Pics: AUC dedicates 5000 artifacts to National Museum of Egyptian Civilization

CAIRO - 17 September 2019: The National Museum of Egyptian Civilization in Fustat received a group of antiquities dedicated by the American University in Cairo to the Ministry of Antiquities.

It was acquired by the university in the 1960s, in accordance with the division law in force in Egypt at the time. This allowed foreign drilling missions in Egypt to obtain 50 percent of the excavation output.

The artifacts were the product of the excavations of the Egyptian-American mission in the area of Fustat, headed by archaeologist George Scanlon.

The general supervisor of the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization Ahmed Sherbini said that the number of pieces is about 5,000 pieces including stone paintings, pottery and glassware, in addition to parts of statues and sarcophagi dating from the Islamic, Coptic, Pharaonic, Greek, and Roman eras.

The Deputy Superintendent of the Museum for Archaeological Affairs Inas Jaafar explained that a committee of warehouse managers has been formed to receive and classify these items, in preparation for their registration and presentation within the museum's displaying scenario.

Jafaar pointed out that one of the most important pieces that have been acquired so far is a stone painting dating back to the Greco-Roman era, and windows from the Islamic era.

It is noteworthy that the Ministry of Antiquities agreed to accept this gift after the approval of the Board of Directors of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, and was received within 23 boxes.