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Inthisissue

AWordfrom
theDirector

Curatorsin
theMet

Exhibitions

Upcoming
Events

Egyptian
Museum
Sections

I S S U E

N U M B E R

O N E

J A N U A R Y - A P R I L

2 0 0 8

Egyptian
Museum

THE EGYPTIAN MUSEUM NEWSLETTER

Profileofthe
Issue

A Word from the Director

TheEgyptianMuseumis
oneoftheoldestmuseums
intheworldandholdsthe
largestandmostspectacu
larcollectionofEgyptian
Antiquities,whichmakesit
uniqueinitsculturalrich
ness.
TheMuseumplaysacul
tural,educationalandsci
entificroleinEgyptology.
Thisroleisreflectedinthe
varietyofitsactivities.
Muchoftheworkremains
unknowntothepublic,
whichhasledustoissue
thisnewsletter.TheEgyp
tianMuseumisgoing
throughmanychanges,

andmuchisdeveloping.

community.

Bymeansofthisnewslet
terweaimtoinforminter
estedpartiesofevents,
presentdaytodayactivi
ties,andhelpscholarsand
studentsbygivingthem
usefulinformationthat
wouldassisttheirresearch.

Wethereforewelcomeall
feedback,andwehopeyou
enjoyourhumbleattempt
andfindituseful.

Thisnewsletterisasmall
steptowardsamorede
velopedmuseum.
Ourdebutissuewasput
togetherinrecordtime,
andwehopetocontinu
ouslyimproveitandad
dressissuesthatinterest
thewiderEgyptological

WafaaelSaddik
Director

Howto
Accessthe
Register
Books?

MakingA
Graphic
Change

Egyptian Museum Curators at the Met

EgyptianMuseumcuratorsGehanHas
sanandTakwaSeliman,tookpartina
fellowshipprogramattheMetropolitan
MuseumofArtinNewYork.Theywere
recommendedtojointhisprogrambyDr.
WafaaelSeddik.Thethreemonthrigor
ousprograminvolvedthecuratorswith
theMetropolitansdailyactivities,and
taughtthemmanyfacetsofbeingacura
tor,fromdaytodaygalleryworktoexhi
bitionpreparationandcurating.Their

learningsessionsincludedconservation,
labelwritingandprocessing,assisting
scholars,dataentryandresearch,and
alsoRegistrarwork.TakwaandGehan
tooktheopportunitytovisitothermuse
ums,wheretheywereabletoobserve
differentaspectsofmuseology.Theyare
bothexcitedtobebackattheEgyptian
museum,andlookforwardtoimplement
ingthenewskillstheyhaveacquired.

Exhibitions

MUSEUM
EVENTS

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Amidstabrightlycoloureddisplay,theEgyptianMuseumhosted,forthefirsttimeever,a collection of
artefactsfromanotherculture.FiftyeightPreHispanicpiecesfromthe
region of Oaxaca, Mexico were displayed from the 20th of January to
the2ndofMarch2008intheMuseumstemporaryexhibitionhall.Enti
tled Dressing like Gods, the exhibition displayed the richness of the
preColombian world, focusing on attire and regalia through objects
datingtobetweenthethirdandsixteenthcenturiesA.D.Itseemedthat
forabriefmomentonewastransferredtoanothertimeandplace,far
awayfromancientEgypt,whichstilllingeredinthebackground.
ThisexhibitionwaspartofanexchangewithMexicoinwhichover100
EgyptianantiquitiescoveringEgyptsancienthistoryweredisplayedinanexhibitioncalledIsisandthe
FeatheredSerpentthatwasheldinMexico.
Left:Anthropomorphicurnwithheaddress,courtesyof;Right:Exhibitiondisplays,courtesyofRCMD

Corroborree,orGathering Togetherin theSpiritofCelebration,was

thetitleofanothertemporaryexhibitioncelebrating25yearsofcoop
eration between Egyptians and Australians in the field of Egyptology.
Heldforonemonth,theexhibitionwasaccompaniedbyaonedaycon
ference, where papers were given by academics and specialists in
volvedwithAustralianprojectsinEgypt.
Left:AnOldKingdomnaoswithMeriandBebtyfromtheChapelofMeriinSaqqara

For two weeks from 24th

March to 5th of April, the mu
seum hosted another exhibi
tion, this time not for antiqui
ties. Marking the release of
photographer Sarite Sanders
book, The Eternal Light of
Egypt,theAmericanUniversity
Press, in cooperation with the
Egyptian Museum, held an
exhibition of black and white
photographs of archaeological
sites and artefacts from all
overEgypt.

Celebrating 50 years of Egyptian and Czech collaboration in Egyptian Archae

ology,theCzechInstituteofEgyptology
put on an exhibition at the Egyptian
Museumfromthe7thofApriltothe7th
ofMay.Artefactsondisplaywerefrom
excavations of the Czech Institute in
their longterm concession in Abu Sir,
and their most recent project in el
Hayez Oasis in the Western Desert
where they have uncovered both pre
historicandLateRomanremains.
Photo:Dr.MiroslavVerner,DirectorofCzech
InstituteofEgyptologyGuidingMr.VclavKlaus,presidentofCzechRepublicandthefirstlady,
throughtheexhibition.PhotocourtesyofAhmedAmin

Upcoming Events
Aspecialexhibitionwillbeheldinroom44oftheEgyptianMuseum;
fromMay19thtoJune30th.Fiftydocumentsbelongingtothearchae
ologistVictorLoret,fromtheEgyptologicalArchivesoftheUniversityof
Milan,willbedisplayed.Thedocumentsincludehisexcavationjournals,
notes,photographs,sketchesandmaps.Inaddition,twentyobjects
fromtheEgyptianMuseumscollectionfromLoretsexcavationsin
SaqqaraandtheValleyoftheKings,willalsobedisplayed.

TheEgyptianMuseumisorganisingaplayattheCairoOperaHouseonMay12that
7:00pm.VisuallyimpairedstudentsfromtheEgyptianMuseumSchoolareperforming
TheGoldenSerpentbasedonTheTaleoftheShipwreckedSailorandwillbeaccom
paniedbytheOrchestraandChoirfromElNoorwilAmalaSchoolforvisuallyimpaired
girls.Thiswillbethefirsttimethatsuchaplayisperformedbyvisuallyimpairedstu
dents.
THE

EGYPTIAN

MUSEUM

NEWSLETTER

MUSEUM

Egyptian Museum Sections

ACTIVITIES

TheEgyptianMuseumcontainssome140thousandartefactsdividedinto13mainsections,allowingcuratorstoeasilysuper
viseandcuratethecollections.EachsectionhasseveralcuratorsandassistantcuratorsledbyaHeadCurator.Sectionone
containstheTutankhamunCollectionandtheMummies.Sectionstwo,three,fourandfivecontainOldKingdom,Middle
Kingdom,NewKingdomandLatePeriod/GrecoRomanrespectively.Sectionsixincludescoinsandpapyrus,andsection
sevenwhichcontainscoffins,scarabsandostraca.Eachsectionisdividedintosubsections.Thelastsectionisthebasement.
UnderthesupervisionofSalwaAbdel
Rahman,Section3curatorsarecon
cernedwithMiddleKingdommate
rial,whichisdividedbetweenthe
groundandupperfloorsdepending
onsize.Duringthepastmonths,the
curatorshavebeenworkingoncon
servingandcleaningartefacts,aswell
asassistingM.G.NelsonHurst,ARCE
KressFellow,whoisstudyingsome
MiddleKingdomartefactscurrently
instorage.
OfthemosttaxingtasksSection3
curatorsworkedonduringinrecent
monthswasthemovementofalarge
statueofQueenNofret,wifeof
SenusertII,asitispartofanexhibi

tionofEgyptianantiquitiesinVienna,
Austria.Thisexhibitionwillbeheldat
KunsthistorischesMuseumtheuntil
September28th2008.
Section3curatorWaheedEdwaris
alsoworkingonexplanatorypanelsto
beplacedbySenusertIIIsboatfrom
Dahshuronthegroundfloor.

Above:Section3HeadCuratorSalwa
AbdelRahmancleaningastelain
storagebeforephotographingit.
Below:PhotographerSamehAbdel
Mohsen,Section3curatorsNehad
Elhamy,SalwaAbdelRahman,Wa
heedEdwarwithmuseumstaffandin
committeetophotographobjectsin
storageforscholarAhmedYouness.

Section6,underthedirectionofMr.SayedHassan,isresponsibleforconservingthemuseumspa
pyrusmanuscripts.Equippedwithstateofthearttechnology,thesectionslaboratoryfacilitiesare
themostadvancedintheMiddleEast.Priortoobtainingsuchnewtechnology,themuseumrelied
onoldfashionedmanualconservationandrestoration,whichweretimeandenergyconsuming.
TheSectionisalsoorganizingatemporaryexhibitionoftherarecoinspreservedinthemuseum.

SayedHassangoingthroughthepapyrusarchivesinSection6

PROFILE : PATSY GASPERETTI:

Patsy is a freelance editor who has been helping the
museum since 2004. She has been helping curators with
English editing, and helping them to learn about the
collections so they can guide VIP visitors. She is also
working on compiling a word list comprised of the words
that are commonly used in Egyptology. Patsy is the English
editor for this newsletter.

How to Access the Register Books?

TheJournalDentre(JE)is
theEgyptianMuseums
originalregistryseries.
Startedintheearly1900s,
theserieshasover99,631
entriesandencompasses25
volumes.Additionalregis
trationseriesusedinthe
MuseumincludetheTem
poraryRegisters(TR),the
publishedCatalogueGener

ale(CG),andtheSpecialReg
isters(SR).Studentsand
scholarsdoinglegitimate
researchwhowishtoconsult
theJEandTRbookscanvisit
theRegistrationandCollec
tionsManagementDepart
ment(RCMD)locatedonthe
groundfloornexttotheele
vatorinthePredynasticgal
lery.

ThepublishedCGseriesare
accessibleatmostEgyp
tologicalresearchlibraries.
ToaccesstheSRbooks,ap
pointmentsmustbemade
withthecuratorinchargeof
theobjectyouwishtostudy.
TheRCMDisavailabletohelp
guidescholarsthroughall
requestsandanyrequired
paperwork.Pleasebeaware

that,whilegeneralartifact
studydoesnotrequirespe
cialpermission,anyinforma
tionbeingpublisheddoes.

ByWaheedEdwar

Making A Graphic Change

GraphicChange,anAmerican Thesystemconsistof330
nonprofitorganization,has
newsigns,includingfacility
beenvolunteeringatthemu identification,displayroom
seumsinceNovember2005
identification,directional,
creatingTheEgyptianMu
guideline,ticketpriceand
mainmap.Thiswillsignifi
seumGraphicImprovement
cantlyenhancetheimageand
Project.RebeccaWeimer,
DirectorofGraphicChange
functionalityofthemuseum.
hasbeenworkingwiththe
Atthispoint,thesignagesys
museumstafftoimplementa temhasbeencompletelyde
completesignagesystem.
signed,approved,andis

Phone: 2-02-2582448, 25782452

Fax: 2-02-25796974
Visiting Hours: 9 am - 6.30 pm
General Working Hours: 9 am 3.30 pm

Contact the Newsletter at

emcnewsletter@gmail.com
Please note that http://www.egyptianmuseum.gov.eg/ is longer a valid
website and should not be consulted. A new website is under construction.

awaitingfundingthrough
corporateorpersonalspon
sorship.
ByRebeccaWeimer
Formoreinformationaboutthis
projectandsponsorshipbenefits,
pleasecontactRebeccaWeimerat
rweimer@graphicchange.org.or
visitwww.GraphicChange.org

Ticket prices:
Foreign Adults: 50 LE
Foreign Students (with valid ISIC ID): 25 LE
Egyptian and Arab Adults: 2.00 LE
Egyptian and Arab Students: 1.00 LE
Mummy Room:
Foreign Adults: 100 LE
Foreign Students (with valid ISIC ID): 50 LE
Egyptian and Arab Adults: 10 LE
Egyptian and Arab Students: 5 LE

This newsletter is prepared by:

Maather Ibrahim Abu Aish
Mennat-Allah El Dorry