A new department has been established in the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA) concerned with documenting and cataloguing Coptic antiquities. The announcement was made by Culture Minister Farouk Hosny, who said that the move came within the ministry’s context of preserving Egypt’s Coptic heritage.
Archaeology professor Lu’ai Mahmoud Saïd was assigned to the post of supervisor of the new department which will be in charge of cataloguing the Coptic antiquities in museums, storehouses, and in various archaeological sites. It will also be responsible for publishing literature on the documented works, as well as holding various cultural activities to spread awareness of Coptic heritage.
Last weekend saw the new department hold its first two-day workshop in Cairo on the challenges facing the documentation work and how to overcome them. Participants discussed the scanning and survey of antiquities, GIS, icons, papyrus, photography, wood, and textiles.