Egyptian Ministry of Tourism Executive steps have already been taken towards the construction of the huge museum on the Cairo-Alexandria highway, said Minister of Culture, Farouk Hosni. An Egyptian company is currently preparing a 117-feddan site where the largest museum ever will be established at a total cost of US$550 million. Despite the substantial cost, finance is no problem - in addition to the Supreme Council for Antiquities (SCA) money, international fund-raising campaigns are planned, the first of which is already accompanying the Tutankhamen US exhibition.
The current stage of construction will last four months and will include building a fencing wall, the removal of encroaching structures, the preparation of subways within the site and their provision with lighting.
According to Yasser Mansour, head of the Technical Committee, weekly meetings are held with an advisory team comprised of l4 Egyptians and international bureaus and companies to execute the winning design of Irish architect Shefring. However, by next month tenders will have been invited to establish a restoration centre, a power station and a fire brigade; all of which will be operative before the completion of the museum premises. Mansour said that l00, 000 artefacts would be extracted from a variety of museums and archaeological sites across the country to be restored and well stored until the construction of the museum, a process that will take three years.
He went on to say that by mid-October the blueprint of the exhibition halls would be ready. The design relies on an ingenious idea that allows an individual to see the pyramids of Giza from inside the halls and from all angles.
Simultaneous to the construction of the Giza museum, another huge project is underway: the construction of the National Civilization Museum at Fustat, south of Cairo. The first stage of this project is already completed.
As Ayman Abdul Moniem, supervisor of the project explains, the museum is different from the others given that it will display items belonging to all Egyptian cultures from pre-historic until modern times. The museum is to occupy an area of 25 feddans and is scheduled to be completed in the course of three years with estimated costs of LE200 million. It is designed to exhibit some 50,000 pieces revealing Egyptian accomplishments in all areas.
The idea of the museum goes back to the early l980s when a competition was organised for designers under the supervision of UNESCO. The result was announced in l985 and a site at the Gezira grounds was suggested. However, this area was too small for such a huge project given that it required at least 50,000 metres squared. The project was therefore postponed until a new site was chosen in Fustat, the old capital of Islamic Egypt.
The building occupies an area of about five feddans only, while the remaining 20 will be used as a garden and for annexed services. UNESCO was keen to allow a panoramic view of the chosen area so that vision would not be blocked by high rises.
UNESCO takes special interest in the museum since it is all embracing of Egyptian culture and administers several cultural activities such as movie shows, theatre performances and laboratories. The display halls have been designed so that the Islamic wing will have as a background the mosque of Amr Ibn Al Ass whereas the Coptic wing will take the nearby Coptic museum as its background.
The first construction stage of the museum has already been completed whereas the second and final phase focuses on interior design. The items to be displayed have already been chosen and their labels are being prepared.
The museum will not only present artifacts but also other objects that highlight features of the Egyptian civilization. It will give an idea about the people who lived on the banks of the Nile, their thoughts and daily life. For this reason the museum will display objects donated by the Railway Authority and the Ministries of Agriculture and Transportation
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