Better storage facilities for Islamic Museum planned
Egypt, History, 4/25/2002

Egypt is noted not only for Al-Azhar, the oldest university in the world, but also for the Islamic Museum in Bab El-Khalq that possesses a variety of treasures relating to Islamic history, from the time of the 7th century Caliphate to the 19th century. Among the exhibits are complete collections that once belonged to Ali Ibrahim Pasha, Ali Pasha Tusun and Ali Pasha Artin.

Out of a total of 201 ,000 items, only 30,000 are on display. Where are the rest? Curator Refaat Abdul Azim said that the available space allows for only 8 per cent of exhibits to be shown. The remainder are in storage, and are subject to periodic inspections, Abdul Azim said, adding that there is a schedule for bringing items out for airing and restoration.

Wood, textiles, carpets and manuscripts are susceptible to fungi and moths, while leathers and textiles are periodically treated to sterilise them, he said.

The uniqueness of Islamic works of art and decoration lies in the perfect use of space: there is no such thing as a vacuum. God is omnipresent Abdul Azim said.

Plans are being drawn up for 280 square metres of well-ventilated storage space to accommodate two-fifths of the museum's exhibits. Only the ground floor of the Bab el-Khalk location will be used for displays.

The curator suggested that branches of the museum could be set up in 6 October city and New Cairo.

The antiquities are valuable not only in themselves as links with our past, but also for the future in academic study.

Former Secretary-General of the Supreme Council for Antiquities, Dr Abdul Halim Nureddin said in an interview with a daily newspaper that plans must be drawn up to ensure that items of historical value are properly stored.

Neglect and theft of antiquities should be punishable by law, Dr Nureddin said. "Robbing a bank and robbing a nation of its heritage are two different kinds of crime," he said, adding that bad storage and allowing abjects of historical interest to decay is another form of robbery.

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