CAIRO: Now people around the world interested in the different eras of Egypt s heritage can access information and download pictures online, through the new e-shop www.egyptmemory.com. Yesterday IBM organized a media conference in cooperation with the Egyptian Center for Documentation of Cultural and Natural Heritage (CULTNAT) of Bibliotheca Alexandrina at the Smart Village to launch the website. Through the conference, professor Fathi Saleh, CULTINAT director, engineer Amr Ghoneim, IBM general manager, and engineer Hania Saleh, CULTINAT project coordinator, introduced the website and gave a slide show presentation to help attendees to understand their ideas and objectives. The website gives users around the world the opportunity to purchase pictures relating to Egyptian history and society in different eras: Pharaonic, Roman, Coptic and Islamic. The website also provides publications, namely books and CDs, such as the "Atlas of Archeological Sites, "Guide to the Plants of Ancient Egypt, "Encyclopedia of Great Arab Music Figures and "Thesaurus of Egyptian Folklore. The material from Egypt Memory's mainly come from www.eternalegypt.org, which was launched earlier in cooperation between CULTNAT, Supreme Council for Antiquities and IBM. Eternal Egypt website includes high-resolution images and three-dimensional reconstructions of Egyptian antiquities, as well as virtually-reconstructed environments, and unique panoramic views of different monuments. Eternal Egypt has won several international awards such as the Cultural E-Content Award in the World Summit for Information Society and the Best Internet Site Design Award for 2005. The website is available in Arabic, English and French. "This site is one of many launched by CULTNAT, all of which are the results of great efforts made by the center in the field of documenting and spreading the Egyptian heritage, stated Dr Fathi Saleh. "It is a unique e-shopping experience where the Egyptian history and civilization can be viewed. The main goal of launching this site is to provide researchers, students, individuals interested in heritage, and internet browsers with the academic material available in the most accessible and usable way and with reasonable prices. Purchasers are provided also with different delivery and payment methods; they can download the pictures online, receive them through e-mail or get them directly delivered to their home (for Egypt's residents). Payment can be via credit card, bank transfers or upon a receipt of their purchases (for Egypt's residents). During the conference, Mervat Abdul Aziz, Bank Misr spokesperson, said that the bank is responsible for the payment process; she also mentioned that the shipment process was Aramex's responsibility. "Egypt Memory is the consolidation of our efforts in Eternal Egypt by making these treasures available for those who value them, said Ghoneim. "This cooperation represents a unique partnership that combined the use of IBM's innovative technologies and CULTNAT experience in the Egyptian heritage documentation field, to bring the most reliable e-Commerce portal to our eternal Egypt.
