The conference “Achievements and Problems of Modern Egyptology” was organized by the Centre for Egyptological Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences (CESRAS). I was honoured to give the opening lecture, in which I discussed my recent excavations in the Valley of the Kings, including our work in the tunnel in the tomb of Seti I.

 

My first full day in Moscow began with a press conference with RIA Novosti, where I talked about my recent work. I spoke about the recent project to identify the family of Tutankhamun, my work at Taposiris Magna, the investigation of the secret doors in the Great Pyramid, and my excavations in the Valley of the Kings. I also discussed the construction of the 20 new museums that I have initiated, many of which will be opening in the coming months, as well as current site management projects in Egypt. I mentioned that Egypt spends over 1 billion Egyptian pounds a year on restoration projects in order to preserve monuments from all periods of Egyptian history, which is more than any other country. I told everyone about our work to recover artefacts stolen from Egypt, and that to date we have been able to get back 5,000 objects.

 

After the press conference, I was able to take part in a Vesti TV channel programme. Later that night I had a great time when I went to see Tchaikovsky’s “Swan Lake” ballet at the musical theatre. Although I have seen “Swan Lake” many times in America, Europe, and Egypt, I enjoyed this wonderful production. The next morning I opened the CESRAS Conference with a lecture about my recent excavations in the Valley of the Kings. That evening I went with Galina Belova, the director of CESRAS, to a conference dinner. Many Egyptologists from Europe and Egypt and members of CESRAS attended this dinner, where we enjoyed Egyptological discussion.

 

The Centre for Egyptological Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences (CESRAS) was founded in 1999 and is involved in many projects in Egypt. They are conducting underwater excavation in Alexandria, and they are working at Deir el-Banat in the Fayum, Tell Ibrahim Awad in the Eastern Delta, and at Theban Tomb 320. They are also working to create a Databank of Eastern European Egyptology to collect and process information about Egyptian objects in museum collections in the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. I am grateful for their valuable contributions to the field of Egyptology.

 

I was very happy to meet with Ezzat El-Sayed, the Ambassador of Egypt in Russia. My last night in Moscow, he held a very nice dinner in his house with many people. I was very impressed by this man, who was so kind as to insist upon accompanying me to the airport at 6 am.

 

Two young ladies from the Russian Academy of Science (RAS) accompanied me around Moscow to visit many places while I was there. We visited the Red Square, which is a beautiful place where the cathedral of Saint Basil the Blessed is located. After this we visited the Mausoleum where the body of Lenin sits in its preserved state. I find it interesting to think that he was mummified, but not in the same way as the ancient Egyptians, but rather by a committee of scientists. I was very impressed with the lighting system of the buildings in Moscow, especially at the Museum of the History of Moscow. We visited another building called the GUM, which was a Soviet shopping centre that has been transformed into a beautiful mall.

 

When we visited St. Basil’s cathedral I noticed that the two representatives of the RAS bought tickets, and we were expected to take the audio tour. When the same thing happened at the Kremlin, I became unhappy and decided not to see it. I was disappointed that no one from the Ministry of Culture came to greet me and show me around these sites, even though the CESRAS had informed them that I would be visiting. When foreign officials come visit Egypt, I make it a point to treat them very well - greet them, present them with gifts, and show them the sites. I would hope for similar treatment in my capacity as the Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities.

 

However, I did visit the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts. As I visited this museum I thought of Pushkin, whom the museum is named after. I think the tale of his death in 1837 is very interesting; in order to defend his honour, he challenged his wife’s alleged lover to a duel, and he was killed. Pushkin wrote many great novels, plays, and poems, including the classic poem “Eugene Onegin,” which had a Hollywood film based on it, starring Ralph Fiennes and Liv Tyler. The Pushkin museum holds many fine works of art in its five stunning buildings, and my visit was very nice. 

The collections of the Pushkin Museum include beautiful European paintings as well as a whole room of lovely copies of famous ancient statues from Egypt, Greece, Rome, and the Middle East. When Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser visited Russia in 1960, he donated a vessel from the cache of thousands found under the pyramid of Djoser at Saqqara. The Egyptian collection has some good artefacts, including 24 Fayum portraits, which were given as a gift by the Russian scholar Vladimir Golenishchev, who travelled to Egypt at the end of the 19^th century. He bought over 6,000 objects in Luxor from antiquities dealers for the price of 240,000 rubles. Notable artefacts include: a gilded mummy, beautiful Late Period statues of goddesses, canopic jars, New Kingdom statues of a priest and priestess possibly from the Karnak cachette,and  a sphinx statue thought to be Amenhotep II or Thutmose III. A famous artefact is Papyrus Moscow 120, which contains the story of Wenamun, a tale of an official sent to Byblos on a trading mission for lumber, who encounters many adventures along the way.

 

I enjoyed seeing the treasures of Troy and the reproduction of a Greek temple that have exhibits in this museum. I was very glad to visit this museum, but I am sad that many artefacts in this museum remain unpublished. It is very important to publish museum collections and make them available to scholars, and I hope the Pushkin Museum will be able to do that.

 

After I left Moscow, I spent one night in Paris, where I had a book signing reception at the house of the Egyptian Embassy. The book is called “Egypt” and is written by Christian Jacq, the famous writer who has many novels about ancient Egypt. It is a book of beautiful photographs of sites in Egypt from the air by Philip Plisson and insightful descriptions by Jacq. The reception was very nice, I saw many old friends, and I gave a speech about new developments in Egypt. Afterwards, we had a lovely dinner at Nura, a Lebanese restaurant. The next day I was glad to return to Egypt and my normal schedule.