The world is currently going through very difficult conditions due to the outbreak of the Corona virus, which is spread in various countries of the world, which has caused the loss of lives of thousands of people, in addition to the cessation of the activities of countries to confront the virus, but recently, despite the virus, a number of countries announced the gradual return of life during the period The coming, and it may be among them to gradually reopen the archaeological sites, but the question arises: What is the first opening of the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities after the announcement of the reopening of the areas and museums again?
Ahmed Orabi, director of the Luxor Temple at the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, said that it was scheduled to unveil the statue of Ramses II, which has been completed completely assembled and restored, located on the Arab side of the first courtyard of the Luxor Temple, which is 7 meters high and weighs 65 tons, This is within the framework of the Egyptian mission, headed by Dr. Mostafa Waziri, Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, where the statue was to be unveiled on World Heritage Day April 18, but the Corona pandemic caused the opening to be postponed.
Ahmed Orabi pointed out, in exclusive statements to "The Seventh Day", that the restoration work was carried out using the latest scientific methods followed globally, and that work was done to raise the efficiency and rehabilitation of the temples of Luxor and Karnak, to make it available to visitors with special needs, by paving special methods that allow the use of the wheelchair For the physically and visually impaired, in addition to the instructional boards for the hearing-impaired.
The work was officially started on that façade and the statue was collected in September 2019 after the approval of Dr. Khaled El Anani, Minister of Tourism and Antiquities, on the new project, and he decided to provide all support to the Egyptian archaeologists and hands to continue writing history inside the Luxor Temple to the men of the Egyptian archaeological mission led by Dr. Mostafa Waziri, the Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, where the remains and masses of these statues were found in the 1950s during the period from 1958 to 1961 during the excavations of Dr. Muhammad Abdul Qadir Al-Atheer Al-Kabir.
It should be noted that Dr. Khaled Al-Anani, Minister of Tourism and Antiquities, lost during the past few months the restoration work of Ramses II's statue located in the western side of the first courtyard of the Luxor Temple in addition to the elements of the visual identity project implemented in Luxor and Karnak temples, including modern gates at the entrances of temples, and new outlets For selling tickets, modern guiding boards that were placed in separate places in the temples that correspond to the nature of the visual identity, in addition to the identification cards of the employees of the temples, the new wooden benches for resting the visitors and the advanced trash baskets to separate the types of garbage, the barriers that define the path of the visit to the temples and umbrellas to protect visitors from the sun.
Sun, May. 31, 2020
