Egypt
- Events At Giza
drhawass.com (Zahi Hawass) There is an area in the desert, about 2 or 3 kilometers away from the pyramids at Giza, which was used as a camp by soldiers during the 2nd World War, and they left behind the remains of ammunition and other things. When it...
- Once Again, Camels And Horses At The Pyramids
Al Ahram Weekly (Zahi Hawass) The camel and horse touts in Giza are very upset with our new project to save the Pyramids. They do not understand what we are trying to do. Regrettably, many of them do things that harm tourists; I receive many letters from...
- Museums: Grand Egyptian Museum Progress Report
drhawass.com (Zahi Hawass) With photos of various personnel and dignitaries. Last Thursday I visited the Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM) to view the progress of the construction of this important new museum for Egyptian antiquities. The amazing thing about...
- Site Management: Giza
drhawass.com (Zahi Hawass) The site of Giza is one of the most visited sites in Egypt. Everyone who comes to Egypt visits the great pyramids that dominate the landscape here. In the past, the site was crowded, cars were everywhere and also people selling...
- In The Shadow Of The Pyramids - The Grand Museum
Gulf Life (by Andrew Humphreys) Many thanks to Andrew Humphreys for sending me this article, which has just been published in the Gulf Air in-flight magazine. Here's an extract, but see the above page for the full story, which is accompanied by some...
Egypt
Update on the Grand Egyptian Museum
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/africa/article2426221.ece
A comprehensive overview of the Grand Egyptian Museum, currently under construction near the pyramids of Giza:
"The modern world has not been kind to the pyramids of Giza. Just a generation ago they were out in the desert, which is how they still look in the postcards, shot from carefully selected angles. But rampant development has hemmed them in with the accoutrements of the tourist trade - cafes, restaurants, souvenir workshops, stables for horses and camels, tacky little establishments of every sort, and slummy accommodation into which tourist hawkers are crammed.
Then comes the Cairo ring road and the undistinguished modern hotels that line it; the road itself is solid with traffic. Forty-five centuries of history - that's how long the oldest of these pyramids has held sway here - look down on our contribution and are not, one suspects, greatly impressed. The visitor's experience of the place is a cocktail of wonder and torment: wonder - if you pick the right time of day, the closer to nightfall the better - at the ineffable presence of mankind's oldest monuments, torment at the antics of the touts, who if you are not incredibly vigilant will sell you a can of Sprite for a week's (Egyptian) wages, stick you on a horse, haul you off the horse and stick you in Arabian costume on a camel, take your snap, all of this without any consultation, as if it is somehow your duty - and leave you impressively poorer than when you arrived.
It's unforgettable, all right. But apart from the papyrus workshops and the like, the experience is strangely lacking in depth. What are the pyramids all about? Who built them and how and why, and what came next? You can ask your guide as you plod along on horse or camel, but don't expect much enlightenment.
All that is about to change. On a desert site within view of the pyramids, an immense museum, built by the Chinese-American architect Shih-Fu Peng, is about to rise which will transform the Giza experience. The Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM)will be the biggest museum of Egyptology in the world, and (it is claimed) the largest archaeological museum of any sort. It is designed to become the modern complement the pyramids have always lacked. . . . The rest of the 100,000 works destined for the museum will begin arriving next March. They will be greeted in the first part of the museum to be built, the underground Conservation and Energy Centre that is already under construction and due to be completed by the end of the year. Every item that arrives here, whether from the Egyptian Museum in central Cairo or from the many other sites around the country, will first be inspected and documented in the centre's nine laboratories."
Then comes the Cairo ring road and the undistinguished modern hotels that line it; the road itself is solid with traffic. Forty-five centuries of history - that's how long the oldest of these pyramids has held sway here - look down on our contribution and are not, one suspects, greatly impressed. The visitor's experience of the place is a cocktail of wonder and torment: wonder - if you pick the right time of day, the closer to nightfall the better - at the ineffable presence of mankind's oldest monuments, torment at the antics of the touts, who if you are not incredibly vigilant will sell you a can of Sprite for a week's (Egyptian) wages, stick you on a horse, haul you off the horse and stick you in Arabian costume on a camel, take your snap, all of this without any consultation, as if it is somehow your duty - and leave you impressively poorer than when you arrived.
It's unforgettable, all right. But apart from the papyrus workshops and the like, the experience is strangely lacking in depth. What are the pyramids all about? Who built them and how and why, and what came next? You can ask your guide as you plod along on horse or camel, but don't expect much enlightenment.
All that is about to change. On a desert site within view of the pyramids, an immense museum, built by the Chinese-American architect Shih-Fu Peng, is about to rise which will transform the Giza experience. The Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM)will be the biggest museum of Egyptology in the world, and (it is claimed) the largest archaeological museum of any sort. It is designed to become the modern complement the pyramids have always lacked. . . . The rest of the 100,000 works destined for the museum will begin arriving next March. They will be greeted in the first part of the museum to be built, the underground Conservation and Energy Centre that is already under construction and due to be completed by the end of the year. Every item that arrives here, whether from the Egyptian Museum in central Cairo or from the many other sites around the country, will first be inspected and documented in the centre's nine laboratories."
- Events At Giza
drhawass.com (Zahi Hawass) There is an area in the desert, about 2 or 3 kilometers away from the pyramids at Giza, which was used as a camp by soldiers during the 2nd World War, and they left behind the remains of ammunition and other things. When it...
- Once Again, Camels And Horses At The Pyramids
Al Ahram Weekly (Zahi Hawass) The camel and horse touts in Giza are very upset with our new project to save the Pyramids. They do not understand what we are trying to do. Regrettably, many of them do things that harm tourists; I receive many letters from...
- Museums: Grand Egyptian Museum Progress Report
drhawass.com (Zahi Hawass) With photos of various personnel and dignitaries. Last Thursday I visited the Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM) to view the progress of the construction of this important new museum for Egyptian antiquities. The amazing thing about...
- Site Management: Giza
drhawass.com (Zahi Hawass) The site of Giza is one of the most visited sites in Egypt. Everyone who comes to Egypt visits the great pyramids that dominate the landscape here. In the past, the site was crowded, cars were everywhere and also people selling...
- In The Shadow Of The Pyramids - The Grand Museum
Gulf Life (by Andrew Humphreys) Many thanks to Andrew Humphreys for sending me this article, which has just been published in the Gulf Air in-flight magazine. Here's an extract, but see the above page for the full story, which is accompanied by some...