Acknowledging Egypt’s efforts to conserve cultural heritage

EGYPT’s re-election for a new four-year term as member of UNESCO’s Executive Board last Friday reflected the broad recognition of the country’s active role within the United Nations system in general and within the one international organisation in charge of promoting culture for peace and development in particular. In an historical perspective, Egypt’s ties with the UNESCO have characteristically been energetic and multifaceted. For it was one of the founders of the organisation, following its active participation in the work of the 1945 San Francisco Conference which created the United Nations organisation and system. Egypt continues to cherish these ties, as President Sisi emphasised in a speech to the ceremony the UNESCO organised at its headquarters in Paris earlier this month to mark the 75th anniversary of its establishment, noting that this event came at a time when Egypt is undertaking enormous efforts to conserve the splendid human civilisation heritage that exists on its land through an impressive package of restorative projects, expanding archaeological discoveries and the building of modern museums.

Over the years, Egypt’s ties with the UNESCO have grown in scope. Underlying the continuity of the trend has been a rich combination of concrete factors, including in the foremost Egypt’s unique and abundant acquisition of monuments and antiquities that illustrate the wonders of the cradle of human civilisation along the banks of the River Nile and also provide a rich source of knowledge on later Hellenic, Graeco-Roman, Coptic and Islamic components of Egypt’s civilisation. Co-operation between Egypt and the UNESCO peaked with the joint campaign to save the Abu Simbel and Philae temples from rising waters, thereby making it possible for people from all over the world to continue to get firsthand knowledge and viewing experience of such rare and fascinating monuments.

Today, and in pursuance of its orientation to maintain these monuments in the most efficient shape and put them on display in magnificent manner that befits their historical value, Egypt has built a state-of-the-art museum, the National Museum of Egyptian Civilisation in Cairo’s old district of Fustat and has moved dozens of royal mummies to the new museum in what has come to be known as the Golden Parade which dazzled the world and drew huge world media coverage and global viewership. In the meantime, construction and fitting works are proceeding in full thrust to complete the Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM) in the Pyramids Plateau which is home to the Great Giza Pyramid, one of the world’s wonders. Concomitantly, meticulous preparations are under way to inaugurate the Luxor Processional Passageway, the Kebbash Road, a magnificent restorative project for the entrance to the world-famous Karnack Temple, which will position Luxor as the largest open city museum on the world travel and tourism map. These and many other national projects contribute tremendously and most effectively to the conservation and maintenance of the world’s cultural and civilisational heritage – one of the key goals underling the establishment of UNESCO.