...plans for the $500 million Grand Museum of Egypt, to be built at the foot of the Pyramids and serve as a gathering place of about 100,000 Egyptian artifacts, were released last month by heneghan.peng.architects, the Irish firm awarded the design contract by the government.

But, as is always the case with giant projects, the government is now facing a funding issue.   For starters, officials have announced all $40 million expected in revenue generated by King Tut’s current tour of the US will go toward the museum.   In addition, the government is planning a large-scale fundraising drive and is negotiating a loan for an undisclosed amount with the Japanese Bank for International Development.

newsreel / digest : Grand Schemes, Egypt Today, Egypt, Volume 26 Issue 07, July 2005.

newsreel/for the record, Egypt Today, Egypt, Volume 26 Issue 07, July 2005.

Work is underway to build the first Egyptian museum of pre-historic eras.   Located on Qena’s Nile Corniche, close to the railway bridge, the museum will cover an important and overlooked era in history; the 10,000 years preceding and leading to the formation of the first and second dynasties.   The pieces set apart to go to the museum number over 3,000.   Dr. Mahmoud Mabrouk, the sculptor and brains behind the idea, believes the museum will draw a lot of tourism to the city of Qena, because it is imperative for serious fans of Egyptian culture to understand the stages that have pre-empted the formation of Egyptian civilization.

A roundup of the month’s news in arts and letters: Go Qena, Egypt Today, Egypt, Volume 26 Issue 07, July 2005.

One man’s crusade to save Pharaonic heritage from becoming, quite literally, a pile of stones or a source of building material for a factory.

Before the publication of Description de l’Egypte after Napoleon’s ‘great scientific and military expedition’ of 1798, only a handful of bold, religious men traveled to Egypt in search of ancient Coptic manuscripts.   Few scholars or pilgrims passing through Egypt stopped to look at ruins on their way to and from the Holy Land.   Apart from mummies, which were at a premium in Europe, they showed little enthusiasm for Pharaonic artifacts.

The publication of Description de l’Egypte’s 23 massive volumes over nearly 20 years directed the world’s attention to ancient Egypt and helped spark the modern study of the nation’s ancient history.   Muhammad Ali’s ‘open door policy’ quickly put Pharaonic heritage to the fore.

Travelers flocked to the Valley of the Nile in search of the newly discovered remnants of ancient civilization.   It did not take long for them to start planning a massive exportation of its monuments to their home countries, earning themselves both fortunes and reputations in the process.

They encountered little resistance in these early years.   The Pasha did not seem aware of the value of Egypt’s heritage...

The Knight of Karnak, Egypt Today, Egypt, Volume 26 Issue 07, July 2005.

Dr. Ahmed Nawwar’s latest exhibition revisits the timeless Fayoum Portraits, in a bid to look into the soul of civilization.

Haunting yet beautiful, the Fayoum Portraits grip you, and you cannot look back.   The faces, with their huge, soulful eyes, give viewers an eerie jolt into ancient times and one is easily able to see the degree of professional excellence artists of yore had reached.

Last month, Nawwar exhibited works that seem to be the result of thousands of years of artistic experience.   In his exhibition, Soul of Civilisation, held at the Zamalek Gallery, Nawwar brings the Fayoum Portraits into the modern art era, yet again.   In 2000, the artist held one of his most moving and powerful exhibits, a black and white (ink on paper) dissection of the Fayoum art.   “It was an attempt to penetrate the depths of their secrets; to bring the soul on a journey back into contact with current events after the passing of a millennium,” Nawwar explains...

Soul Searching, Egypt Today, Egypt, Volume 26 Issue 07, July 2005.