BIA

FÉVRIER 2015
quelques pierres dégradées, on a pu maintenir
l’aspect d’origine », dit al-Shaykha.
Occupant une superficie de 400 m 2 , cette
église est bâtie dans le style architectural
d’une basilique. D’après Mustafa Amîn, « ce
style distingue l’église des Apôtres des autres
églises, notamment en raison de ses dômes.
De plus, le mur ouest de l’église des Apôtres
est recouvert d’une pierre en basalte ». Celle-ci
montre une scène pharaonique de Ramsès II
faisant une offrande à la déesse Hathor. La
présence de cette stèle est la preuve qu’un
temple de l’Égypte antique était situé à cet
endroit, avec des textes en hiéroglyphes
montrant différents titres et noms du roi. A
partir du IV e siècle, quand la religion chrétienne
a été autorisée à l’époque romaine, les
chrétiens ont construit leur église sur les ruines
de ce temple.
Selon le directeur du CSA, « des icônes,
des manuscrits et d’autres objets de valeur
sont rassemblés sous le toit de cet édifice ».
Dayr al-Rusul, ou l’église des Apôtres, reste un
monastère riche en histoire qui a le potentiel
nécessaire pour attirer les touristes ainsi que
les amateurs d’art copte. (Nasma Réda,
« L’église des Apôtres retrouve son éclat », Al-
Ahram Hebdo du 4 février 2015).
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Jeudi 5 février 2015
The first was the Mallawî Museum in the
Upper Egyptian city of Minyâ. It was looted in
August 2013 during clashes between protestors
supporting the deposed former president and
security forces. The violence followed security
operations that broke up the sit-ins in Râbi‘a
al-‘Adawiyya and Nahda Squares in Cairo.
The second was the Museum of Islamic Art
in Cairo, when a car bomb exploded at the
Cairo Security Directorate across the street in
January 2014. The blast blew a six-metre crater
in Port Said Street, killing at least four people
and ripping into the façade of the two-storey
museum, damaging and destroying a large
number of antiquities.
Last Thursday, it was the turn of al-‘Arîsh
Museum, which was partially destroyed during a
series of coordinated attacks by militants at
sites in and around al-‘Arîsh. Those surveying
the site following a return to calm found the
museum’s marble façade collapsed, the
entrance damaged and windows and doors
shattered.
Inside, the false ceiling used to conceal the
electricity and security systems of the museum
had fallen down, glass was scattered
throughout the galleries, and walls surrounding
the patio had collapsed. The floor was covered
with pieces of broken glass, stone blocks, metal
and wooden beams.
“Thankfully, the museum had been emptied
of its treasured collection,” the head of the
museums section at the Ministry of Antiquities
told the Weekly. The 1,500 artefacts normally
on display at the museum were removed and
transported to a secure location at the start of
the attacks in North Sinai, in July 2013, and
the museum had closed its doors to visitors.
The destructed marble façade
The two-storey al-‘Arîsh Museum in North
Sinai is the third antiquities museum in Egypt
to be damaged in an attack since the ouster
of former president Muhammad Mursî in July
2013.
He said that mortar rounds used in the
attacks destroyed the rear of the museum and
damaged a number of showcases within the
building, as well as the security, lighting and
ventilation systems. Some of the monitoring
cameras were damaged, but the airconditioning
is still in good condition.
“I am pretty sure the damage is reparable,”
he said, adding that an estimate of losses and
the cost of restoration work required would be
determined when the relevant committee
BIA LI — Janvier/Juin 2015 34