Since I became the Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities (now the Ministry of State for Antiquities [MSA]) in 2002, I have been at the forefront of a national project to restore dilapidated Coptic, Jewish and Islamic buildings, along with Egypt’s ancient monuments. I went to Alexandria yesterday with the Minister of Justice, Chancellor Mohamed Abdel Aziz el-Gendy, the head of the Alexandrian courts, Chancellor Kamel el Khole, the Heads of the MSA’s Project and Islamic-Coptic Sectors, General Mohamed el-Sheikha and Dr Mostafa Amin, and Dr Hafez Abdel Azim, from the Engineering Research Center at Cairo University.

Together we inspected the complex of Sarai el Hakhania Court, which is located in El Manshia Square, Mahatet El Raml in Alexandria. This building came under the MSA’s responsibility in 2001. It was built in 1886, was refurbished during King Farouk’s reign in 1937 and again during the presidency of Gamal Abdel Nasser when a whole new floor was added.
In 2001 the building was registered as an Islamic-Coptic Period monument. In 2010 the Minister of Justice wrote to me to report that new cracks in the structure had appeared. I formed a committee to investigate, but unfortunately there was a fire on the upper floor of the building during the committee’s research. The fire damaged part of it very badly and the committee reported that an even bigger restoration project was then needed.
The building is on two floors and has a basement. It was used for many different types of court and contained many courtrooms as well as a library. The basement was used as a temporary prison for the defendants. Despite the fire, most of the building remains in use and it has proved very difficult to evacuate people from it in order for the necessary maintenance work to be conducted. The highest priority issues will therefore be tackled first, and the whole project will cost an estimated 40 million Egyptian Pounds.
As part of the restoration plan, the building will have a museum that tells the history of the judicial system in Egypt and the most important cases heard within the Sarai el Hakhania Court. It will contain old legal documents, a bust of Abbas Helmy II, photographs of several kings of Egypt, valuable 19th century oil paintings, antique judicial scales and clocks.
The project will be a collaboration between the Ministry, the Library of Alexandria, Dar el Kotob (the Egyptian National Library and Archives) and the Fine Art Sector of the Ministry of Culture. The Library of Alexandria and Dar el Kotob will be responsible for the conservation of the manuscripts, and the Fine Art Sector will be responsible for the paintings.
At the end of my tour, I was given an award by the Minister of Justice in honor of my help in this project and efforts in preserving Egyptian monuments.
It is my hope that this project will create new jobs for young Egyptian conservators and engineers. Preserving Egypt’s heritage by conserving its monuments not only makes an important contribution to the pride that Egyptian people can feel towards their history, but also acts as a means to generate more employment opportunities for its youngest generation.
Afterwards I went to check on the progress of the Greco-Roman Museum, and visited the National Museum of Alexandria where I had a big meeting with many of the Ministry’s employees in that city. We discussed many current issues affecting the Ministry, such as salaries, health insurance, upcoming projects and staffing, and it was very successful.

I told them about my future staff training plans, encouraged them to further their education, pledged my support for those who want to continue studying, and answered lots of questions. It was a busy day, but I enjoyed it very much. It was good to meet the Ministry’s staff in Alexandria and talk to them face to face about the things that matter to them.

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