Archaeological discoveries

INTERVIEW. The Grand Egyptian Museum is the cultural project of the century

The Egyptian Minister of Antiquities received an exclusive Sciences et Avenir to discuss the situation of archaeology, museums and tourism in the country.

Khaled El-Enany

This article is from the magazine Sciences et Avenir - La Recherche n°897 dated November 2021.

Sciences et Avenir:The inauguration of the Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM) in Giza, postponed several times, is eagerly awaited. When will it take place?

Khaled El-Enany: As soon as the global pandemic situation allows. Such an event cannot be considered as long as we have to respect physical distancing measures or wear a mask. This cultural project is, in my view, the most important of the century. We want to organize a memorable ceremony to which heads of state and celebrities from all walks of life will be invited. We are working very seriously on finalizing this large-scale museum project so that the work can be completed in the last quarter of this year. The inauguration should therefore take place in 2022.

What challenges did you face to the crisis caused by the Covid-19 pandemic?

This article is from the magazine Sciences et Avenir - La Recherche n°897 dated November 2021.

Sciences et Avenir:The inauguration of the Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM) in Giza, postponed several times, is eagerly awaited. When will it take place?

Khaled El-Enany: As soon as the global pandemic situation allows. Such an event cannot be considered as long as we have to respect physical distancing measures or wear a mask. This cultural project is, in my view, the most important of the century. We want to organize a memorable ceremony to which heads of state and celebrities from all walks of life will be invited. We are working very seriously on finalizing this large-scale museum project so that the work can be completed in the last quarter of this year. The inauguration should therefore take place in 2022.

What challenges did you face to the crisis caused by the Covid-19 pandemic?

The same as those of all Ministers of Tourism, Culture and Heritage around the world. The situation has had a heavy impact on our sector, especially after 2019 considered an exceptional year for Egyptian tourism. The income from this activity had in fact brought in 12.5 billion dollars (10.7 billion euros) during the 2018-2019 financial year, the highest tourist receipts ever obtained in the history of our country. . Unfortunately, with the spread of the coronavirus, we have had to suspend international flights to Egypt, and have had to close almost all of our tourist destinations as of March 2020.

What is the current situation?

National tourism resumed in mid-May 2020 and international tourism in July of the same year. We have worked a lot on the choices and decisions we had to make to deal with this crisis. This has borne fruit since we have reached an average of more than 500,000 tourists per month since March. This is only 45% of the pre-pandemic figures, but given the global situation, these are relatively decent results.

What about the antiques and heritage sector?

We had to close all of Cairo's archaeological sites and museums in March 2020, then we gradually reopened them from July 2020. We also inaugurated the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization (NMEC) in El-Fustat , on the evening of April 3, 2021, following the "Parade of mummies" (the transfer of 22 mummies of pharaohs and queens, editor's note). This museum is very visited by Egyptians. In addition, a very large number of other museum projects have emerged between 2020 and the beginning of this year despite the pandemic. A first museum has thus been opened in Hurghada and another in Sharm el-Sheikh, on the coast of the Red Sea.

Where is Egyptian archaeology?

She is no exception. There were very important discoveries during this period, like the hundreds of intact sarcophagi found in the necropolis of Saqqara, in the governorate of Giza. We have also completed the restoration of the funerary complex of Djoser, the oldest pyramid in history. Other projects started in 2017/2018, also disrupted by the pandemic, finally came to fruition, such as the opening to the public of the palace of Baron Empain, in Heliopolis, in the suburbs of Cairo.

2022 will be the year of the bicentenary of the deciphering of hieroglyphs by Champollion, and that of the centenary of the discovery of Tutankhamun's tomb by Howard Carter. How will these two events be commemorated?

We will be celebrating the bicentenary of the decipherment of the Rosetta Stone on September 27, 2022, as well as the centenary of the discovery of Tutankhamun's tomb on November 4, 2022. All of this will be done according to the opening date of the GEM which will house all of Tutankhamun's treasure. A very big ceremony will take place there because we will transfer the mummy of the famous pharaoh there from the museum in Tahrir Square where it is currently located.

What would be the most important message you want to convey, both for Egyptian heritage and for the return of tourists?

If I address myself to the French readers of Sciences et Avenir , a magazine that I know very well, I tell them:"Come to Egypt! “The French are very fond of Egypt, the Egyptians are very fond of the French! A new Egypt is emerging, with unprecedented interest in its culture, its museums and its heritage. We have opened more than twenty museums over the past last four or five years and started more than a hundred restoration projects of archaeological sites.

BIO EXPRESS

1971: Born in Giza, Egypt.
2002-2016: Associate researcher, member of the board of directors of the French Institute of Oriental Archeology (Ifao).
2014-2016: Director General of the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization.
2015-2016: Director General of the Egyptian Museum in Cairo.
2016-2019: Minister of Antiquities.
Since 2019: Minister of Tourism and Antiquities.


Comments collected in Cairo by Bernadette Arnaud