KONGRE BİLDİRİLERİ
Memory of Modern Egypt: Revealing Stories and Treasures
Wondering about the beginnings of the Muslim brotherhood in the political life of Egypt? Have
you read Napoleon’s first publication to the Egyptian people? Do you remember the poster of Yousef
Chahin’s popular film Cairo Station? Have you ever seen the issue of Time magazine having King
Fuad I on the cover? These are documented treasures that mark substantial times in history and
collected in one digital depository, the Memory of Modern Egypt (MoME).
In its efforts to preserve the past and disseminate knowledge worldwide, the Bibliotheca
Alexandrina (BA) launched a project that would bridge the gap between generations; a website that
would act as a historical library and present values of modern Egypt times; the political, social and
economic context in visual detail. Ever-since it was launched in 2008, the MoME has been gaining
great publicity. Today, the success continues with additional material and associated projects.
Rich Material:
A group of inspiring young researchers at the BA collected thousands of original material belonging
to the period starting from the beginning of the reign of Muhammad Ali Pasha in 1805 until the end of
the era of President Mohamed Anwar Al-Sadat. Items range from the first photographic picture taken
at Ras El-Tin Palace in Alexandria, showing Muhammad Ali amazed at the new photographic device,
until the shocking video capturing Al-Sadat’s assassination in 1981.
The website embraces over 60,000 pictures; more than 40,000 documents and publication
clippings; almost 6000 films, recordings and speeches; thousands of abstracts, stamps and magazine
covers; hundreds of books, maps, medals, coins and advertisements. Each material indicates a certain
event, public figure or illustrates a particular setting.
The 14 different types of material are obtained or donated from libraries, private collections of
senior Egyptian politicians and writers, private institutions and groups relating to the modern history
of Egypt during the last 200 years, that is in addition to the Historical Archive of the Library of
Alexandria. Valuable additional material continue to be added whenever present. The MoME team
aim to reach a number of 250,000 items by 2014.
In fact, due to the publicity of the MoME, owners of historical documents have expressed their
interest in adding their material to the website. Recently in 2012, Sheikh Mohamed Saud Al-Tahawy
donated a large number of documents and pictures that date back to the late 19th century and early 20th
century belonging to the Arabian Tahawiya Tribe, who moved to Egypt during the time of Islamic
invasions and played an effective role since the reign of Muhammad Ali Pasha.
Moreover, another 5000 original documents had been recently brought by researcher and
collector Makram Salama. These include old papers that belong to the construction of irrigation
projects, properties of the Sunni department, documents for building the Assiut, Jirja, Luxor and
Aswan railways.
Agreements are continuously sought with organizations and clubs to share their documents
as well. The historical Alexandrian Union Club has signed an agreement with the BA to provide
documents of the club’s archives marking significant events, players and issues relating to sports in
modern Egypt.
Further Progression:
The project did not end with the launch of the website. MoME further expanded its works
by creating associated projects. The collected material have been displayed in creating the Sadat
Museum and two documentary films illustrating the reigns of Presidents Mohamed Anwar Al-Sadat
and Gamal Abdel Nasser. That is in addition to an introductory film the MoME project as a whole.
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Another remarkable associated project is a quarterly magazine that portrays articles and topics
related to modern Egyptian history. The magazine is made up of invariant sections including, Our
Habits in the Past, Words from the Past, Memories of the Cinema, Stamps, Medals and Decorations,
Tales and Stories from Egypt, Book Reviews, Search in Memory of Modern Egypt, Believe it or not,
and others. “The magazine aims to provide further reading in the rich history of Egypt in a simplified
manner that makes it comprehendible to all” explained Suzan Abed, Managing Editor of the MoME
Magazine.
In an attempt to further communicating historical values to the community, the MoME team
members conducted an informational tour at secondary schools around Egypt. The purpose was to
present the website and its cherished content to the students, who in return expressed great interest in
the history of their homeland. It added a visual illustration to what they read in their history school
books.
Social networking has also been playing a great impact in achieving community interaction.
Fans, researchers and students have been visiting the MoME facebook page to provide feedback on
new updates, events and magazine issues. R W6