There is some good news about the fate of Qurna Discovery - I sent Caroline
Simpson, who oversees the project from England photographs of what has happened
there. She forwarded them to friends and supporters around the world, and
also to Zahi Hawass, who gave permission for the exhibition.
This is a roller-coaster that I dont quite understand... but....
I am delighted to tell you that I received this reply yesterday from
Dr Hawass:
"When we gave you permission for your Qurna
Discovery project, we did mean that you could do everything. You have to
follow the proper procedures and routines of the SCA.
I would like you to go to Luxor and meet with Ali el-Asfar. While you
are there, I would like Mr. el-Asfar to call me while you are in the office
so that we can discuss the situation and resolve this so that everyone
understands how to move forward. "
Abdu Daramalli and Egyptologist/archaeologist Elina Paulin-Grothe will
go and meet Ali el-Asfar and take things forward. (I have neither
time nor money to make another trip to Egypt in the near future.)
Fingers crossed this can all be sorted out and the heritage of this small
but very special place can be conserved and displayed.
Thank you for your support as always,
As a result of the meeting, I received another email from Caroline today:-
Dear Friends and supporters of Qurna Discovery,
The roller-coaster goes on. And it still on the up! In fact
I sincerely hope it doesnt go down again but just strands us up in the
Qurnawi blue sky.
At lunchtime Tuesday I have received a second email from Dr Hawass.
He has spoken with a senior colleague who knows the project
well, and this has clarified things for him.
He has called Inspector Nur who has been instructed to take
the blue notices down, and to replace the exhibitions exactly as they
were.
He apologises for the confusion and says that they do appreciate
the work that we are doing in Qurna.
I must say that I am delighted by this news, both for the future of
Qurna Discovery and for the future of the
the Theban Necropolis where it now appears that it is clear that the
SCA has the authority that it should have on this world heritage site. So
many ugly and bad things have happened recently - let us hope for some
good to come out of it all.
We do hope that Dr Hawass is able to visit Qurna Discovery soon. We
also hope that you and your friends and colleagues will also go and see
the new venue when it is sorted out again. Now that the situation
is clear, it will be possible for those working on the project in Qurna
to start to put the exhibits into the Daramalli house and for work to go
ahead on the bab el-hagar.
Thank you for your interest and support. I am sure this is not
quite the end of the story and I will keep you informed.
I'm almost certain that there is a political agenda here between local
government, the ministry of culture and the SCA, and hope that it will
come to a satisfactory conclusion.
