Supreme Council of Antiquities
The Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA; Arabic: المجلس الأعلى للآثار, romanized: al-Majlis al-Aʻlá lil-Āthār) was a department of the Egyptian Ministry of Culture from 1994 to 2011. It was the government body responsible for the conservation, protection and regulation of all antiquities and archaeological excavations in Egypt, and was a reorganization of the Egyptian Antiquities Organisation, under Presidential Decree No. 82 of Hosni Mubarak.[1]
In January 2011, it became an independent ministry: the Ministry of State for Antiquities (MSA).[1]
The first government body was the Department of Antiquities, established in 1858. This became the Egyptian Antiquities Organisation in 1971.[2][3]
Role[edit]
The Secretary-General directed the SCA through the Administrative Council. He answered to the Minister of Culture.[4]
The SCA was the only agent permitted to restore or preserve Egyptian monuments.[5] It defined the boundaries around archaeological sites and required foreign archaeologists working in Egypt to report all discoveries and finds to the SCA before publication.[6] This somewhat controversial rule led to the expulsion of some archaeologists from Egypt, but reduced the theft of archaeological finds dramatically and notified the authorities to set up security around new finds.
The SCA was also responsible for the recovery of antiquities previously stolen or illegally exported from Egypt: between 2002 and 2008, it retrieved 3,000 artefacts.[7] It became embroiled in a dispute with the Egyptian Museum of Berlin over the bust of Nefertiti, which it claimed was removed from the country by deceit;[8] previously it had asked for the return of the Rosetta Stone from the British Museum and the Dendara Zodiac from the Louvre.[9]
Antiquities service[edit]
Those who serve to preserve antiquities are in charge of the conservation and preservation of antiquities, as well as research and often give interviews and report on discoveries and work being done.[10] In the 21st century they also face the difficult task of keeping monuments safe from a fringe of Islamist radicals who want the destruction of pharanoic monuments.[11][12] Their official titles, depending on the years they served, have ranged from Director, to Director-General, to Chairman to Minister.[1] The position may entail also, as was done by Zahi Hawass for many years, to stimulate tourism to Egypt, with charm and charisma.[13] Sayed Tawfik was an Egyptologist who served from 1989–1990, when the body was called the Egyptian Antiquities Organization.[14] At the end of 2011, Dr. Mohamed Ibrahim Aly was named antiquities minister and he promised to give new life to the body, by bringing in young archeologists and restarting projects which had been put on hold.[15]