The Faculty of Archeology hosts Prince Abbas Helmy III

Under the auspices of Prof. Dr. Mahmoud El-Metini, President of Ain Shams University, and Prof. Dr. Abdel Fattah Saoud, Vice President for Education and Student Affairs, and Prof. Dr. Mamdouh Eldamaty, Dean of the Faculty of Archeology, and the supervision of Prof. Dr. Hossam Tantawi, Vice Dean for Education and Student Affairs, and the implementation of Mr. Tamer Tharwat Al-Assal, Director of Student Welfare Department, and the organization of the Faculty's Students' Union. The Faculty of Archeology held a lecture entitled "Preparation for Manial Palace Museum", during which Prince Abbas Helmy III, President of the Association of Friends of Manial Palace Museum, gave a lecture.

The meeting was witnessed by Prof. Dr. Ahmed Al-Shoki, Vice Dean of the Faculty of Archeology for Graduate Studies and Research, and Prof. Dr. Ali Abdel Halim, Head of the Department of Ancient Egyptian Antiquities, and Prof. Dr. Noha Salem, Head of the Department of Greek and Roman Antiquities, and Dr. Nader Abdel-Dayem, supervisor of the Department of Islamic Archeology, and a group of faculty, support staff, and students.

The lecture began with a speech of Prof. Dr. Mamdouh Al-Damaty, Dean of the Faculty, during which he welcomed His Highness Prince Abbas Helmy III, then presented his Excellency a brief summary of his biography and attributed it to the family of Muhammad Ali Pasha, founder of modern Egypt, his grandfather is Khedive Abbas Helmy II, and his father is Prince Muhammad Abdel Moneim, who assumed the guardianship of the throne Until Prince Ahmed Fuad, the son of King Farouk, reached the legal age, and his mother is Princess Neselshah Osmanoglu, the granddaughter of the last sultan of the Ottoman Empire. Oxford in 1959, and he is currently working as a Managing Director and Chairman of the Management Committee of a major international company that is leading in the management of investments, wealth, portfolios and securities, in addition to his presidency of the Association of Friends of Manial Palace Museum, and his assumption of the secretariat of the Association of Friends of the Coptic Museum.

Prof. Dr. Hossam Tantawy, Vice Dean for Education and Student Affairs, explained that this event comes within the framework of the development and implementation of training programs that the Faculty of Archeology is witnessing, including lectures and workshops aimed at developing the skills of first-year students, and adopting modern trends in teaching and learning through indirect methods.

About the Manial Palace, Prof. Dr. Hossam Tantawi pointed out that it is one of the most beautiful and most important historical museums in Egypt. It was established by Prince Muhammad Ali in the period between 1319-1348 AH / 1900-1929 AD. The palace is unique in its magnificent architectural design in the Islamic style borrowed from the Persian and Mamluk art schools, and it also includes some Syrian, Moroccan and Andalusian decorations, as well as the Ottoman spirit spread in it, making it a comprehensive technical school for the various elements of Islamic architecture and arts, and a good example for the re-employment of archaeological and heritage buildings.

During the lecture, Prince Abbas Helmy talked about the story of building the palace on the bank of the Nile and the garden attached to it. He touched on the time period during which it was established, the history of the Muhammad Ali family in general and Prince Muhammad Ali Tawfik in particular, and his famous love for the arts and the acquisition of various collections of antiques, especially carpets, swords, oil paintings, and so on, as well as the hobby of raising horses.

This was followed by his shift to explaining the role of NGOs in serving museums and preserving Egypt's antiquities and rich heritage, setting an example with his personal experience as a member of a number of these associations, such as Friends of the Museum of Islamic Art and Friends of the Coptic Museum.

In more detail, he discussed the contributions of the Association of Friends of the Manial Palace Museum in preparing two rooms in Manial Palace; The first is for reception and the second is for display, as a first stage of preparing 15 rooms in the museum to display the private collection of Prince Muhammad Ali Tawfik, including metal artifacts, rugs, and Arabic calligraphy paintings.

His Excellency also presented the terms of the agreement to be concluded with the Ministry of Antiquities to cooperate with regard to providing Manial Palace Museum with display screens, preparing the presentation scenario, preparing training programs for museum workers, and organizing exhibitions and conferences, and participating in the maintenance of the museum and provide technical advice to the museum's management in the field of preserving attached gardens and the historical plants they contain.

Prince Abbas Helmy concluded his speech by emphasizing that preserving heritage is the responsibility of all of us, calling for the establishment of associations to preserve museums of all kinds.

At the end of the meeting, Prof. Dr. Mamdouh Eldamaty and Prof. Dr. Hossam Tantawi honoring His Highness Prince Abbas Helmy III and gifting His Excellency the Faculty Shield and the University Medal.