International Cooperation Ministry and UNESCO. Abdel-Maqsoud told the Weekly that the international appeal aims at collecting financial grants and technical support to rescue the museum and reopen it according to a planed schedule during 24 months. He asserted that the income of the museum after its reopening which reaches LE40 million every year will be used to pay the cost of the museum's restoration work. Ateya Radwan, head of the Museum Department, told the Weekly that inspecting the collection of the museum revealed that they were in good condition and were very well stored. He said that Egypt's national security was the company that carried out the museum's restoration project, which consolidated and restored the museum's walls and ceilings. Because of the January uprising, the work was put on hold. Radwan pointed out that the budget deficit was the main reason for the pause in restoration work. Now, he continued, if the appeal reached its target the museum would be reopened soon. Radwan announced that the Jewellery Museum in Alexandria, which was locked during the chaos after the uprising and the consequent absence of security, would soon reopen following a small refurbishment. He pointed out that the fire alarm extinguisher must be refilled as it had been emptied during a fire that hit the neighbouring villa of the Alexandria governor. The Graeco-Roman Museum of Alexandria is housed behind a Neo-Classical façade bearing the Greek inscription MOYXEION (museum). It contains 27 exhibition galleries showing primarily classical statues and sarcophagi, as well as an attractive garden. Notable among the exhibits are several finds from the Temple of Serapis, an important shrine in ancient Alexandria. In Alexandria, Graeco- Roman and Pharaonic religions mingled in the cult of Serapis; the shift from pagan religions to Christianity can also be seen in the exhibits which include mummies, Hellenistic statues, busts of Roman emperors, Tangara figurines and early Christian antiquities. The museum was originally opened in 1892. Its vast collection, gathered together over the past 100 years, is the product of donations from wealthy Alexandrians as well as of excavations led by successive directors of the institution both within the town and in its environs. Other objects have come from various digs undertaken at the beginning of the century in the Fayoum, Alexandria and Benhasa. The most crucial issue, however, is the touring exhibitions of Tutankhamun. Some archaeologists are calling for the return of both exhibitions, which are currently in Melbourne in Australia and Minnesota in the United States. In fact, some archaeologists are totally opposed to the travelling exhibitions, especially those in the collection of Tutankhamun, while others believe that the artefacts should be allowed to travel but under certain restrictions. To cut things short, said Abdel-Maqsoud, and in terms of transparency and collective action in the SCA, the subject concerning these two exhibitions will be proposed in the upcoming meeting of the SCA's permanent committee, administration board and the exhibition committee abroad to vote on whether to return or continue the Tutankhamun touring exhibitions which, according to the schedule, will end in November 2011 and 2012 respectively. Abdel-Maqsoud told the Weekly that, in his opinion, he would prefer that the Tutankhamun collection continue its tour as its sudden return will cost the SCA very dearly. "The SCA would pay for the shipment of the collection and the insurance, as well as the loss of the SCA share profit of the exhibition," he said. The Tutankhamun exhibitions had a very auspicious beginning and generated enormous profits. The first began its tour in 2004 in Basel in Switzerland, while the second began in 2006 in the United States.
