read it today no. 01

Supplement Magazine to Incontro Mediterraneo Heritage Art Tourism Business Economy

Archaeological HeritageMedinet Madi

the first Archaeological Park in Egypt

Supplement Magazine to Incontro Mediterraneo

Magazineread ittoday

1 October 2014Free copy

today

Embassy of Italy

Italian

FoodFestivalCairo

November 20143-17Egypt

atPromotional

EventHyper One

and Authentic Italian Restaurants

ENJOY Authentic Italian Cuisineand Authentic Italian Products

&Authentic Italian Restaurants

L’Italiano Concorde in Cairo

Sheikh Zayed and Cairo Ismailia Highway

Sheikh Zayed and Cairo Ismailia HighwayIPER ONE

Leonardo Fairmont Heliopolis & Towers Cucina JW Marriott Cairo

Editoriale,ecco una nuova idea editoriale... I’m Italy magazine. Read It today! Vuole essere un momento di riflessione, di approfondimento per tutti (un argomento specifico per ogni uscita) e anche di relax. Uno strumento agevole di lettura (20 pagine, in formato large, pieghevole),Questo primo numero di “Read it today!” è dedicato al sito archeologico di Medinet Madi, comunemente definito “la Luxor di fayoum”, gestito dalle missioni italiane dal 1939 (data di scoperta del sito ad opera di Achille Vogliano). Un grande esempio di cooperazione Italo-egiziana grazie anche al prezioso contributo dello Sca, degli ispettori e restauratori che negli anni si sono avvicendati e ad un progetto Italo Egiziano dal nome ISSEMM (Institutional Support to the Supreme Council of Antiquities for Environmental Monitoring and Management of Cultural Heritage Sites: Application to Fayoum Oasis and North Saqqara Necropolis) nato nel 2004.Dare visibilità ai siti archeologichi di più contenute dimensioni, ma non meno importanti per il loro valore storico e per le energie umane e di fondi profusi per il loro mantenimento, serve a preservarli.. . Lecture magistralis presso università, scuole e associazioni locali e straniere, viaggi in loco, pubblicazioni monotematiche sono un valido strumento per ampliarne la conoscenza sia a livello locale che fuori dai confini locali.Saranno i personaggi che hanno reso famoso questo sito, fino a farlo divenire, il primo Parco Archeologico in Egitto, a raccontracene la storia. Edda bresciani (la prima egittologa donna italiana laureatasi più di 50 anni fa), Ali radwan (il primo ispettore egiziano ad occuparsi di Medinet Madi ) e Antonio Giammarusti (architetto defino “l’esperto di sabbia”, vera piaga del sito) sono i protagonisti di questo primo numero di Read it today! Dedicato a Medinet Madi, che che attraverso il loro vissuto attraverso i loro ricordi, anneddoti ci aiuteranno a ricordare il lungo percorso di questo sito risalente a 4000 anni fa.

Editorial,here’s a new idea ... editorial I’m Italy magazine. Read it today, will be a moment of reflection, analysis for all (a specific topic for each output) and also to relax. Uuno tool easy to read (20 pages, in large format, folding), Culture, business tourism, sports have slowly become part of our lives, our families as part of a daily routine from which it is impossible to ignore and therefore require specific analysis. Hence the birth of many single-issue magazine dedicated to sport, home, tourism, culture. . Today we travel more and more, curiosities have expanded and there is always a greater need to also discover new realities: Archaeology is one of them. This first issue of Read it today! is dedicated to the archaeological site of Medinet Madi, commonly called the “Luxor fayoum”, managed by the Italian missions since 1939 (the date of discovery of the site by Achilles Vogliano). A great example of Italo-Egyptian cooperation thanks to the invaluable contribution of the Sca, inspectors and renovators who over the years have come and gone and a project name from the Italian-Egyptian ISSEMM (Institutional Support to the Supreme Council of Antiquities for Environmental Monitoring and Management of Cultural Heritage Sites: Application to Fayoum Oasis and North Saqqara Necropolis) was born in 2004. Giving visibility to the Archeological sites of smaller size, but no less important for their historical value and human energies and funds being made for their maintenance, serves to preserve .. Lecture magistralis at universities, schools and associations, local and foreign, on-site travel, publications montematiche are a valuable tool to broaden the knowledge both locally and outside the local boundaries. They will be the people who made this famous site, until it became the first Archaeological Park in Egypt, raccontracene history. Edda Bresciani (the first Italian woman Egyptologist who graduated more than 50 years ago), radwan Ali (the first Egyptian inspector to deal with medient Madi) and Antonio Giammarusti (archiitetto Defino “the expert of sand”, the true scourge of the site) are the protagonists of this first issue of Read it today! Dedicated to Medinet Madi, which VHE through their experience through their memories, anneddoti cii help you remember the long path qequesto site dating back to 4000 years ago.

Supplement Magazine to Incontro Mediterraneo

Magazineread ittoday

sommarioFayoum 1830.The visit of consul Giuseppe Acerbiby Edda Bresciani

Medinet Madi “the city of the past”. Historical descriptionby Edda Bresciani and Antonio Giammarusti

Ali Radwan: a young inspector in Medinet Madi fifty years ago Interview to Ali Radwan by Emanuela Chiumeo

Fayum 1830.La visita del console Giuseppe Acerbidi Edda Bresciani

Madinet Madi “la citta del passato”Descrizione storica di Edda Bresciani, e Antonio Giammarusti

4

8

14

4 Supplement Magazine to Incontro Mediterraneo

The Fayoum oasis was not neglected by the “savants” of Napoleon’s Expedition that landed in Egypt in 1798. The various sites that could be discerned at that time in the oasis were described and accurately mapped

(“Description de l’Égypte”, IV, Paris 1822). The French scholars carefully documented the geological problem of Lake Moeris (Birket Qarun) and also investigated the archaeological and historical enigma of the location of the Labyrinth. Based on the texts by Herodotus and Strabo, they located it quite correctly in the ruins south of the Hawara pyramid and intended it as a huge underground building of which they provided a fascinating reconstruction. Interestingly, in recent years (2008), a geophysical research project called “Mataha” (i.e. the Arabic word for “labyrinth”) was started in Hawara to further investigate this hypothesis. The famous Italian traveller G.B. Belzoni visited Fayoum in 1819, on his way to the oasis of Bahariya. In his book “Narrative of the Operations and Recent Discoveries Within the Pyramids, Temples, Tombs and Excavations in Egypt and Nubia: And of a Journey to the Coast of the Red Sea, in Search of the Ancient Berenice, and Another to the Oasis of Jupiter Ammon”, published in London in 1820, he left interesting descriptions and drawings of archaeological sites and monuments. He joined in the quest of the Labyrinth, discussed about the nature of Lake Moeris, and visited Dime, Kiman Fares, Qasr Qarun, Biahmu and Abgig, where the impressive obelisk of Sesostris I was lying broken on the ground. Much to our delight, since 1972 the restored obelisk has been standing again imposingly at the entrance of Medinet el Fayoum. The Franco-Tuscan Literary Expedition to Egypt and Nubia, conducted between 1828 and 1829 by J. F. Champollion and I. Rosellini, left out the oasis, or did not have enough time to visit it, unlike the Prussian R. Lepsius, who was there in May 1843. Still barely known is, however, Giuseppe Acerbi’s visit to Fayoum in 1830. I expanded on it in a paper discussed at a conference in Castel Goffredo in 1992 (“Giuseppe Acerbi e il Fayoum”, in Atti del Convegno di Studi su G. Acerbi, Castel Goffredo 1992, “Il Tarantello”, 1992), based on Giuseppe Acerbi’s manuscripts from Mantua Library. Following in Herodotus’ footsteps, he was resolved to complete his autopsy of the monuments of ancient Egypt by visiting the sites he had not been able to see until then. So he departed from Alexandria on January 1st, 1830, crossed the Delta, then went up the Nile to Beni Suef, and then further off to Fayoum and Cairo, finally arriving in Badrashin, the old Memphis, where the Nile Valley meets the Delta region, on January 14th. At the time of Mohamed Ali Pasha, Giuseppe Acerbi, from the small town of Castel Goffredo, served as the consul of Austria in Egypt: a clever, erudite

Fayoum 1830The visit of consul Giuseppe AcerbiNo members of Napoleon’s expedition, no 19th century travellers, no tourists until the second half of 20th century ever had any chance to visit and describe the “Luxor of Fayoum”, i.e. Medinet Madi Archaeological Park, perhaps the most impressive archaeological site in Fayoumby Edda Bresciani

Archaeological HeritageMedinet Madi. Fayoum. Egypt

Temples of Medinet Madi discovered by Achille Vogliano 1935


Fayum 1830. La visita del console Giuseppe AcerbiNessuno dei viaggiatori dell’800 né dei turisti fin oltre la metà del secolo scorso hanno potuto visitare e descrivere la “Luxor del Fayum”, oggigiorno il sito archeologico più emozionante del Fayum di Edda Bresciani


L’oasi del Fayum non era stata trascurata dai “savants” della Expédition al seguito di Napoleone, in Egitto dal 1798; dei vari siti allora visibili furono lasciate descrizioni e una cartografia ancor oggi valida

(Description de l’Égypte, vol. IV, Paris 1822). I francesi hanno dedicato molte pagine al problema geologico del Lago Moeris (Birket Qarun) e a quello storico-archeologico della localizzazione del Labirinto, sulla scorta del testo di Erodoto e di Strabone, situandolo correttamente nelle rovine a sud della piramide di Hawara ed intendendolo come un immenso edificio sotterraneo, del quale diedero una ricostruzione suggestiva. È interessante notare che, avendo presente questa ipotesi, proprio negli ultimi anni, e precisamente dal 2008, è stato attivato a Hawara un progetto di ricerca geofisica chiamato appunto “Mataha”, cioè “labirinto” in arabo. Il celebre viaggiatore padovano G. B. Belzoni visitò il Fayum nel 1819, di là spingendosi fino all’oasi di Baḥaria. E nel suo libro Narrative of the Operations and Recent Discoveries Within the Pyramids, Temples, Tombs and Excavations in Egypt and Nubia: And of a Journey to the Coast of the Red Sea, in Search of the Ancient Berenice, and Another to the Oasis of Jupiter Ammon, pubblicato a Londra nel 1820, il padovano ha lasciato interessanti descrizioni e disegni di siti archeologici e di monumenti: anche lui è alla ricerca del Labirinto, discute sul lago Moeris, e visita Dime, Kiman Fares, Qasr Qarun, Biahmu e Abgig, dove giaceva al suolo, spezzato, il singolare obelisco di Sesostri I, reperto che dal 1972 vediamo nuovamente eretto all’ingresso di Medinet el Fayum. La cosiddetta “Spedizione letteraria franco-toscana in Egitto e in Nubia”, che J. F. Champollion e I. Rosellini condussero tra il 1828 e il 1829 rilevando i monumenti egiziani fino in Nubia, trascurò o non ebbe il tempo di visitare l’oasi del Fayum, al contrario del prussiano R. Lepsius, che la raggiunse nel maggio 1843. È poco nota invece la visita all’oasi di Giuseppe Acerbi nel 1830; io ne ho parlato in una comunicazione fatta a Castel Goffredo nel 1992 (“Giuseppe Acerbi e il Fayum”, in Atti del Convegno di Studi su G. Acerbi, Castel Goffredo 1992, “Il Tarantello”, 1992) basandomi sui manoscritti acerbiani nella Biblioteca di Mantova. L’Acerbi, deciso a completare la sua autopsia, in senso erodoteo, dei monumenti dell’Egitto antico con visite ai siti presso cui non era ancora stato, partì da Alessandria il primo gennaio 1830, sostando nel Delta, risalendo fino a Beni Suef, da qui passando nel Fayum, e poi di nuovo verso Il Cairo, giungendo il 14 gennaio a Bedrascein, cioè l’antica Menfi, all’innesto fra il Delta e la valle del Nilo. Il Console d’Austria Giuseppe Acerbi, intelligente e colto letterato, naturalista, enologo, esperto di geologia, di politica, di economia, era nativo di Castel Goffredo e fu console nell’Egitto di Mohammed Ali; si legò d’amicizia coi direttori della “Spedizione franco-toscana” che, per un certo periodo, anche accompagnò lungo il Nilo. Il diplomatico ha raccolto numerosi, interessanti oggetti archeologici, in massima parte donati a musei. Le considerazioni che leggiamo nelle carte acerbiane rispecchiano gli interessi socio-economici che caratterizzano l’Acerbi (per esempio, egli calcola quanto renda la provincia del Fayum al Pascià, cui rimprovera che “Non spende mille borse per la manutenzione dei canali quando dovrebbe spenderne almeno cinquemila”) e la sua vivace inclinazione per l’agricoltura e per i metodi agrari, che definisce meno che primitivi ed economicamente non redditizi; si dilunga a parlare dei vigneti e del modo sciagurato e arretrato di produrre e conservare il vino in anfore, con toni inorriditi, lui che di viticoltura e di vinificazione era così


The North Kiosk, later calles Vogliano’s Kiosk

learned man, a naturalist and a wine expert, but also an expert in geology, politics and economics. He was on friendly terms with the directors of the Franco-Tuscan Expedition, whom he joined for some time in their journey up the Nile. The diplomat collected many interesting archaeological objects, which were mostly donated to museums later on. The comments and remarks contained in Acerbi’s papers on Egypt reflect the socio-economic approach that was so typical of him (for example, the Austrian consul calculated how much the Pasha spent on the province of Fayoum, blaming him because “he barely spends a thousand purses on canal maintenance, whereas he should spend at least five thousand”), as well as his keen interest in agriculture and farming methods, which he observed and defined as utterly primitive and financially unprofitable. He dwelt on vineyards and condemned, in shocking terms, the messy, outdated wine-making methods and wine conservation in amphorae, a practice that deeply horrified a person so expert in wine-growing and wine-making as he was. Of course, he focused also on another typical crop of Fayoum at that time, i.e. roses. As a matter of fact, with plenty of exclamation marks he soon expressed his disappointment in this respect as well: “I saw the famous Fayoum rose gardens! I got the famous rose water! [...] As for the water, nothing could be more imperfect. It comes in three qualities: for 7.50 piastres, 4.50 piastres and 50 for the small bottle. They keep it in open bottles, corkless and unsealed. It is a miracle if a shade of scent can still be found in there.” Acerbi reached the Fayoum from Beni Suef: “We left Beni Suef at 9am and got to Ellaun (El Lahun) at the sunset, walking all the time across vast plains almost invariably grown with corn, beans, flax, and barley crops, and crossed in many directions by small and big canals: the villages we went through are the following, etc...” (Mss Acerbi, 30,33a). In Hawara, where there was a bridge, Acerbi and his companions set up camp by the wall of the dam where – according to the consul’s journal – they were attacked by marauders. The following morning they visited El Lahun pyramid and then got to Medinet el Fayoum. They were negatively impressed by the Fayoum capital: “The ruins of the ancient Crocodilopolis, then called Arsinoe, are just like those of Alexandria and Memphis and old Cairo; dusty hills rather than ruins, where hardly any vestiges of capitals, columns or obelisks could be found”. On January 4th, Acerbi and his men reached Lake Moeris (Lake Qarun), via Fedimin, where Acerbi positively noted down that “we tasted some good wine”, and then stopped at Sennour for the night. He was not thrilled at all by the nearby lake, three hundred metres away from their camp. He found its water heavy, and his fishing and hunting hopes were shattered all through the two days they spent there: the same fish as in the Nile, and no shells, he commented. On January 7th they went straight back to Medinet el Fayoum, and spent the following day visiting archaeological sites. In the morning they were in Biahmu, where he interpreted the massive limestone blocks as the remains of buildings, in contrast with the French experts from Napoleon’s expedition, who had intended them as the bases of two colossal statues. In the afternoon they moved on to Abgig, to see and reproduce the broken obelisk in a drawing. An interesting note in his journal reports his visit to Bernardino Drovetti’s house, Consul of France and one of the most active “merchant consuls” in Egypt at Mohammed Ali’s time, in Medinet El Fayoum on January 3rd. As a matter of fact, it was the house of Drovetti’s agent in Fayoum, J. J. Rifaud, a sculptor from Marseille, who had been active in the oasis since 1823 and worked in Hawara in 1827. He was a lucky antiquity hunter in Tanis, Leontopolis, Thebes. In 1818, in Karnak, he found the black granite statue of Ramses II in fragments, which was then shipped to Turin with the Drovetti collection in 1824. He found only the head intact, but he carefully collected all the tiny fragments of the statue, thus allowing its perfect reconstruction in 1826, under the supervision of Jean-François Champollion. The seated statue of Ramses II, with Rifaud’s name engraved on it, has become the symbol of the Museum of Turin. But of course, no members of Napoleon’s expedition, no 19th century travellers, no tourists until the second half of 20th century ever had any chance to visit and describe the “Luxor of Fayoum”, i.e. Medinet Madi Archaeological Park, perhaps the most impressive archaeological site in Fayoum. Connected to Wadi Rayan Nature Reserve by a scenic route, the archaeological park and its Visitors Centre offers an extraordinary itinerary among the monuments of the sacred area of Medinet Madi, a town that, established in the Middle Kingdom by Pharaoh Amenemhat III, who built a temple – still existing - to the Goddess Renenut and the Crocodile God Sobek, lived on until as late as the Christian times. Medinet Madi rose from the sands, thanks to the discoveries made on the site by Achille Vogliano in the 1930s, then the continuous archaeological work by Pisa University through several decades, and finally the activity of the ISSEMM Cooperation Project ISSEMM carried out in the most recent years.


esperto. Non poteva mancare l’osservazione diretta di una produzione tipica del Fayum al suo tempo: i roseti. E infatti l’Acerbi scrive con abbondanza di punti esclamativi: “Ho veduti i famosi rosai del Fayum! Mi sono procacciata la famigerata acqua di rose!”, per poi osservare deluso: “Quanto all’acqua non si può veder nulla di più imperfetto. Si fa di tre qualità: da piastre 7 e 1/2, da 4 e 1/2 e da 50 per bottiglietta. Si conserva in bottiglie aperte senza turacciolo e senza stucco. È un miracolo che conservino qualche ombra di odore”. Ma accompagniamo l’Acerbi verso e nel Fayum, che raggiunge da Beni Suef: “Abbiamo lasciato Beni Suef alle 9 e siamo giunti verso il tramonto del sole a Ellaun (El Lahun), camminando sempre attraverso pianure immense, quasi tutte seminate di biade, di fave, di lino, di orzo, e tagliate in più dire zioni da canali grandi e piccioli: i paesi che si passano sono i seguenti, etc...” (Mss Acerbi, 30, 33a). Ad Hawara, dov’è il ponte, l’Acerbi e i suoi compagni misero la tenda presso il muro della diga dove, come ci informa il console nella sua narrazione, furono assaliti da banditi. La mattina seguente giunsero a Medinet el Fayum, dopo aver sostato a visitare la piramide di El Lahun; l’impressione sul capoluogo del Fayum è decisamente negativa: (Mss Acerbi, Quaderno 3) “Le rovine dell’antica Crocodilopolis poscia chiamata Arsinoe sono come quelle di Alessandria e di Menfì e di Cairo vecchio; colline di polvere piuttosto che di ruderi dove non si vede neppure un vestigio né di capitelli né di colonne né di obelischi”.Il 4 gennaio, l’Acerbi e il suo gruppo raggiungono il lago Moeris (o meglio, il Lago Qarun), passando per Fedimin (dove, dice l’Acerbi, “abbiamo assaggiato del buon vino” ) e sostando per la notte a Sennour. Il lago, a trecento passi dalla cui riva hanno piantato la tenda, non lo entusiasma: trova l’acqua pesante e i due giorni di sosta con speranza di caccia e pesca buona, lo deludono: stessi pesci che nel Nilo, dice l’Acerbi, e niente conchiglie. Il 7 gennaio rientrò direttamente a Medinet el Fayum, l’8 gennaio lo dedica a visite archeologiche: la mattina a Biahmu, dove interpreta i massicci blocchi calcarei come resti di edifici, in polemica coi

francesi napoleonici che, per primi, li avevano intesi come le basi di due statue colossali, e il pomeriggio ad Abgig, per vedere e disegnare l’obelisco spezzato. Interessante è la notizia che nel pomeriggio del 3 gennaio, a Medinet el Fayum, l’Acerbi sia andato alla casa di Bernardino Drovetti, console di Francia e uno dei più attivi “consoli mercanti” dell’Egitto di Mohammed Ali. Si tratta in realtà della casa dell’agente del Drovetti al Fayum, lo scultore marsigliese J. J. Rifaud, che era attivo nell’oasi fin dal 1823 e lavorava ad Hawara nel 1827. Il Rifaud era un fortunato ricercatore di antichità, a Tanis, a Leontopoli, a Tebe; a Karnak nel 1818 trovò in frammenti la statua di granito nero di Ramesse II, passata a Torino nel 1824 con la collezione Drovetti; il Rifaud ne trovò intatta solo la testa, ma raccolse con grande cura tutti i frammenti della statua, permettendone quindi la perfetta ricostruzione nel 1826, sotto la supervisione dello stesso Jean-François Champollion. La statua di Ramesse II seduto, che porta inciso il nome del Rifaud, è divenuta il simbolo stesso del Museo torinese. Naturalmente né i membri della Expédition napoleonica, né nessuno dei viaggiatori dell’800 né dei turisti fin oltre metà del secolo scorso potevano però visitare e descrivere la “Luxor del Fayum”, oggigiorno il sito archeologico forse più emozionante del Fayum, cioè il parco archeologico di Medinet Madi. Collegato al parco naturalistico di Wadi Rayan da una pista panoramica, grazie al suo Centro Visitatori il parco archeologico offre un percorso eccezionale tra i monumenti dell’area sacra di Medinet Madi, una cittadina che, nata nel Medio Regno per volontà del faraone Amenemhat III che vi eresse un tempio ancor oggi esistente dedicato alla dea Renenut e al dio coccodrillo Sobek, ha continuato la sua lunga vita fino in epoca cristiana.Medinet Madi è risorta dalle sabbie grazie alle scoperte eseguite sul sito da Achille Vogliano negli anni trenta del secolo scorso, ai successivi decenni di attività archeologica dell’Università di Pisa ed ai lavori degli ultimi anni condotti nell’ambito del Progetto di Cooperazione ISSEMM.




The history of Medinet Madi (“the city of the past”) started in the Middle Kingdom, in the beginning of the 2nd millennium BC, when an agricultural project in the Fayoum region saw the foundation

of a town called Dja and the construction of a temple by Amenemaht III and Amenemaht IV, which was dedicated to the cobra goddess Renenutet and the crocodile god “Sobek of Shedet”, patron of the entire region and its capital Shedet, “Horus who resides in Shedet”. The small temple was built following a very simple, but extremely original architectural design: a court and a portico with two columns, an atrium and a sanctuary with three niches. The scenes on the western side of the temple are named after Amenemhat III; those on the eastern side after Amenemhat IV, his son and successor. On the eastern wall of the atrium the king is portrayed performing the ritual “tightening of the rope” to found the temple, whereas on the western wall the gods Sobek and Anubis ritually purify the Pharaoh. During the Ptolemaic period, when Fayoum experienced a new agricultural redemption, the town of Dja - then called Narmouthis, a Greek name meaning “the city of (Isis)-Renenutet-Hermouthis” - and its old temple, which was then “rediscovered” beneath a blanket of sand, were restored and consolidated, a temenos was built and more monuments were erected north and south of the Middle Kingdom temple.

In Ptolemaic and Roman times, in his beloved Fayum Amenemhat III was worshipped as a god with the name of Porramanres, or Pramarres, or Premarres, which are phonetic transcriptions of the Egyptian name Per-aa Nymaatre, i.e. Pharaoh Nymaatre. The fundamental role of Narmouthis in developing and strengthening Amenemaht III’s cult is explicitly confirmed by Hymn 4, the last of the hymns composed by the Hellenized Egyptian Isidorus in the 1st century BC. The four hymns were inscribed on two piers of the entrance to the vestibule in the Ptolemaic temple of Medinet Madi.

In 1935-1939 the Italian archaeologist Achille Vogliano discovered Amenemhat’s temple (“Temple A”), the vestibule with the four hymns by Isidorus, the northern Ptolemaic Temple (“Temple B”) and the great square, “Isis chapel”, the courts and part of the dromos with a kiosk. Till now the temple of Amenemhat III is the only worship temple of the Middle Kingdom with texts and engraved scenes still remaining in Egypt, and its discovery was one of the greatest in Egypt in the 20th century. In Roman times the town was still active. It wasn’t until the late 3rd century and early 4th century AD that the precincts of the temples were gradually abandoned, leaving the ancient sacred area to sand and debris. People moved more and more towards the southern part of the town, partly occupying old abandoned houses. In the Diocletian era (4th - 5th cent.), Castrum Narmoutheos (50x50m) was built in the easternmost part of the town, to house the military cohort, “Cohors IV Numidarum”. It was equipped with a cistern fed by a system of canals. Castrum Narmoutheos was discovered by the Archaeological Mission of the University of Pisa in 2006-2007, thanks

Medinet Madi “the city of the past”Historical descriptionby Edda Bresciani and Antonio Giammarusti


The recently discovered south dromos of Medinet Madi, with the sacrifice altar, the statues of lions and two kiosks



MADINET MADI“la citta del passato”Descrizione storica di Edda Bresciani, e Antonio Giammarusti

La storia di Medinet Madi, “la città del passato”, risale al Medio Regno, all’inizio del secondo millennio a.C. Nell’ambito di un progetto di bonifica nel Fayum, fu infatti fondata la città di Dja e venne costruito, sotto i regni di Amenemhat III e Amenemhat IV, un tempio dedicato alla dea cobra Renenutet e al dio coccodrillo “Sobek di Shedet”, patrono dell’intera regione e della sua capitale Shedet, e denominato anche “Horus che risiede a Shedet”.Il piccolo tempio fu costruito seguendo un progetto architettonico semplice, ma estremamente originale: un cortile con un portico a due colonne, un vestibolo ed un santuario interno con tre nicchie. Le raffigurazioni che compaiono sul lato occidentale del tempio appartengono ad Amenemhat III, mentre quelle sul lato orientale al figlio e successore, Amenemhat IV.Sulla parete orientale del vestibolo il sovrano è ritratto mentre compie il rituale della “tensione della corda”, rituale preliminare alla fondazione del tempio. Sulla parete occidentale sono raffigurate invece le divinità Sobek e Anubis intente nei riti di purificazione del faraone.Durante l’epoca tolemaica la regione del Fayum conobbe un ampio sviluppo agricolo. La città di Dja - allora chiamata in greco Narmouthis, cioè “la città di (Isis)-Renenutet-Harmouthis”- e il suo tempio, che era stato nel tempo sommerso dalla sabbia ma che venne allora riscoperto rimuovendone la fitta coltre di granelli, subirono ampi restauri e consolidamenti. Furono anche costruiti un temenos e vari monumenti a nord e a sud dell’antico tempio del Medio Regno.Durante il periodo tolemaico e romano, nel suo amato Fayum Amenemhat III continuava ad essere adorato come una divinità, sotto il nome di Porramanres, Pramarres o Premarres, trascrizione fonetica del nome egizio Per-aa Nymaatre, ossia il Faraone Nymaatre.Il ruolo fondamentale che ebbe Narmouthis per lo sviluppo e la divulgazione del culto di Amennemhat III è esplicitamente confermato dal Quarto Inno, l’ultimo degli inni composti nel I secolo a.C. da Isidoro, poeta egizio ellenizzato. I Quattro Inni di Isidoro erano incisi sui due pilastri all’entrata del vestibolo del tempio tolemaico di Medinet Madi. Tra il 1935 ed il 1939 l’archeologo italiano Achille Vogliano scoprì il tempio di Amenemhat (Tempio A), il vestibolo con i quattro inni di Isidoro, il tempio a nord di epoca tolemaica (Tempio B) e la piazza, la “cappelletta di Iside” i cortili e parte del dromos con un chiosco.Il tempio di Amenemhat III è l’unico tempio di culto del Medio Regno recante testi e scene figurative che sia giunto fino alla nostra epoca, ed il suo ritrovamento ha rappresentato una delle maggiori scoperte del XX secolo in Egitto.La città era ancora attiva in epoca romana. Solo verso la fine del III secolo e gli inizi del IV secolo la zona dei templi venne gradualmente abbandonata, lasciando così che l’intera area sacra si ricoprisse di sabbia e detriti.La popolazione si spostò nella parte meridionale della città, occupando parzialmente anche le vecchie case. Al tempo di Diocleziano (IV e V sec.) nella zona più orientale della città venne eretto il Castrum Narmoutheos (50x50m), destinato ad ospitare il contingente militare, cioè la “Cohors IV Numidarum”. La costruzione era dotata di una cisterna alimentata da un sistema di canali. Il Castrum Narmoutheos è stato riportato alla luce dalla Missione Archeologica dell’Università di Pisa nel 2006-2007, grazie ad una sistematica indagine topografica, all’interpretazione di fotografie aeree del sito ed alla ricerca geofisica. Questi studi hanno condotto all’acquisizione di sostanziose conoscenze riguardanti il tessuto urbano dell’antica città e la sua stratificazione cronologica fino al periodo tardo bizantino. Nell’era cristiana (V-VII sec.) furono costruite varie chiese, le cui vestigia sono state riportate alla luce dalla Missione Archeologica dell’Università di Pisa. In quell’epoca la città probabilmente si chiamava Terenûde. Non è da escludersi che fosse


to a systematic topographical survey, aerial photo-interpretation of the site and geophysical exploration, all of which also contributed to a comprehensive understanding of the urban texture of the ancient town and its chronological stratification up to the Late Byzantine Period. In the Christian era (5th - 7th cent.), many churches were built, whose remains were unearthed by Pisa University Mission. Perhaps at that time the name of the town was Terenûde. It was probably an important centre of Manichaeism, as well. In the 8th and 9th centuries a partial Arab occupation occurred, and the place was renamed Medinet Madi, the name reported on the Fayum map in the “Description de l’Égypte”.

The new stage of Medinet Madi’s life is the present phase. It is now an archaeological park established by the Italian Cooperation Project ISSEMM (2005-2010) and linked to the protected areas of Wadi el Rayan and Wadi el Hitan. The park and its Visitor Centre were officially inaugurated in May 2011. In addition to the parts of the temple discovered by Achille Vogliano, the sand removal work carried out by the Project brought to light a large southern area that is archaeologically new and rich beyond expectation in unprecedented archaeological data. The symmetrical monumental access from the south, discovered in 2008, starts with the limestone blocks of a large axial altar (149x148cm, 54cm high) for sacrifice or holocaust. Northward, along the dromos, two lion statues (1.80m long) on plinth blocks were discovered. Two identical Greek inscriptions are engraved on the base of the twin statues, under the front legs (the gaps in each of the texts can be integrated by the other): “For Queen Cleopatra and King Ptolemy, and Philometor Soter, Protarcos son of Herod, his wife and his children [consecrated the lions] as a votive offering to the goddess Hermouthis the Great”. Interestingly, no title or function is indicated for Protarcos. Perhaps this man was not a resident in Fayoum. He might have been linked to Medinet Madi through his wife, whose name, according to another Greek inscription found in 2009 at the base of the podium of the first kiosk, was Tamestasytmis, a typical Fayoum name containing the name of the god Mestasytmis. This inscription, dated to the 54th year of the reign of a king who, though unnamed, must certainly be Ptolemy VIII (116 BC), proves that the mentioned Protarcos consecrated fifty cubits of the dromos to Isis Hermouthis and Sokonopis. The ramp with the dedicatory inscription by Protarcos leads to a structure of Hellenistic style (“baldacchino”), which was transformed into a kiosk. Further north of the dromos, past another pair of lion statues and east of the kiosk found by Vogliano, a large lioness statue (its base measuring 192x55cm) was discovered, standing on its stubby legs, as if guarding the entrance to the kiosk. The lioness statue of Medinet Madi bears a lion’s mane, yet has four breasts and suckles its cub. It has a parallel in lioness Tefnout, the maned lioness in the temple of Dakka.

According to the restorers who cleared off the layer of salt and sand from the surface of the statue, it was originally painted red. The type and realistic style of the lioness statue are original. It was probably carved by local craftsmen, perhaps on a Greek model, a somehow common occurrence in that mixed social and cultural environment. However, it cannot be ruled out that the statue might have been made by Roman workers. The dromos underwent renovation probably in the Augustan age. Isis chapel and its stone stela portraying the half-snake goddess Termouthis, the Ptolemaic Temple B, the large square with its portico, and the dwellings along the dromos were restored by the Cooperation Project. On the north-western side of the square, a very important discovery was made: a large water shaft, i.e. the sacred pit providing the pure water needed for the ceremonies of the temple.


The sacred Shaft

The naos that housed the mummies of the two sacred crocodiles

anche un importante centro del manicheismo. Nel VIII e IX secolo il sito fu parzialmente occupato dagli arabi, che la ribattezzarono Medinet Madi, nome che compare nella mappa del Fayum riportata nella “Description de l’Égypte”.Nell’attuale fase della sua vita, Medinet Madi si propone nelle interessanti vesti di Parco Archeologico, creato grazie al progetto ISSEMM della Cooperazione Italiana (2005-2010) e collegato alle aree naturalistiche protette di Wadi el Rayan e Wadi el Hitan. Il parco e il suo centro visitatori sono stati ufficialmente inaugurati nel maggio 2011.Oltre alle vestigia del tempio scoperte dall’archeologo Achille Vogliano, i lavori di rimozione della sabbia condotti nell’ambito del Progetto hanno portato alla luce, nella regione meridionale, un’ampia area archeologica, del tutto nuova ed inattesa, straordinariamente ricca di preziose informazioni. L’accesso meridionale, simmetrico e monumentale, è stato scoperto nel 2008 ed è caratterizzato da un ampio altare assiale (149x148cm, 54cm di altezza) in blocchi di calcare, destinato a sacrifici rituali anche di olocausto.Lungo il dromos, verso la zona settentrionale, sono state rinvenute due statue leonine (1,80m di lunghezza) collocate su solidi blocchi. Alla base delle due statue gemelle, sotto le zampe anteriori, figurano due iscrizioni greche identiche. Seppur non perfettamente conservate, è stato comunque possibile ricostruirle come segue nella loro interezza, grazie ad una procedura di comparazione: “Per la Regina Cleopatra e il Re Tolomeo, Soter Filometore, Protarco figlio di Erode, la sua sposa e i suoi figli (consacrarono i leoni) come offerta votiva alla dea Ermuthis la Grande.” È interessante notare che accanto a Protarco non sono indicati né titoli, né funzioni. Probabilmente tale personaggio non era residente nel Fayum e era collegato a Medinet Madi attraverso sua moglie, il cui nome, che appare in un’iscrizione greca trovata nel 2009 nel primo chiosco, era Tamestasytmis, un tipico nome del Fayum che derivava dal nome del dio Mestasytmis.

Questa iscrizione, che risale al cinquantaquattresimo anno di regno di un sovrano che, sebbene non esplicitamente nominato, sicuramente è da identificarsi in Tolomeo VIII (116 a.C.), attesta che tale Protarco aveva consacrato cinquanta cubiti del dromos alle divinità Iside Ermuthis e Sokonopis. La rampa con l’iscrizione dedicatoria di Protarco conduce ad una struttura di stile ellenistico (“baldacchino”), che fu trasformata in un chiosco. Più a nord del dromos , oltrepassata un’altra coppia di statue leonine e ad est del chiosco trovato da Vogliano, è stata rinvenuta un’altra grande statua raffigurante una leonessa (la cui base misura 192x55 cm) che si erge sulle tozze zampe a protezione dell’accesso al chiosco stesso. La leonessa di Medinet Madi ha la criniera tipica del maschio leone, ma mostra altresì quattro mammelle che allattano un cucciolo. È molto simile quindi a Tefnout, la leonessa con la criniera che si trova nel tempio di Dakka.Secondo i restauratori che ne hanno rimosso lo strato di sale e di sabbia dalla superficie, la statua era originamente dipinta in rosso. Il carattere e lo stile realistico della statua sono alquanto originali. Probabilmente si tratta del prodotto di artigiani locali, che forse si basarono a loro volta su un modello greco, cosa molto plausibile considerando l’ambiente di grande sincretismo culturale e sociale dell’epoca. Ciononostante, non si può escludere del tutto che la statua sia invece di fattura romana.Il dromos è stato probabilmente oggetto di ristrutturazioni e restauri durante l’epoca di Augusto. La cappelletta di Iside con la stele raffigurante la dea serpente Termuthis, il tempio tolemaico B, la piazza con il portico e le abitazioni lungo il dromos sono state restaurate nell’ambito del citato Progetto di Cooperazione. Sulla parte nordoccidentale della piazza è stata fatta un’importante scoperta. È stato ritrovato infatti un grande pozzo per l’acqua: il pozzo sacro che forniva l’acqua dolce necessaria alle cerimonie del tempio.


The unique lioness of Medinet Madi. Perhaps hypostasis of goddess Tefnut, it is the only statue of lioness with mane feeding a cub in Egypt


Achille Vogliano “an Authority on Antiquity”

Achille Vogliano was born in Florence in 1881. He was an accomplished scholar of antiquity, a philologist, an epigraphist, a papyrologist and an archaeologist. He taught Greek literature in Cagliari, Bologna and Milan, where he founded the Papyrological Institute in 1932. In 1951 he started teaching at the Freie Universität in Berlin, where he died in June 1953. As an archaeologist, between 1935 and 1939 he promoted and led successful campaigns of excavation in Egypt, in the Fayum Oasis. His remarkable investigations led to the discovery of the ruins of the ancient Gia, later known as Narmouthis and then Medinet Madi. There he found the extraordinary temple of Amenemhat III, a monument that was restored and extended in the Ptolemaic era and that is definitely one of the greatest archaeological discoveries of the 20th century. He was also well versed in painting, having attended art classes at the Accademia di Brera in his youth. Thus he masterfully combined a rigorous philological training with strong artistic feelings. He painted throughout his life, leaving quite an important pictorial production. He deeply loved music, as well.

Edda Bresciani“ the first female graduatein Egyptology in Italy ”Edda Bresciani was born in Lucca and graduated at the University of Pisa in 1955, her supervisor being the distinguished Prof. Sergio Donadoni. She was the first female graduate in Egyptology in Italy. She started teaching at the University of Pisa in 1959 and became Chair of Egyptology in 1968. She is currently Professor Emeritus. She is a member of the Accademia dei Lincei in Rome and the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles Lettres in Paris. She has received many awards, including the Cherubino Award and the Campano d’Oro Award by the University of Pisa, the Gold Medal for Scientific and Cultural Achievements by the Italian President, the Pantera d’Oro Award by the Province of Lucca, and the Delfini d’Oro Award for Lifetime Achievement in Science. She has written hundreds of scientific papers and essays. In

1978 she founded “EVO - Egypt and the Near East”, a scientific journal that is still under her direction to this day. More than thirty years ago she started up the first excavation mission in Egypt for the University of Pisa. In the course of her career she has directed excavation works in a number of prestigious sites, such as Aswan, Thebes, Saqqara and Fayum, particularly at Medinet Madi, Kom Madi and Khelua. First discovered by the Italian Egyptologist Achille Vogliano in the 1930s, Medinet Madi has been the main archaeological concession for the University of Pisa since 1978. Many remarkable discoveries have been made there so far under her direction, such as the Ptolemaic Temple C, with the attached sacred crocodile nursery, and the Castrum dating back to Diocletian’s time. In May 2005 the second phase of the Italian-Egyptian Cooperation Programme, known as ISSEMM Project (Institutional Support to the Supreme Council of Antiquities for Environmental Monitoring and Management),

was started in Fayoum. The University of Pisa, Department of Historical Science of the Ancient World, was in charge of both the scientific direction and the technical direction, in the persons of Prof. Bresciani and Mr. A. Giammarusti respectively. Thanks to the Project, the archaeological park of Medinet Madi officially opened in January 2010, duly showcasing an area whose worth can be somehow compared to Luxor itself. For the benefit of local and foreign visitors, a scenic track was also built to connect Medinet Madi archaeological park to the protected areas of Wadi El Rayan, with its remarkable wildlife and lakes, and Wadi El-Hitan, with its stunning fossils. Edda Bresciani is also currently acting as scientific director of the third phase of the Project of the Italian-Egyptian Cooperation Programme in Fayum and Saqqara, referred to as the “Luxor in Fayum” Project.


ISSEMM sand removal works at south dromos (2009). In the foreground of the right, the head of a newly discovered statue of lion


In his Hymns, the poet Isidorus sings the praises and celebrates the extraordinary attributes (he knew the language of birds and he used a crow as a “messenger”), of the ancient mythical king, son of the god Sobek: “The breeds of birds, all of them, were listening to him, in fact, those who have read the text of the sacred books argue that, having sent a crow, they say that it came back with a letter that carried a message. He wasn’t in fact a mortal man, nor the son of a mortal king, but showed himself to be the descendant of a great eternal God, of Soukhos (Sobek) almighty, twice great, the greatest “Isidorus refers to a singular ability of the

king: “Then, I have been informed by others of an amazing miracle, how he navigated over the desert by wheels and sail.”Evidence of the royal sport of land sailing is Vogliano’s discovery of the remains of a 2m-long wooden wagon with small wheels and a central mast. It was found on a platform in the first courtyard of the temple. The object may date from the Graeco-Roman time and may have been built to celebrate the figure of the deified pharaoh. Unfortunately the wagon got lost but a reconstruction of it has been made, based on a drawing made at the time of the discovery, to be displayed at the Visitor Centre in Medinet Madi Archaeological Park.

During his first campaign of excavations (1935), Achille Vogliano found four Hymns in Greek, engraved on the doorposts of the hall of Isis Temple around 95 BC.The author of the Hymns is the Greek-Egyptian Isidorus. The poems form a unique monument, not only from the archaeological and epigraphic point of view, but also, and particularly, from a religious and cultural perspective. Studied and admired since their discovery because of their Homeric style in couplets and hexameters, the Hymns are a testimony of the bilingual education of the Egyptians during the

Ptolemaic era. Isidorus dedicates the first three Hymns to Isis, the goddess of a thousand names. The fourth Hymn celebrates the construction of the local temple, attributing it to the Middle Kingdom “Pharaoh Seosis (Amenemhat III)”, the benefactor of Fayum. This clue led Vogliano to infer that further excavation would bring the temple of the 12th Dynasty to light. His intuition was correct. Immediately after the discovery, the engraved blocks were moved to the Graeco- Roman Museum of Alexandria, and replica doorposts

where set in the temple. The original blocks were placed in the garden of the Graeco-Roman Museum of Alexandria, where they suffered serious deterioration. Later on they were restored thanks to a special Project by the University of Pisa involving the joint efforts of Italian and Egyptian restorers in the framework of the cooperation of the Italy-Egypt Year (2004-2005) promoted by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The restored blocks were then moved to the Museum of Kom Uschim in Fayum.

The Sailing Chariot of Amenemhat III, Son of God Sobek

The Hymns of Isidorus and Amenemath III




Ali Radwan:a young inspector in Medinet Madi fifty years ago At the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA) we met one of the most important witnesses to the historical excavations in Medinet MadiBy Emanuela Chiumeo

How and when did your love story with Medinet Madi start?It is a long story that goes back around five decades now. Soon after finishing my studies in archaeology at Cairo University in 1962, I was appointed Inspector of the Supreme Council of Antiquities in Fayoum and Beni Suef. This was the event that marked the beginning of my long-lasting relationship with Medinet Madi. I used to visit the site twice a month and intensely concentrate on the study of each and every tiny object that could be found there. However, I have to say that the place was almost completely submerged in sand until Edda Bresciani started work there in 1966. Then I saw the small temple of Amenemhat III and Amenemhat IV emerging more and more from the sand. This is the only complete temple of the Middle Kingdom in Egypt. It is certainly a small structure, sort of a chapel, yet it has all the features and elements that are typical of a great Egyptian temple. The façade, the entrance, the two-columned portico, the small hall, the three niches, the small area for the offerings, everything is there. I really started my carrier as a young inspector in a memorable way, in Medinet Madi more than 50 years ago.Can you tell us more?Sure. The great King Amenemhat III was venerated there as a God, besides the cobra goddess Renenutet, the crocodile god Sobek, and Horus, who was often fused with Sobek into one deity. It is the so-called triad whom the temple was dedicated to: Renenutet, the main god of the site, Sobek and Horus as one deity,

and the son of the two deities, Amenemhat III. Of course I think that it was quite appropriate of the King to build a temple in this area because he was developing a sort of “reclamation program” in the whole Fayoum region and Dja (the original name of Medinet Madi). The word Dja has various meanings in the Egyptian language of antiquity. My interpretation is that, in this case, it mainly refers to something very green, very regenerating, something linked to farming and land reclamation. Then, considering that Renenutet was worshipped as goddess of harvest by the ancient Egyptians, we can easily understand why she was chosen as the major deity of the site. All this has always fascinated me and filled me with deep interest, since the time I was a young inspector in Medinet Madi. And this is the reason why I have always been so deeply attached to the site. After my first period there, I have visited the place several other times over the last 18 years.

After my PhD in Germany, I was appointed Professor of Egyptology at Cairo University. Of course, I keenly wanted my students to visit the site. This gave me the opportunity to explain them the peculiar history of the excavations there. Works started in the second half of the 1930s, under the direction of Achille Vogliano, the great archaeologist from Milan University. He explored and studied the site for about five years, discovering most of its major monuments, among which the dromos and the processional alley. But the outbreak of World War II stopped his activity and the site was soon covered with sand again. By now the sand has been almost completely removed thanks to effort and commitment of the prominent scholar Edda Bresciani and her mission. Edda Bresciani has been working on the site since 1966. After Vogliano, she is undoubtedly the major archaeologist and expert on Medinet Madi. I feel she deeply belongs to the place, she is somehow the heart and soul of the site. Nobody can refer to Medinet Madi


The lion, emblem of the site

Edda Bresciani and Antonio Giammarusti

ISSEMM Project: Visitor Centre

Fayoum: Wadi el Rayan


without mentioning Achille Vogliano and Edda Bresciani.What about your personal experience as an inspector in Fayoum?After Zahi Hawass was appointed Head of the Supreme Council of Egyptian Antiquities, I had the honour to be Inspector in Fayoum for many years, as I told you. In this period new excavations and restoration were carried out and I had the opportunity to work with Edda Bresciani and other Italian experts, among whom Arch. Antonio Giammarusti, as well as Egyptian colleagues. Hisham El-Leithy was a student of mine at that time. Many discoveries were made, such as a Roman square with porticos and a quite massive altar. As you know, the Middle Kingdom temple I mentioned is not the only temple gracing Medinet Madi, but two more temples dating back to the Ptolemaic period were found just behind it. Edda Bresciani excavated the temple dedicated to the crocodile god Sobek. Interestingly, this structure incorporates a crocodile nursery. Now, after so many years of work, we can see the temple and most of its elements and annexes neatly charted on the map. Looking back over the years, which was the most thrilling moment for you?For me, Edda Bresciani and the other Italian colleagues, one of the most memorable moments was undoubtedly the discovery of the statue of the lioness with four swollen breasts nursing her cub. In my opinion this is a representation of Nut, the goddess of the sky from the Ennead who had four offspring. As you know, in Egyptian mythology the Ennead was a group of nine deities worshipped in Heliopolis. On top of them was Atum, associated with the sun god Ra. He was considered to be the first god, who created Shu, the god of air, and Tefnut, the goddess of rain and moisture, by spitting. Shu and Tefnut mated, generating Geb, the god of the earth, and Nut, the goddess of the sky, who in turn copulated gaving birth to Osiris, Isis, Seth and Nephthys. I think that the ancient Egyptians in the Graeco-Roman period still retained the notion of the goddess of the sky with her four offspring; that’s why I associate the lioness with Nut. In my opinion, it is the most important discovery on the site in the course of the most recent excavations by Edda Bresciani’s Italian team. Fortunately, our restoration team did an excellent job on the statue, which has been wonderfully returned to its pristine beauty and neatness. What does the future have in store for Medinet Madi? Measures will be definitely taken to promote tourism in the area and boost visibility as much as possible. Educational trips, academic lectures and public conferences are surely very helpful and effective. In my opinion, Medinet Madi fully deserves to be included in the UNESCO World Heritage list, due to its remarkable historical significance. That’s why, when I was the Egyptian representative in the UNESCO World Heritage Committee, I submitted the nomination file of the Medinet Madi archaeological area, in order to get it associated with the already approved files of the protected areas of Wadi Rayan and Wadi el-Hitan. I hope that the Governor of Fayoum and the Ministry of Tourism will devote increasing attention and interest to Medinet Madi, so that more and more tourists could be positively attracted to the site. Of course, all this will have to take place in accordance with the best practices and criteria of sustainable tourism, to avert the risks ensuing from mass tourism. Your work in Medinet Madi was hard, highly demanding and responsible. Was there any time for a bit of relaxation and amusement on the site?Of course there was! Our work was certainly tough, physically exhausting, highly challenging, and yet the general atmosphere was overall quite cheerful, spiced up by the recurrent humorous remarks of Antonio Giammarusti, the Italian architect who has been working with Edda Bresciani in Medinet Madi for many years now. I first met Antonio when the Master Plan for the Grand Museum was being developed. Arch. Giammarusti is in charge of all the sand removal and protection work in Medinet Madi. As you can easily guess, sand is one of major problems on the site. What is your plan for the preservation of the temples and the lions from the sand?I’ll tell you a story. One day the young prince Thutmose was out on a hunting trip. He stopped to rest under the head of the

Sphinx, which was buried up to the neck in sand. He soon fell asleep and had a dream. The Sphinx told him that if he cleared away the sand and restored it, he would be the next Pharaoh. He fulfilled the Sphinx’s wish and he became Pharaoh with the name of Thutmose IV. He built a wall all around the Sphinx to be a fence against sand and wind. This is still our major challenge: we need to protect our monuments from sand and wind, especially on the northern side because most winds in Egypt blow in from the north. In a sense, Arch. Antonio Giammarusti, who is an expert on the matter, will follow in the footsteps of the Pharaoh. What is your opinion about boxing the monuments, especially the lions?I think that boxes might have a negative impact on the overall view. If we decide for them, we will have to devise the best solution to minimize visual impact. An option could be to box the lions only, leaving out the other monuments. How has the archaeological sector in Egypt changed since you were a young inspector in Fayoum?Egyptology and archeological studies in general were, and are, inspired, animated and fed by a deep personal passion; this of course has not changed. However, many other things have changed. When I was a student, there was no access to sources, for example. Today Internet is of great help to all of us in our studies, work and research, although the problem of assessing the reliability of sources still remains. In the past we use to spend a long time in reading extensive materials, taking notes or copying down an enormous amount of stuff, and it was considerably time-consuming. Today you can conveniently do all that in a very short time. But remember that, although it is much easier for you to collect information now, in a sense it may probably be harder to store it in your long-term memory. As for the teaching of Archaeology in Egyptian universities, a major problem is the enormous number of students contrasting with the scarcity of facilities. For example, sometimes lectures are held in rooms crammed with up to 800 students. At my time, at Cairo University we used to be 20 students altogether at the Faculty of Egyptology. Only 10% out of all first-year students managed to accomplish their studies and take their degrees. Today teaching with due accuracy and comprehensiveness has become more and more difficult, and providing good training on archaeological sites is really challenging. In addition to this, there is the job issue, which is quite dramatic. Job opportunities in this field, in fact, are limited and cannot meet the huge demand for work. When I started my career in Beni Suef fifty years ago, it was just me and my colleague in my office, plus a secretary. Today, in the same office there are more than thirty inspectors, but their productivity leaves much to be questioned. In conclusion, what is your opinion after so many years of partnership with an Italian mission?I would like to tell your readers that they must be proud to be Italian and European. Achille Vogliano, Edda Bresciani, Sergio Donadoni, Alessandro Roccati, Silvio Curto and all the other Italian Egyptologists who have worked on Egyptian sites are not only esteemed colleagues and dear friends of ours, but also integral part of the history of Egyptology and of Egypt itself.


Visibility Project: Conference at Cairo University. From Left: dr. Hisham El Leithy, dr. Ophelia, dr. Buongarzone


Archeaological HeritageMedinet Madi

The unique lioness of Medinet Madi. Perhaps hypostasis of goddess Tefnut, it is the only statue of lioness with mane feeding a cub in Egypt

Prof. Edda Bresciani and Arch. Antonio Giammausti in front of the restored Augustus chapel, leaning on Temple A external wall

ISSEMM Project The unique lioness

of Medinet Madi. Perhaps hypostasis of goddess Tefnut, it is the only statue of lioness with mane feeding a cub in Egypt

Prof. Edda Bresciani and Arch. Antonio Giammausti in front of the restored Augustus chapel, leaning on Temple A external wall

20042014


Archeaological HeritageISSEMM sand removal works at south dromos (2009). In the foreground of the right, the head of a newly discovered statue of lion

Italian Cultural Institute: Lecture of Antonio Giammarusti targeting tour operators, guides and specialists in Environment and Tourism to present Medinet Madi

archaeological site

Faculty of Al-Alsun- Ain Shams University: Lecture of Roberto Buongarzone “Medinet Madi, the City of the Past: an archaeological park in the Fayum region as pilot research center for the enhancement of the Egyptian

Cultural Heritage”

in

102 FRAtEllI

lA BuFAlA Restaurant

First

102 at

CAIRo FEStIvAlCIty-NEw CAIRo

Real Neapolitan Pizza

and Italian Food

Address:Cairo Festival City, New Cairo (in front of Dancing Fountain)Tel. + 2 0109 000 43 03 Tel. + 20 0100 40 88 070

Restaurantsin the world

timeinEgypt

JoIN uS

for all your CELEBRATIoNS ANd PARTIES

MuSIC IS AVAILABLEuPoN REQuEST

ISSEMM sand removal works at south dromos (2009). In the foreground of the right, the head of a newly discovered statue of lion

Faculty of Al-Alsun- Ain Shams University: Lecture of Roberto Buongarzone “Medinet Madi, the City of the Past: an archaeological park in the Fayum region as pilot research center for the enhancement of the Egyptian

Cultural Heritage”

Italian Cultural Institute: Lecture of Antonio Giammarusti targeting tour operators, guides and specialists in Environment and Tourism to present Medinet Madi

archaeological site


Archeaological Heritage

Il 19 dicembre 2014 si voterà in tutte le circoscrizioni consolari dove risiedono più di tremila cittadini italiani per eleggere i membri dei COMITES cioè dei COMITATI DEGLI ITALIANI ALL’ESTERO.COSA SONO I COMITES? ßI COMITES sono organi elettivi che rappresentano le esigenze dei cittadini italiani residenti all’estero nei rapporti con gli Uffici consolari, con i quali collaborano per individuare le necessità di natura sociale, culturale e civile della collettività italiana. I COMITES, in collaborazione, oltre che con le Autorità consolari, anche con le Regioni e le autonomie locali nonché con Enti e Associazioni operanti nella circoscrizione consolare, promuovono, nell’interesse della collettività italiana residente nella circoscrizione, tutte quelle iniziative ritenute opportune in materia di vita sociale e culturale, assistenza sociale e scolastica, formazione professionale, settore ricreativo e tempo libero.I COMITES, previa intesa con le Autorità consolari, possono rappresentare le istanze della collettività italiana residente nella circoscrizione alle Autorità e alle Istituzioni locali. Il COMITES Egitto sarà composto da 12 membri.I MEMBRI DEI COMITES restano in carica cinque anni e non percepiscono remunerazione per la loro attività.PER CHI SI VOTA?ßI membri dei COMITES sono eletti sulla base di liste di candidati sottoscritte dai cittadini italiani residenti in ogni circoscrizione consolare. I connazionali possono organizzarsi per formare liste di candidati composte da persone che godono della loro fiducia, tra le quali verranno poi eletti i membri dei Comitati.COME SI VOTA?ßI cittadini italiani maggiorenni residenti all’estero, iscritti nelle liste elettorali e residenti da almeno 6 mesi nella circoscrizione consolare, votano per corrispondenza, purché abbiano fatto pervenire – entro la scadenza prevista per legge - all’Ufficio consolare di riferimento apposita domanda.Non oltre il 29 novembre 2014, l’Ufficio consolare invierà a ciascun elettore, che abbia presentato la domanda di ammissione al voto, un plico contenente il materiale elettorale ed un foglio informativo illustrante le modalità di voto.Il cittadino esprime il proprio voto, seguendo le istruzioni fornite, quindi entro indicativamente martedi’ 9 dicembre 2014 restituisce per posta al proprio Ufficio consolare la scheda utilizzando la busta già affrancata contenuta nel plico elettorale. La busta deve essere inviata al più presto possibile in modo da giungere a destinazione non oltre le ore 24 di venerdì 19 dicembre 2014, termine ultimo di arrivo all’ufficio consolare delle buste preaffrancate da ritenere valide ai fini dello scrutinio.

Per ulteriori informazioni e modulistica relativa sia all’esercizio del voto che alle modalità di presentazione delle liste dei candidati si prega di consultare il sito dell’Ambasciata d’Itali al Cairo(www.ambilcairo.esteri.it).Normativa di riferimento (consultabile sul sito internet: www.normattiva.it):Legge 23 ottobre 2003, n. 286;D.P.R. 29 dicembre 2003, n. 395D.L. 1 agosto 2014, n. 109

N.B. Il D.L. 109/2014 è soggetto a conversione parlamentare e quindi potrà, in tale sede, essere modificato.

GLI ITALIANI RESIDENTI ALL’ESTERO VOTANO PER

ELEGGERE I LORO COMITES (COMITATI DEGLI ITALIANI ALL’ESTERO)

Ambasciata d'ItaliaIl Cairo

read it today no. 01

Documents