Prof Abdel Halim Nur ed-Din, head of the Supreme Council of Antiquities,
gave a talk at the Egyptian Education Bureau in London on 17/6/96. It was
a most interesting session, and Prof Abdel Halim was passionate,
forthright, and more than usually frank for a man in his position. 

The subject of the talk was the future of the antiquities of Egypt. He
talked at length about the need for better training of his staff, and for
more funding for the restoration and conservation activities of the SCA.
He indicated that he hoped to obtain the LE100 million offered by
President Hosni Mubarak in the year commencing July, and he expressed the
wish that help might be forthcoming from abroad with conservation
projects.

I cannot recall every detail of the talk, but the following points may
also be of interest:

Foreign missions: priority is likely to be given to new applications which
are concerned with restoration and conservation. Present missions are not
affected by this, but he gave the clear impression that all help in that
area would be gratefully received.

Giza: Pyramid of Khafre is presently closed and will be reopened soon with
a better method of air circulation. The pyramid of Menkaure will then
close and be restored. [no mention was made of any other activities at
Giza lest anyone should ask me]

Dahshur: work is in progress for the site to be open to visitors in the
coming months.

Museums: work is now getting towards the installation stage for the Nubian
Museum in Aswan. Plans are still afoot for a new Cairo Museum, in the area
of the Pyramids. Contracts have already been let for various feasibility
studies etc; don't expect it within less than 10 years. Much consideration
is being given to how the collection is to be divided between the old and
new museums, to prevent the older one being ignored by visitors. It is
likely that parts of it will be used for study rooms, lecture theatres
etc, as well as improving the present environment.

Education of everyone, including Egyptians, in the value and importance of
their culture is becoming more important. The SCA is trying to have better
trained staff at all levels.

Prof Abdel Halim ended the talk with a series of slides of the
conservation work done in the tomb of Nefertari.

Nigel Strudwick