Dr. Khaled El-Enany, Minister of Antiquities, and Maj. Gen. Mohamed Amin Nasr, Advisor to the President for Financial Affairs, witnessed the signing ceremony of a cooperation protocol between the Supreme Council of Antiquities and Al Masa Group to establish a new museum in the City of Arts and Culture in the New Administrative Capital.
The protocol was signed by Dr. Mostafa Waziri, Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, and Walid Samy, Director General of Al Masa Group. During the signing ceremony, a film was screened about the City of Arts and Culture, the museum building and its museum display scenario.
For his part, Dr. Mostafa Waziri explained that the signing of this protocol came after the approval of the board of directors of the Supreme Council of Antiquities and in accordance with the Antiquities Protection Law and its amendments, with the aim of establishing an antiquities museum in the City of Arts and Culture in the New Administrative Capital housing a varied collection of artifacts reflecting the richness of Egypt’s civilizational and cultural history.
He added that the Supreme Council of Antiquities will handle the management and archaeological supervision of the museum, select the artifacts to be displayed, prepare the design of the display cases, set the museum display scenario, and take all necessary measures to provide guarding and full security for the pieces, while the administration of the City of Arts and Culture will prepare the museum building structurally and provide all the various services, including modern lighting systems, protection against fire and theft risks, and cleaning.
Waziri stressed that this protocol is one aspect of cooperation and partnership with the government sector to develop and operate visitor services at archaeological sites and museums, as the ministry has signed a number of cooperation protocols with the Ministry of Housing and Urban Communities to develop the Saqqara archaeological area, and with the Matrouh and Kafr El-Sheikh governorates to develop and open their antiquities museums, helping to boost tourism and raise archaeological awareness among the people of the two governorates.
In a related context, Dr. Mahmoud Mabrouk, museum display scenario advisor at the Ministry of Antiquities, said this museum documents, for the first time, the history of Egypt’s capitals, starting with Memphis, then Thebes and Minya, passing through Alexandria in the Greek and Roman era, up to the city of Fustat, Fatimid Cairo and Khedivial Cairo. A display case will be dedicated to each of the administrative capitals to highlight administrative aspects, including seals, letters, outgoing and incoming correspondence and trade exchange in ancient times, along with displaying many coins showing the beginning and end of rule in each period.
