In an attempt at spreading enlightened thought and attitude, rejecting violence, accepting the other, bringing together different views and consolidating peace values, the Catholic Relief Services and Sohag’s Development and Human Services Bureau for Sound Educational Practices are running a comprehensive educational initiative for Sohag’s young people. Within the scope of the jointly-funded initiative, a group of 30 young men and women from the village of Ghuraizat in Sohag, some 400km south of Cairo, are being trained on how to document the antiquities at archaeological and ancient sites.
The Ghuraizat workshop focused on teaching and training its participants in professional and documentation photography. Having acquired the skills, the youth were sent on a field trip to the Temples of Abydos and Ramses II for practical training. According to Michael Sahsah, the project coordinator, within the coming few days the participants will print the pictures and document the projects they compiled and put them on display for Sohag people to see.
Abydos is an ancient city situated near modern day Balyana in Sohag; it was a favourite burial site for the kings of the earliest dynasties. Kings Seti I and Ramses II of the 19th Dynasty (1292–1190BC) also built temples and sanctuaries there. The temple of Seti is the most important of its sites. Abydos is particularly famous for a large wall in the temple of Seti on which a list of kings who sat on the throne of Egypt is inscribed; this wall has been invaluable in determining the order of succession among the Egyptian kings from Menes who was arguably the founder of the First Dynasty which ruled Egypt from around 3150 to 2890BC, to Seti I.
A large part of the monuments however is buried under modern buildings.
Watani International
30 September 2018