#feastofarchaeologists

Yesterday was the Feast of the Archaeologists - an annual celebration of Egyptian accomplishments in archaeology founded by Dr Zahi Hawass in 2006. The day was characterised by free attendance to all archaeological sites and museums, the launch of a special exhibition ‘Repatriated Objects’ at the Cairo Museum and an awards evening and musical performance at the Cairo Opera House (pictured above). We managed to fit in all three. 

I’d always wanted to attend an exhibition opening in Egypt and my experience didn’t fall short of eye-opening. It was a “media scrum”, as one of my colleagues put it, with journalists and photographers clambering to get a good story/photo out of the godfather himself, Dr Mamdouh El-Damaty (Minister of Antiquities). After some formal speeches, the crowd literally spilled into the exhibition space. You looked at whatever showcase you were thrust towards - keeping one eye peeled for an escape point to the next part of the display. A highlight object for me was a fragment of the ‘dog stele’ of Wahankh Intef II (CG 20514) which had been returned from Germany. I also had the chance to talk with staff from the Ministry’s Repatriation Department to hear some of the behind-the-scenes stories of their work. 

In between official proceedings, Essam and I managed to squeeze in a visit to the Greek campus in Downtown to inspect potential lecture theatres for our proposed talks and workshops. This place has a fabulous vibe. The leafy grounds are enhanced by playful public sculptures (including the climbing Pharaohs in the picture above), outdoor cafes and trendy young Egyptians. Essentially, the campus has become the hub for a number of creative startup companies, including Cairoscene - a hip online magazine that I discovered shortly before leaving Sydney - and therefore has that ‘anything is possible’ kind-of-feel.