Living in Luxor - News in and around Luxor in March 2014

 

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3rd Luxor African Film Festival - Opening Ceremony, Luxor East Bank

(19/03/14)
Of course it didn't start at 4 pm as previously announced - the Dahabiyas, which should pick up the honoured guests at their hotels, started there only at 6 pm. They landed at the Mummification Museum, where they were welcomed by dancers, musicians and big balloons with African flags. Already before the first speech the Nile Ballet of the Cairo Opera House gave a wonderful performance in front of the pylon of the Luxor Temple - only this was worth waiting (music: Omar Khairat, director: Abdel-Moneim Kamel, supervison: Dr. Inas Abdel Dayem). Then there were speeches, honours, and finally the opening film "The Children's Republic" by Flora Gomes.

Art Exhibition at the Faculty of Fine Arts, Luxor East Bank

(14/03/14)
On Monday, the 17th of March 2014 at 6 pm the art exhibition "2nd Upper Egypt Salon" will be inaugurated at the Waset Art and Culture Center of the Faculty of Fine Arts in Luxor. The entrance is free.
The Faculty of Fine Arts, which is located in the Khaled Ibn el-Walid Street aims wth such events to strengthen the role of Upper Egypt in the cultural scene of Egypt and to give a forum for regional artists.
Opening hours until 6th of April: Sunday - Thursday, 10 am - 10 pm

LAFF 2014: Schedule and Program Published, Luxor

(14.03.14)
In 4 days the 3rd Luxor African Film Festival will start, It will take place at several venues in Luxor from 18th to 24th of March 2014 . Senegal is guest of honour this year. Initially 79 films from 41 countries were announced to be screened. However, the duration had been reduced to 7 instead of 9 days, so there are probably less.
Egypt will participate in the competitions with the following films:
- in the "Long Narratives Competition": "Mice Room"
- in the "International Freedom Competition": "Logical Revolt"
- in the "Long Documentaries Competition": "Ana Ana"
- in the "Short Narratives and Short Documentaries Competition": "Elbostan
  Elsaid St.", "Erkie", "Reda" and "Sidhom"
The Official Out of Competition Section includes "I Am The Film Director".
An art exhibition entitled "will also take place.
You can download the complete program here and the schedule for each venue here!

Statue of a Princess Unearthed in Kom el-Hettan, Luxor West Bank

(09/03/14)
Again, the team under Hourig Sourouzian hit the headlines (see also our news from 02/03/10, 22/03/10, 17/05/10, 02/10/10, 16/12/10, 27/04/11, 31/05/11, 07/02/13, 18/02/13, 12/03/13 and from 20/02/14). On 7th of March 2014 it was announced that the archaeologists discovered the statue of Iset, a daughter of Amenhotep III, in his mortuary temple at Kom el-Hettan. Originally, the statue belonged to the 14 metre-tall alabaster statue, which had been unearthed 200 metres behind the Colossi of Memnon on 31/05/11 and is to be restored at the moment. Iset's 1,70 metre high statue was found between the feet of the seated king and is sadly damaged. Her name and royal title are inscribed as "Great Royal Wife" and "The beloved of her father". The new discovery is the first known representation of Iset alone with her father.

Construction progresses on Tutankhamun's Facsimile Tomb, Luxor West Bank

(03/03/14)
The reproduction of Tut's tomb reached a new stage. (see our news from 16/01/14 and 03/03/14). The work is in due time. The installation of the facsimile is scheduled for mid March and the public opening of the visitor centre for late April.

18th Dynasty Tomb Discovered in Sheikh Abd el-Qurna, Luxor West Bank

(05/03/14)
Yesterday the Minister of Antiquities Mohamed Ibrahim announced the discovery of a new tomb in Sheikh Abd el-Qurna. The Italian-Spanish-Egyptian mission of the Min Project came across it as they broke a whole into a wall of the tomb of Min (TT109), where they work regularly. Now it's necessary to remove the debris from the tomb.
The find of a pottery funerary cone revealed the name and the titles of the tomb owner. The tomb belonged to a high official called Maai, who lived in the 18th dynasty and had (among others) the titles "The Secret Keeper of the God", "Overseer of the King's horses" and "The Mayor, distinguished of Osiris and the Prince". The already visible tomb paintings show Maai and his wife Nefert with the usual scenes of the daily life, banquets, hunt and offerings.

Construction progresses on Tutankhamun's Facsimile Tomb in February, Luxor West Bank

(03/03/14)
The reproduction of Tut's tomb close to the Carter House takes shape step by step. In January the work under the direction of the Tarek Waly Center - Architecture and Heritage had started (see our news from 16/01/14). Here you can see pictures from the second and third week in February.

Lecture on the Stoppelaëre House, Luxor West Bank

(01/03/14)
The Stoppelaëre House was built by Hassan Fathy in 1950. Marcel Maessen, specialist for Egyptian dig houses, will lecture on Dr. Alexandre Stoppelaëre (1890-1978) and his extraordinary house, which is often regarded wrongly as Howard Carter's house.
Saturday, 8th of March 2014, 7-8:30 pm, Nile Valley Hotel, Luxor west bank

Just a saying ...

(01/03/14)