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AVRIL 2015 scene and its discovery, in order to do more than simply feed speculation, he said. “We should not think about doing more studies to accept or refute the ideas of the Italian researcher because this way we would open the door to discrediting the great civilisation of ancient Egypt,” Migâhid concluded. Former minister of antiquities Zâhî Hawwâs described TIRADRITTI’s claims as “unfounded,” accusing him of breaking the antiquities law and the ministry’s regulations, which stipulate that any new discovery or research should first be presented to the ministry and its permanent committee for approval before being published. TIRADRITTI published his theory in Live Science without doing this, he said. “He must be penalised for not following the rules, and the permanent committee could now stop his mission from resuming its archaeological work in Luxor,” Hawwâs said, who added that during his tenure as minister he had taken action against several foreign missions for breaking the ministry’s regulations. (Nevine El-Aref, “Controversy over the Maydûm Geese”, Al-Ahram Weekly, April 9, 2015. Voir également Ahmad Mansûr, « Le président du département des musées : La stèle de Maydûm est authentique. La mettre en doute porte atteinte à notre patrimoine », al-Yawm al-Sâbi‘, 2 avril ; « Étude italienne : la stèle des oies de Maydûm conservée au Musée Égyptien est un faux », al-Shurûq, 3 avril ; Muhammad Mansûr, « Rapport de la mission italienne : la Joconde égyptienne n’est pas authentique », al-Masrî al-Yawm, 7 avril ; “Italian archaeologists: Ancient Egyptian ‘Mona Lisa’ fake”, Egypt Independent, April 7). - - It is very strange that these days we sometimes hear people appear suddenly to talk nonsense about famous objects in the Egyptian Museum. We have heard stories about the golden mask of Tutankhamun, for example, with some people claiming it is a fake. This of course is completely false. More recently, an archaeologist from Italy, Francisco TIRADRITTI, who has been excavating and restoring tomb TT37 in Herwa near Thebes on the west bank of the Nile, told the publication Live Science that “Egypt’s Mona Lisa may be fake,” in reference to the ancient Egyptian painting of the Maydûm Geese. The announcement is strange because TIRADRITTI is working in Egypt and he knows the law which states that any announcement or discovery has to be submitted first to the head of the antiquities department before it can be made public. I do not understand why TIRADRITTI said what he did without giving prior warning to the Ministry of Antiquities, instead of which he said the painting “may be fake.” Moreover, TIRADRITTI is an archaeologist and not an art historian, and therefore what he says about art should be questioned. The painting of the Maydûm Geese was found in 1871 in the tomb-chapel of Atet, or Itet, the wife of Prince Nefermaat, who was the son of the Fourth Dynasty pharaoh Senefru. The latter is believed to have ruled Egypt for 54 years and built four pyramids at Sila- Maydûm and two in the Dahshûr Necropolis. The first two pyramids were built as step pyramids, but at the end of his reign Senefru completed a true pyramid. The tomb of Nefermaat and Atet was built beside Senefru’s pyramid at Maydûm, and the painting of the Maydûm Geese was found by an Italian artist called Luigi VASSALLI who took the painting from the tomb to the Egyptian Museum. In his interview, TIRADRITTI said that he had studied the painting for several months, and that he believed another painting could be hidden underneath the painting in the museum. However, if this were true this second painting could easily be detected using the new technology. TIRADRITTI claimed that the geese shown in the painting were not known in Egypt at the time, with one of them, the bean goose, being from northern Spain, Greece and Turkey, and the other, the red-breasted goose, being from the Aegean coast of Greece and Turkey. TIRADRITTI also said that the colours used in the painting, beige and mauve, were not used in ancient Egypt. I do not fully understand what <strong>BIA</strong> LI — Janvier/Juin 2015 85
AVRIL 2015 he said about the cracks in the painting, but what he said was mostly speculation not backed up by evidence, including his comments about the Geese of Maydûm being overpainted on another painting. TIRADRITTI said that VASSALLI was an artist and a curator at the Bûlâq Museum in Cairo at the time and he wondered why VASSALLI had not published the discovery. He said he thought VASSALLI might have been looking for funding or been under pressure to find objects for the museum. I think TIRADRITTI has ignored many things here and has made some shameful comments in doing so. Many scholars who have made discoveries in Egypt never published their work, and I cannot believe that a curator in a museum would produce a fake and put it in the museum simply out of fun. Where were his curatorial colleagues? Where were the people who worked with him at the tomb? How could he have deceived all these people? We should also bear in mind that Egyptologist Auguste MARIETTE was in charge at the time, and he would never have allowed a fake to enter the Egyptian Museum. Major ancient Egyptian artworks were discovered at the same time, including the beautiful statues of Rahotep and Nofret, as well as the Sheikh al-Balad statue. If the painting were fake, its colours would be faded after almost 145 years, but this did not happen which on the other hand prove that the Maydûm geese is the work of Ancient Egypt. The fact is that major authorities like GREBAUT, SCHAFER, MASPERO, RHONE and MARIETTE all authenticated the painting. Such geese were not known in ancient Egypt, TIRADRITTI said. However, he should have looked at the scene of geese recently found in the Sahure’s causeway and other recently found tombs in Saqqâra by the Polish mission. These are the same kind of geese shown in the Maydûm painting. It is as if the artist had imitated the Maydûm Geese in his painting. We also have scenes from tombs in Abûsîr and the Saqqâra Necropolis that show some 32 kinds of geese. TIRADRITTI says the two types of geese shown in the Maydûm painting came from Turkey or Greece or other countries, but he does not take the issue of migration into account. He should have looked at the geese in the tomb of Mry-If-Benif, which dates to the Fifth Dynasty. This was found by a Polish expedition, and it contains paintings showing images of geese that suggest the Maydûm Geese are authentic. Beige and brown colours are also found in the tombs of Kaiprkar and Fetekry in the Abûsîr Necropolis and also in a tomb that I myself found at Saqqâra. TIRADRITTI should also have read “the Colours of Hetep I in Abûsîr: Secrets of the Desert and the Pyramids,” (Praha 2006, p.264) written by Egyptologist Mirik BARTA. The Maydûm Geese painting follows the spirit of the ancient Egyptian artists and also the symmetrical style that they used. Had VASSALLI faked the painting, we would not see this spirit so clearly. And why would VASSALLI have faked the painting anyway? Had there been another original underneath, surely he would have stated this and explained the situation. The painting of the Maydûm Geese was found on the northern wall of the tomb and this is the usual location of hunting scenes in ancient Egyptian tombs. It must be said that there have been many Egyptologists who have made major discoveries and never published their work. The ancient Egyptians painted many different species of birds, in the scenes of catching birds and if VASSALLI had the intention to fake a painting he would choose a common species and not rare species. All of them had their own character, including the Maydûm Geese. In this painting, we can see that the artist was free to express his vision but that he also followed the canons of ancient Egyptian art. I believe that TIRADRITTI is wrong and that he has made a mistake in announcing his fake theory. One of these days someone will say that the Great Pyramid of Khufu itself is a fake! (Zâhî Hawwâs, “TIRADRITTI is wrong’”, Al-Ahram Weekly, April 9, 2015. Voir également “Experts argue over authenticity of ‘Egyptian Mona Lisa’”, Egypt Independent, April 9). - - <strong>BIA</strong> LI — Janvier/Juin 2015 86
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SOMMAIRE IV - AVRIL 2015 MERCRE
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JANVIER 2015 and a meeting room are
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JANVIER 2015 Mercredi 7 janvier 201
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JANVIER 2015 plus facile de trouver
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JANVIER 2015 de l’Archéologie s
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JANVIER 2015 fortifications militai
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JANVIER 2015 La police d’al-Mahal
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JANVIER 2015 northern half of the e
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JANVIER 2015 restauration », assur
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JANVIER 2015 stones. The emblems
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JANVIER 2015 Sharaf said an archaeo
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Page 63 and 64: MARS 2015 the restoration of the sp
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Page 75 and 76: AVRIL 2015 Last week, the team disc
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Page 85 and 86: AVRIL 2015 numerous subterranean si
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Page 89 and 90: AVRIL 2015 Quwesnâ site, which is
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MAI 2015 - - Jeudi 28 mai 2015 Aqsu
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MAI 2015 He said that the events ha
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MAI 2015 the objects have been conf
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JUIN 2015 controversy last month re
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JUIN 2015 Il a indiqué également
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JUIN 2015 lightly urbanised desert
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JUIN 2015 choses : les fouilles et
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JUIN 2015 Umniya ‘Abd al-Barr of
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JUIN 2015 will be carried out on th
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JUIN 2015 But only now is it becomi
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JUIN 2015 After more than a decade
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JUIN 2015 American Research Centre
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INDEX Conseil Suprême des Antiq
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