2023-06-09 21:02:09
A crisis erupted between the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities in Egypt and the National Museum of Antiquities in Leiden, the Netherlands, due to the latter’s accusation of “falsifying” the ancient Egyptian history, which prompted the authorities in Cairo to prevent the Dutch mission from completing excavations in the Saqqara region, south of Giza, according to what an Egyptian government official confirmed to “” Sky News Arabia.
Details of the crisis, its chapters were initially published by Dutch newspapers, stating that the Department of Foreign Missions at the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities sent an e-mail to the Department of the National Museum of Antiquities (RMO) in Leiden, the Netherlands, telling it to prevent the Dutch mission affiliated with the museum from completing its excavation work in the Saqqara region.
The reason is what the Egyptian authorities described as the Dutch Museum’s adoption of Afrocentric ideas and calls and an attempt to falsify ancient Egyptian history.
This came because the Dutch Museum held an art exhibition called “Kemit”, which began last April and will continue until next September, and hosted artists such as Beyoncé and Rihanna. During the exhibition, the museum displays ancient Egyptian drawings alongside drawings of dark-skinned people.
The Egyptian authorities considered that what the Holland Museum did was a promotion of African centralism or Afrocentricism, while the museum management believes that the exhibition’s goal is to show the school of ancient Egypt and the musical messages of black artists, as well as to show what scientific research reveals about ancient Egypt and Nubia, and to take a journey through the history of music and research the influence of Egypt. Ancient and Nuba are in the work of many African musicians, including such jazz icons as Miles Davis and San Ra.
The Dutch mission began annual excavations in Egypt 40 years ago, and the most recent excavations it carried out in Saqqara took place from February 19 to March 23, but the Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities refused to grant it a permit for the next excavation season.
For his part, the Director General of the Saqqara Antiquities Region, Mohamed Youssef, revealed to “Sky News Arabia” that the administration of the archaeological region in Saqqara did not receive any information indicating the renewal of the permit for the Dutch mission.
He explained that at this time papers are received by the region’s administration that indicate the renewal of permits for excavation missions in the region for the next season, but the Dutch mission’s permit did not arrive from the ministry’s foreign missions department.
For his part, the famous Egyptian archaeologist, Zahi Hawass, said in a statement to “Sky News Arabia” that:
* The Dutch National Museum made a grave mistake in trying to please a certain group of people, that group that promotes Afrocentric.
* The museum held an exhibition on ancient Egypt and brought celebrities to show that the ancient Egyptians were dark-skinned, which is what the Afrocentric groups are promoting.
* The museum administration did this even though they have a mission working for us in the Saqqara region and they know very well the truth about ancient Egyptian history and that what the Afrocentric groups are promoting is falsification and forgery.
* Therefore, the decision of the Egyptian authorities to stop the work of the Dutch mission in Saqqara and in Egypt in general is 100% correct.
* Everyone who works in Egypt from foreign missions must respect Egyptian history, otherwise he will not be allowed to work in Egypt.
For its part, the management of the Dutch National Museum announced that it is trying to hold a dialogue with the Egyptian authorities about this crisis.
This crisis comes weeks after a crisis sparked by a dramatic documentary film produced by the American Netflix platform that shows the famous pharaonic queen Cleopatra black, while the Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities issued a clarification saying that this is a falsification of history and that all evidence confirms that Cleopatra was light-skinned.
The Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities indicated that its anger is not related to the black people whom it appreciates and respects, but rather it is related to the refusal to falsify the historical reality, noting that this falsification comes within what the Pan-African group is saying about the attribution of the Pharaonic civilization to black Africans.
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