I am happy to announce that an important project to develop and protect the site of Dahshur was officially launched today. This project, which is being undertaken jointly by a number of Egyptian government and United Nations agencies, will incorporate both the protection of the antiquities and environment of Dahshur and the economic development of the local area.

Dahshur is an important part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Memphis and its Necropolis. There are five major pyramids in the area, including the Red Pyramid and the Bent Pyramid, both built for Snefru (r. 2575-2551 BC), the father of Khufu and the founder of the 4th Dynasty. The site is also home to the pyramids of Amenemhat II (r. 2575-2551 BC) and Senwosret III (r. 1878-1840 BC), along with the “Black Pyramid” of Amenemhat III (r. 1859-1813 BC). There are many private tombs of the Old and Middle Kingdoms in the area, as well as royal tombs dating to the 13th Dynasty. Dahshur is seldom visited by tourists, but it is a rich and fascinating site which deserves to be protected and preserved for generations to come.

The Supreme Council of Antiquities and the Egyptian Ministries of Foreign Affairs, International Cooperation, Environment, and Tourism are partnering with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), the World Trade Organization (WTO), the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), the International Labor Organization (ILO), and the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to implement this ambitious project. We will conserve the historic monuments at the site, and prepare many of them to be visited by the public. We hope that within two or three months, the Bent Pyramid will be open, and within a year we will be able to open one or two of the Middle Kingdom pyramids. Environmental protection and education programs are also planned for the surrounding area, along with micro-finance and small business initiatives designed to help the local communities to improve their quality of life. The Spanish government is helping to finance the project in cooperation with the United Nations Development Program, through the UNDP-Spain Millennium Development Goals Development Fund.

We held a press conference today at the SCA’s headquarters. It was attended by representatives of the agencies involved in the project as well as community representatives from the Dahshur area. Everyone expressed optimism that the project will offer many opportunities to people in the surrounding communities, while at the same time ensuring that the irreplaceable monuments in the area will survive for future generations to learn from and enjoy.

When I took office as Secretary General of the SCA, I immediately made the development of comprehensive management programs for antiquities sites a top priority for Egypt. We have already had great success implementing site management initiatives at sites like Giza, the Valley of the Kings, and Deir El Bahari, to name only a few. At every site, we are cleaning and restoring monuments, making use of both natural and man-made barriers to control access, creating safe zones around the sites to minimize the impact of development, and building tourist facilities such as visitors’ centers, bazaars, restrooms, and cafeterias. The Dahshur project will serve a pilot program, demonstrating the potential of multi-agency international cooperation to help with such site management initiatives. I hope that it will prove to be an unqualified success, and that we can look forward to many more such ambitious efforts to protect Egypt’s antiquities in the future.