An inspector from the Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities, Heidi Moussa, revealed to ‘Sky News Arabia’ that the owners of the tombs were “the ones who prevented them from being registered as antiquities, and therefore they are not protected against kidnapping.
In the past few hours, controversy has raged after the release of a photo of the tomb of the great poet Mahmoud Sami Al-Baroudi, the pioneer of the school of renewal and resurrection in Arabic poetry, which is in the tombs of Mrs. Nafisa, and it has a deletion mark.
And local media quoted the family of Al-Baroudi, nicknamed “Lord of the Sword and the Pen”, that they were not informed by the authorities of the removal from his grave.
Discussions have also raged after images of the tomb of Imam Warsh, the sheikh of the reciters of the Holy Quran, were circulated and demolition work is heading towards it, as is the tomb of late writer Yahya Haqi.
Sky News Arabia has obtained special photos of the historic graves of a number of symbols, including the Nile poet Hafez Ibrahim, the historic army Amiralay Bey Ramzi and Lieutenant General Ismail Pasha Selim, and the burial of Muhammad Ratib Pasha Sardar, formerly the Egyptian army. , and demolition works approached them after removing all the graves that surrounded it despite its combinations and historical manuscripts.
Those who oppose the decision to demolish the cemetery believe that it could generate significant revenue for the country if used as a tourist attraction, in addition to being a component of Egyptian civilization as some tombs have more than 100 years, and they also believe that engineering solutions can be used to establish a road bridge without having to remove the graves.
For his part, the Inspector of Antiquities of the Archaeological Unit of the Historic Cairo Public Administration revealed in statements to Sky News Arabia that:
Cemetery demolition works are underway at the tombs of Al-Shafei, Al-Sayeda Nafisa and Jalal Al-Din Al-Suyuti, all located south of Cairo. The demolition is carried out completely randomly and without reference to the antiquities inspectors, because the “bulldozers” demolish the cemetery from its roof while it is closed, and its contents are destroyed without being able to see it and if it deserves or not an archaeological record. Demolition companies then come to move the moving waste and destroy any important contents found in the graves. Antiquities inspectors cannot prevent a cemetery from being moved because such cemeteries are not registered as antiquities and therefore are not subject to the Antiquities Protection Act. The owners of the tombs are the ones who prevented them from being registered because they refused to allow antiquities inspectors to enter or photograph them, and therefore these tombs have no protection, although many between them have really rare installations and designs. Despite all the controversy, without the demolition, we would not have seen the treasures in these tombs that we had not seen before, and we could not give them to their owners. I was also prevented more than once from entering the tombs of Sayyida Nafisa to photograph them, because on a personal level, besides my work, I am interested in the documentation of historical monuments. There are graves of historical symbols and celebrities, and they contain rare items. All the tombs around them have been demolished, and most likely everyone will be taken away. The tombs of Imam al-Shafi’i are the richest in terms of archaeological heritage, but unfortunately there are only two tombs registered in the Coordination of Civilizations as a distinctive architectural style, and these are the only ones who enjoy protection against abduction. The process of registering an antiquity requires submitting an application, and it is presented to the competent sector, which in turn refers it to the standing committees, which form two other committees of Coptic and Islamic antiquities to decide whether the place deserves to be registered. to be registered. like an antique or not. This process sometimes takes years. There is talk of a ruling being made that those in charge of antiquities in the cemetery area would only photograph them to record or prevent their demolition, but only to preserve those images.
Controversy raged two weeks ago over what had been raised about the intention to demolish the cemetery of the late famous reciter Muhammad Refaat, but the governorate of Cairo denied this. However, a recent photo obtained by ” Sky News Arabia’ revealed that this graveyard became the only one left in the area after everything around it was demolished, raising doubts about plans to remove it after the controversy subsided.
Last year, a controversy erupted after news broke of the demolition of the tomb of the dean of Arabic literature, Taha Hussein, located in the al-Tunisi cemetery in southern Cairo, also to establish another road bridge.
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