On April 26, 2016, Sciences et Avenir journalist Aline Kiner met with the Minister of Egyptian Antiquities Khaled El- Damaty, for an exclusive interview. The man is Francophone and Francophile. It was in our country that he studied Egyptology, and in our language that he granted us this interview on April 26, 2016, at the end of a meeting of the Standing Committee of Egyptian Antiquities devoted to Scan Pyramids . Purpose of this exceptional assembly which brought together Egyptologists, engineers and architects of the committee:to evaluate the first results of the Egyptian-international mission, in particular of the muon campaign. It is that, since his appointment on March 23, 2016, Khaled El-Enany has decided, with the support of his predecessor Mamdouh El-Damaty, to impose the greatest rigor in the construction sites in progress. No question of the slightest improvisation, while ScanPyramids, after having successfully X-rayed the rhomboidal pyramid of Dahshur, prepares to explore Kheops. THE national symbol! At the end of a meeting lasting several hours where Professor Hany Helal, from the Faculty of Engineering in Cairo, coordinator of the mission, presented his scientific report with the teams from the HIP Institute, the University of Nagoya, from the CEA and Laval University in Quebec, partners in the project, the minister has agreed to share his conclusions with us, as well as his plans for the coming months.
Sciences et Avenir:What is your position on the ScanPyramids mission?
Khaled El-Enany:It was launched under the Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities in October 2015, and the ministry will continue all its scientific projects, regardless of who is in charge. I read the file, I listened carefully to what was said during the committee meeting this afternoon:the partners are serious, and the techniques implemented are non-invasive. As long as the mission is not dangerous for the monuments and can bring us clarifications on the Great pyramid, its construction technique, its internal structure, I have no problem with it continuing, on the contrary. I have established a scientific committee within the ministry, including among others Mr. Zahi Hawass, the former Egyptian Minister of Antiquities, two pyramid specialists, the American Mark Lehner and the Czech Miroslav Barta, who know the region very well. , as well as the director of Egyptian antiquities, to also have the opinion of archaeologists specializing in the subject. The various reports will be presented to the Standing Committee, which takes decisions for any mission working in Egypt, at its next plenary meeting.
Any project to explore the pyramids, and particularly Cheops, seems to raise concerns. Why?
It is a special monument, the only remaining of the 7 wonders of the ancient world. Naturally everyone is worried about seeing it damaged. During our meeting, many questions focused on this subject. Professor Hany Helal and his team have answered clearly:none of the campaigns planned by ScanPyramids pose the slightest danger to the integrity of the monument.
Do you expect this type of project to revive tourist interest in your country?
The interest of science takes precedence over tourism. I am ready to contribute to any project that gets people talking about Egypt, but above all it must have serious foundations. For Scan Pyramids, it is a question of implementing a technology which has just been validated on the rhomboidal of Dahchour.
What do you expect from this mission?
Very little is known about the construction of Cheops. Even the writings of the historian Herodotus about the ramp, the number of workers, the years it took to build this colossus do not provide any certainty. The debate this afternoon showed it well:architects do not want to accept the idea of a ramp, whereas archaeologists favor it. So there is still a lot to learn. But with Scan Pyramids I am not waiting for a discovery. It is exactly for me like the radar which is done behind the northern chamber of Tutankhamun. It is a question of seeing what new technologies can bring to our discipline. To try to perceive what is inside the pyramid and that we could not detect with traditional archeology. If we make a discovery, it's magnificent, if we don't, it's more information about the monument.
What are your priorities as Minister of Egyptian Antiquities?
The first thing I asked after my appointment was that any foreign mission train two inspectors per month during its excavation site. Cooperating creates a harmony, a symbiosis that Egyptology needs. It is in everyone's interest:the mission works one month out of twelve on the ground, the site is in the hands of the Egyptian inspector for eleven months. I strongly believe in international cooperation, I was trained in France, I worked a lot with the Ifao, I have faith in partnership but with a capital P. A mixed mission should not stop at its title. Professor Helal, earlier, said that he wanted to train architects, Egyptologists, scientists. This is what I want from any international mission.
Do you think that young people are insufficiently trained in Egyptology in your country?
I observe with concern the absence of certain disciplines in university training:excavations - only one or two courses in the university course of the faculty of archeology, which is oriented more towards epigraphy and civilization - management archaeological sites and museography. Since my appointment, I have been approached by several university colleagues who wish to introduce these disciplines into the curriculum. In the meantime, again, I believe that our colleagues in foreign missions have a fundamental role to play in contributing to the management of archaeological sites. Egypt needs tourism and who says tourism says infrastructure. Some foreign missions have been working on sites for decades, we don't even have a plan, a leaflet or a small guide.
Do you have other projects?
I have to start by finding financial resources. My ministry is financially independent, its main revenue is site tickets paid by tourists. They have been greatly weakened in recent years, while we must continue the major projects launched before the revolution, such as the Grand Egyptian Museum. One of my biggest challenges is to find new sources of income. I am in the process of forming a team of young scientists whom I bring together daily and who help me in my work. With their eyes, I see the ministry differently.
Do you have the means to protect your sites and museums against the looters that plague many countries today?
Monitoring all sites is impossible. Their area is enormous, from the east of Sinai to the west of the Libyan desert to Sudan. We have a problem of clandestine excavations, the trafficking of archaeological objects is growing. But I work on the awareness of the Egyptians, in the long term it is the most effective. One of my first decisions was to allow primary schools free entry to all museums and sites. Among my young collaborators, two also work on raising awareness of heritage in the communities surrounding the archaeological sites, because they are the ones who will protect them. We can't afford to install cameras everywhere.
How did your passion for Egyptology come about?
In 1992, I was a guide. I worked with groups of French people, and they are the most curious tourists! It is easy to recognize a group of French people in a temple:they are the ones who surround the guide and bombard him with questions. I didn't have all the answers. It prompted me to read. Then I got an Egyptian scholarship to go to France, I went to the University of Montpellier, I did my DEA and my thesis there. I liked the research, I was impressed by the level of my French colleagues, their passion for their discipline. It completely changed me. I left to get a degree, and I came back wanting to be an Egyptologist. I was lucky to be appointed as soon as I returned to Egypt as a researcher at the Ifao, which allowed me to continue my work for ten years after my thesis.
Egyptomania, a French evil?
Yes, and I was infected!
We talked a lot about pyramids during this interview. Finally, I would like you to tell me what they mean to you.
Stability and sustainability. And that reassures me for the future of Egypt. Even if our country is going through difficult phases, like in recent years, they are still there.