Abdallah Abdel Hamid Moussa El Attar
Head of the Islamic Monuments Department
Born in El Sharkiah in 1943. Abdallah El Attar was graduate from Cairo University, Faculty of Arts 1966 where he studied Islamic Art and was granted later on a diploma in this field. He was assigned as Inspector in South Cairo in the Antiquities Organization, manager of the north Cairo monuments and general manager of the same area. He moved to the position of General Manager of the Department for excavations then G.M. for Cairo and Lower Egypt. As from the 2nd of April 1997, Abdallah El Attar, head of the Islamic Monuments Department, is Under Secretary of State for the Islamic and Coptic era's monuments.
Memberships
· International Council of Museums
· International Council of Monuments and Sites
· Permanent Committee for Islamic and Coptic era's monuments
· Member of the board of Islamic Art Museum and the Coptic Art Museum
· International Organization for Marine excavations
· Middle East Representative for marine excavations in Australia
Abdallah El Attar gained a large experience when he supervised the salvation work of Napoleon fleet in Abukir and The Patriote, French vessel sent to explore the Egyptian costs in El Agami area. Four ships of the Sanken fleet of Napoleon in Aboukir were discovered under his supervision as well as the Orient's compass and coins referred to that period together with canons and war instruments used by the French navy during their battle with Nelson in front of the Egyptian coasts. The President of Egypt offered one of the found canons that were on board The Orient to the French population. Abdallah El Attar gained a solid experience out of the work done for Brunai where he organized and classified the Mamelouk Monuments in the Sultanate. UNESCO had assigned him for the registration, documentation and the relevé of 13 sites in Brunai whose monuments correspond to the Mamelouk era in Egypt.
He gained more experience in Katar where he excavated, studied the architectural elements of the monuments, reconstructed and renovated. He included in his studies the natural elements that are the sea to be used by ships for hiding.
His excavations in Spain 50Kms far from Cordoba added a lot to his professional training. These qualifications and experiences led Abdallah El Attar to attend many conferences and to become the coordinator for the Islamic era's monuments in the Mediterranean coasts. A large project is undertaken in this respect to include Historical Cairo, Alexandria and Rashid, Foua and the Citadel amongst the other Mediterranean monuments to be considered as Museums with No Frontiers.
The Islamic Era Monuments Department includes various areas where diligent managers are displaying their efforts in their related sites:
1- Choker, General Manager for the Citadel Area
2- Abdel Sattar, GM for South Cairo(El Said Zeinab)
3- El Menebawi, GM for North Cairo(El Mouez Le Din Allah Area)
4- Mahgoub, GM for Misr El Kadima & El Fustat.
5- Anwar, GM for East Cairo(The Mamelouk Desert)
6- Morsi, for West of Cairo(Bulak)
7- Dr.Mohamed Abdel Aziz for Lower Egypt and Cairo
8- Mahmoud Aly for Upper Egypt
9- Hussein Bolbol for Central Egypt.