Just who is responsible for the theft of two of the historic embroidered pieces of Al-Kaaba fabric covers known as the kiswa, Nevine El-Aref asks Last Wednesday, the people of Cairo woke up to a piece of bad news. Two 19th-century pieces of embroidered Al-Kaaba Kiswa (the Kaaba cloth) had been stolen from the Khedive Tawfik mausoleum in the eastern cemetery, the Qubbat Afandina. The pieces, embroidered with calligraphy in gold and silver threads, were two of many that were sent over the years by the Egyptian monarchy to cover the Kaaba in Saudi Arabia. They were hanging on the walls of the mausoleum. Each one consisted of three decorated coloured ribbons embroidered in gold and silver depicting verses of the poem Al-Sira Al-Mohamadeya (Biography of the Prophet Mohamed). The thieves escaped and are now at large. Investigations are now underway to identify those responsible and bring them to justice. There is no doubt that the theft involved a certain amount of negligence by authorities. Who, though, is to blame? The Ministry of State for Antiquities (MSA), which is responsible for monuments on Egypt's Islamic and Coptic Antiquities List -- including the Qubbat Afandina? Or the Ministry of Awqaf (Religious Endowments), which is responsible of the building and the objects stored inside? There is a long and as yet unsolved dispute between the two ministries that has led to the loss of several buildings and objects, with each minister blaming the other. Mohsen Sayed, head of the Islamic and Coptic department at the MSA, insists that the stolen kiswa pieces are not antiquities as they are not on Egypt's antiquities list, and nor are the other objects stored or displayed inside the mausoleum. "They are under the supervision of the Ministry of Endowments," he says. However, he continues, the Qubbat Afandina is a genuine monument as the building itself is registered on the Islamic and Coptic Antiquities List. According to documents that have been seen by Al-Ahram Weekly, three previous theft attempts have been made on the Qubbat Afandina. The first and most bizarre was in early 2000 when a Saudi Arabian princess attempted to flirt with the Qubbat's elderly guard and bribe him into letting her take the same two valuable pieces in return for a large sum of money. The guard refused, and his ordeal was covered in a 2002 Al-Jazeera investigation programme called "Top Confidential" (Serry lil Ghaya). "How could these two pieces have been stolen?" an archaeologist asked the Weekly. The archaeologist, who requested anonymity, continued that the pieces were secured under a thick glass screen that would create a very loud noise when broken. "How can the two endowment guards not hear such a noise, when one of them was sleeping in the mausoleum garden and the second in a room underneath the mausoleum itself?" he wondered. "I hope the pieces will be returned and not suffer the same fate as the Van Gogh Poppies." The Van Gogh was stolen almost two years ago from the Mahmoud Khalil Museum on the Giza Corniche and is still missing. "And why where they stolen a day before the installation of a new high-tech security system to the building?" he asked. The Qubbat Afandina was built in 1894 by Khedive Abbas Helmi in commemoration of his father, Khedive Tawfik. Conservation architect Agnieszka Dobrowolska, who oversaw the restoration Qubbat and the items on display inside it told the Weekly that it was designed by Dimitri Fabeicius in the neo-Mamluk style. "It is an important example of architectural design which combined traditional Islamic motifs appropriate for the purpose and location of the building with the modern design principles of the time it was built," Dobrowolska said. The Qubbat Afandina conservation project began in 2004 and was completed in 2008. It was financed by the Ministry of Religious Endowments through the auspices of Prince Abbas Helmi, a direct descendant of Khedive Tawfik. The project is officially affiliated to the Netherlands-Flemish Institute in Cairo, which provided administrative support and encouraged advice and interest that were of great value for the project. As a listed historical monument, restoration work was approved by the MSA's permanent committee and monitored by its experts in the field. The restoration work was completed in five phases. The first involved documentation and assessment of the current condition of the building. The second was devoted to the construction of tan aerated trench around the building and conservation of the domed exterior section. The third was dedicated to the interior decoration as well as the consolidation of the walls and architectural elements. The fourth phase was for the restoration of woodwork, metalwork and marble pavements, while the fifth phase was for the outer fa��ade of the mausoleum and its freestanding marble gate and the installation of the exterior and garden lighting. Both the stolen pieces of the kiswa were in a very bad state of preservation and were carefully restored. Two previous failed theft attempts had damaged some parts of the kiswa as a result of cutting off part of the protective grass and the cutting of a piece of the historic fabric. "Therefore, this piece was vulnerable to dirt and moisture," Dobrowolska said. She went on to say that in 2006, after lengthy negotiations with the then Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA), now replaced by the MSA, and the Ministry of Religious Endowments, restorers removed the damaged kiswa from the wall, restored it, installed a new glass and returned it to its original position on the wall. The second piece was restored in 2008. Dobrowolska said that a major challenge for her as project leader, in addition to technical considerations, was to bring the work to a conclusion within the available budget. "In fact, the funds were very limited," she said. "Both rainwater and rising damp were the worst problem the restorers faced," Dobrowolska added. She succeeded in solving these two problems by repairing the roof to protect the building and by creating the aerated trench around the building to allow it to breath and for excess water to evaporate. The marble floor, which was seriously bulging and powdering, was another challenge for Dobrowolska. However, skillful restorers succeeded in replacing it with a non-porous alternative laid on a waterproof membrane. Until the Weekly went to print, investigations were ongoing to find the culprits.
