PRESERVING CULTURAL HERITAGE in MINYA, EGYPT By
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PRESERVING CULTURAL HERITAGE IN MINYA, EGYPT by Heba Abd El Salam A Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Public History Middle Tennessee State University May 2018 Dissertation Committee: Dr. Dawn McCormack, Chair Dr. Brenden Martin Dr. Pippa Holloway Dr. Brad Bartel To Allah For Jana & Mohammed ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This work could not have been done without the support of many people. Dr. Dawn McCormack is the main person who supported and helped me to complete this project. She not only helped me to be a professional academic, but she taught me how to be a better person and have a big heart. I would also like to thank Dr. Martin for his help teaching me about public history and Dr. Pippa Holloway for being a positive member on my committee. Special thanks as well to Dr. Brad Bartel for his encouragement. Thanks also to Dr. Regina Shultz and Dr. Scott Bucking. For support for my project in Egypt, I would like to acknowledge Dr Hussain Mohammed Ali; Minya University; the Mallawi Museum staff; the Museum Sector; Ahmed Hussein, Mohammed Mokhtar; Mahmoud Amer from the Ministry of Antiquities; the city of Minya; the governor of Minya; my great team of heritage transporters including Alber, Marim, Mohamed, Hana, Alaa, and Nadra; the Children’s Museum; and my colleagues from the Ministry of Antiquities. Funding for my fieldwork was provided by Middle State University including the Public History program, the History Department, the College of Graduate Studies, and the Office of the Provost. For support through this process, I would like to thank my friend Lydia Harris; Amr Khalf; and the Yany family in Nashville and Minya including Nadia, Heshiam and Read. I would also like to thank my mom for her help and prayers; Dina, who is a great sister; my brother-in-law, Shrif Owan; Nadar; Aya; and my daughter and son, Jana and Mohammed. The latter two are the people who have sacrificed the most for this work to be done. I love them both, and they are the best things in my life. iii ABSTRACT Desecration of cultural heritage is one of the major problems that the world faces today. In Middle Eastern countries such as Syria, Iraq, and Egypt, many heritage sites have been destroyed or heavily looted. Egypt has experienced this problem since ancient times, but after the 2011 revolution, the situation got worse when Egypt became unstable and unsecure after the Arab Spring. Many heritage sites have been destroyed in cities in Egypt such Luxor, Dahshur, and Tanis. Minya, Egypt experienced many of these cases since the Arab Spring with the worst example taking place at the Mallawi Museum in 2013 when people broke into the museum to damage and steel its artifacts. Therefore, I conducted this dissertation project in Minya to find a solution for this problem. This work consisted of two community engagement projects, one at Minya University and the other one in the Mallawi Museum. For this project, I used different methods of interpretation such as storytelling, living history, craft-making workshops, and archeological demonstrations. The results of these two projects show that the use of community engagement links people with their heritage for better preservation in Egypt. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES ......................................................................................................... viii INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................. 1 CHAPTER ONE SEVERAL TYPES OF DESECRATION AGAINST EGYPTIAN HERITAGE .............. 3 The Destruction of Cultural Heritage in Syria ................................................................ 4 The Destruction of Cultural Heritage in Iraq ................................................................... 6 The History of Cultural Heritage Destruction in Egypt .................................................. 7 The Famous Degradation Cases after January 25, 2011 ............................................... 13 Social Media as a Tool to Sell Artifacts ........................................................................ 15 Looting before the Revolution ...................................................................................... 17 Looting Activities during Ancient Egyptian Times ...................................................... 18 Conclusion ..................................................................................................................... 20 CHAPTER TWO DESTRUCTION OF CULTURAL HERITAGE IN EGYPT .......................................... 21 Egyptians and their Isolation from their History ........................................................... 23 The Field of Egyptology and Colonization ................................................................... 26 Orientalism and its Effect .............................................................................................. 27 Colonialism ................................................................................................................... 30 Colonialism and Egyptology ......................................................................................... 31 Egyptian Egyptologists during Colonialism ................................................................. 34 Egyptologists Today and their Visions for Egyptian Cultural Heritage ....................... 36 Limited Publication of Egyptology in Arabic and Isolating Egyptians from their Cultural Heritage ........................................................................................................... 36 Egyptian Cultural Heritage and Islamic Roles .............................................................. 37 Shaping Egyptian Heritage Sites for Tourism............................................................... 38 The Past Education System and Egyptian Heritage ...................................................... 39 Conclusion ..................................................................................................................... 39 CHAPTER THREE THE WORLD EFFORT FOR PROTECTING EGYPTIAN CULTURAL HERITAGE 40 The History of Protecting Cultural Heritage ................................................................. 41 The Development of Conservation Principles by ICOMS and UNESCO .................... 42 Brief History of Preserving Egyptian Cultural Heritage by UNESCO ......................... 45 v The Preservation of Egyptian Cultural Heritage through Public Archaeology ............. 49 Training in Museum Management by the British Museum .......................................... 50 International Organizations in Egypt and Protecting Cultural Heritage ....................... 52 Conclusion ..................................................................................................................... 57 CHAPTER FOUR METHODS FOR PROTECTING CULTURAL HERITAGE IN MINYA ..................... 58 Community Outreach .................................................................................................... 61 Why “Community Engagement?” ................................................................................. 65 Oral History ................................................................................................................... 66 Interpretation ................................................................................................................. 67 Living History ............................................................................................................... 68 Storytelling .................................................................................................................... 70 Puppet Shows ................................................................................................................ 72 Assessment .................................................................................................................... 72 Youth in Cultural Heritage Preservation ....................................................................... 72 Conclusion ..................................................................................................................... 74 CHAPTER FIVE METHODS FOR BETTER PROTECTION OF CULTURAL HERITAGE IN MINYA, EGYPT .............................................................................................................................. 75 The History of Minya .................................................................................................... 76 Minya during Colonial Times, 1880-1950 .................................................................... 76 The Colonial Period and its Effect on Minya’s Heritage Sites ..................................... 78 Why Minya? .................................................................................................................. 79 The Minya Cultural Heritage Project ............................................................................ 80 Preparation for the Minya University Interpretative Exhibit ........................................ 81 Interpretation Material for this Program ....................................................................... 85 Educational Cartoon about Beni Hassan .................................................................................... 86 The Content of the Animated Cartoon .......................................................................... 86 Organization of the Exhibit ..........................................................................................