The Cairo Museum is a portal through which the visitor is transported back to
the mysterious realm of ancient Egypt.
The Cairo Museum is a portal through which the visitor is transported back to
the mysterious realm of ancient Egypt.
In May 2002, we began to think about celebrating the museum's first one hundred years. A veritable house of treasures, it was opened in November 1902 and is unique not only for its architectural design but also for its contents. The museum displays a magnificent collection unlike any other in the world dedicated to ancient Egypt. Among its holdings are the belongings of the boy-king Tut, the royal mummies, and the treasure of Tanis -- just to mention a few. Merely to enter the museum is to sense that one is surrounded by 5,000 years of history.
In addition to ensuring that the celebration was an international event, I thought it was appropriate to create an exhibit marking the occasion that everyone would talk about -- something that people would never forget.
Having decided to call the exhibit "Hidden Treasures", we then faced the tasks of determining which artifacts to include, how to transport the pieces to the museum and finding a place to display them. We decided that we should draw on the 60,000 artifacts stored in the museum's basement. After all, these objects had never been shown before, and it would be wonderful to make them accessible for the public on the occasion of the museum's centennial. However, when I looked into just what was available in the basement, the artifacts I found were good, but not marvelous.
Then, suddenly, I realized just what we should show, and I came up with a new plan that I called "Mission Impossible". Under the direction of Abdel-Maqsoud, every artifact storage place in Upper and Lower Egypt was opened for the hunt to find the best artifacts for the exhibit.
Within a period of 10 days, we were able to move 100 artifacts from the basement of the museum and 150 pieces from our storerooms around the country.
One of the most exciting adventures was transporting the sarcophagus of Horwdja. This magnificent sarcophagus is dated to the 26th Dynasty and hails from Quesna in the Delta, about 57km north of Cairo. Horwdja was the priest of the Djed Pillar at the House of the God. The sarcophagus is breathtaking for its beautiful inscriptions and vivid depiction of scenes showing the gods. One such scene shows the priest's family standing in front of the sacred trees of the goddess Isis and her sister Nephthys. Another portrays Anubis sitting atop a mummification tent. Alongside these are representations of 89 chapters from the Book of the Dead.
The archaeologist Tareq El-Awadi took the famous National Geographic photographer Ken Garrett to record the transportation of the 30-ton sarcophagus to the Cairo Museum. The architect Abdel-Hamid Qutb went to Saqqara to enlist the assistance of Ahmed and Talal El-Krieti who are specialized in moving heavy artifacts.
At first the committee thought it would be impossible to move the sarcophagus because it sat on a 17-metre-high mound and was situated between structures of mud-brick. Located at the far end of the archeological site, the sarcophagus could not be moved using heavy equipment because its weight would destroy the site. Everyone realized that the only way to move the piece was over a section of agricultural land adjacent to the site. Fortunately, the owner of the land agreed to let the workmen move their equipment across it.
Applying the very same methods used by the ancient Egyptian workmen, Abdel- Hamid's team tied the sarcophagus with ropes and pulled it onto wooden sledges. Using iron bars, the workmen dragged it while chanting, "Sali alieh, sali alieh" (Praise be upon him) in time to the rhythm of their work. First the lid was removed and then the sarcophagus was loaded onto a truck for the ride to Cairo. I called the team every half hour to check on the proceedings, worried that the sarcophagus might not actually make it to the museum. But I will always remember what rais (overseer) Talal told me, "Sibha ala allah, ya bey" (Leave the matter to God, sir). The love and devotion the members of the team had for their work could be seen in their eyes. Finally, at 12 midnight the sarcophagus arrived at the museum where the tried and true ancient method was used to move it to where it currently sits. Needless to say, I was not only delighted to see the sarcophagus at the Cairo Museum, but relieved as well.
I believed that Ahmed and Talal should be recognized for their incredible work, therefore, this past Ramadan when I was asked to appear on a TV show with caricaturist Ramesses, I invited the pair along who, in their Upper Egyptian accents, told audience how they moved the sarcophagus. They also recounted the incredible story of how we spent about five hours inside a burial chamber some 10 metres beneath the ground as we moved a 14-ton lid.
Among the other delights of putting together the exhibit was the opportunity to show some artifacts from the tomb of King Tut that had never been displayed to the public before. But, of course, I could go on forever about all the treasures on display: there is a beautiful statue of Isis, exquisite artifacts from my excavations at the Valley of the Golden Mummies, Saqqara and the tombs of the Pyramid-builders in Giza.
One day, I received a phone call from Mohamed El-Biali from Luxor to tell me about evidence he had found showing that the ancient Egyptians had conducted plastic surgery. Alas, that tale must wait until an upcoming column.
To be continued