The first female director of the Egyptian National Museum

The Egyptian National Museum, which collects a large number of precious cultural relics, is world-famous and, like the pyramids, is a must-see when visiting Egypt. In early February this year, this famous museum welcomed its first female director in more than 100 years of its existence—Wafaa Siddiq.

Siddique, who was 53 years old in 2004, said that she had a strong interest in history, especially the ancient history of Egypt, very early on. Because of this hobby, when she was admitted to Cairo University in 1972, she did not choose some particularly popular majors, but entered the Department of Egyptian Antiquities. Due to her outstanding academic performance, the school recommended her to participate in some archaeological excavation activities, including participating in the excavation of an ancient Egyptian city by a famous British archaeological team to study the city's historical remains.

After graduating from university, Siddique served as an assistant archaeologist in the Giza Pyramids area; later he participated in hosting a number of archaeological activities. In 1977, she presided over the excavation of an ancient tomb group, which was later confirmed to be from the Early Dynasty period more than 5,000 years ago. It provided very valuable clues for studying the life and tomb characteristics of that period.

Every effort must be rewarded. With hard work and outstanding performance, Siddiq received a government scholarship in 1979 to study in the West. While learning advanced Western concepts, she integrated her work experience in the past few years, compared and verified each other, so as to get twice the result with half the effort, and obtained a doctorate in Egyptian antiquities in 1983 with excellent results.

After completing his studies, Siddiq returned home full of ambitions and wanted to use what he had learned to contribute to the country's archaeological cause. She directly joined the Antiquities Association under the Supreme Council of Antiquities of Egypt and founded and edited the monthly magazine "World of Antiquities", which mainly introduced major cultural relic discoveries and research results in Egypt and the world. It provided a platform for mutual communication among colleagues in the archaeological community and was well received. Widely praised.

In 1987, Siddiq went to Germany with her husband because of the need for career development. They did not return to China until early this year. Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities announced Siddique's appointment on February 9. During her more than 10 years in Germany, Siddiq was unable to engage in her favorite career, but she did not give up her hobby because of this. She went to university to study museum management and children's museum theory. During the holidays, Siddiq visited the British Museum, the Louvre, etc., and left her footprints in almost all famous museums in Europe. From this, Siddiq gained a lot of rational and emotional understanding of the management and development of museums, and her new position after returning to China set up a stage for her to display her talents. "Director of the National Museum of Egypt", these words are an honor in the eyes of others, but for Siddiq, they mean more responsibility, and there is a long way to go.

The Egyptian Museum is the most famous and largest museum of ancient Egyptian cultural relics in the world. It has a collection of more than 160,000 historical relics from the time of the ancient Egyptian pharaohs to the sixth century AD. However, only a few exhibits include Awen. Or English instructions. So Siddique plans to compile descriptions of each artifact, both currently on display and in collections that have been shelved. If there are no instructions, you need to start from scratch. The original instructions need to be proofread and new content added.

“This is a huge project that requires a lot of detailed work on our part,” she said.

Siddique said that the museum also needs to provide systematic professional training for its employees. As a museum staff, you must have certain professional knowledge in historical relics and repairing cultural relics. However, most of the staff in the Egyptian Museum are currently recruited temporarily and can only maintain order.

Since the Egyptian Museum has a limited area and cannot accommodate existing cultural relics, the Egyptian government is planning to build a "Grand Egyptian Museum" in the Giza Pyramids area. When the museum is completed, it will naturally face the problem of adjusting the exhibits. At that time, many cultural relics will be moved to the Grand Egyptian Museum, including the "Golden Mask of Tutankhamun" known as the treasure of the Egyptian Museum.

"Of course this will happen many years later, not now," the curator seemed a little reluctant.

"All these plans may take 20 years, and they may not be completed when I die, but I will keep doing them," Siddiq said.

Talking about the recent work plan, she said that the museum will organize themed exhibitions to display a number of collections of treasures in order to attract as many visitors as possible; this year, the museum will also launch activities including the establishment of a library and tours Expansion projects including the Center.

“I just hope that my efforts and my work are consistent with the status and reputation of the museum,” Siddique said sincerely. When talking about his family, Siddiq's tone seemed much more relaxed. My husband is engaged in biopharmaceutical research and trade and is very successful. When she was in Germany, Siddiq was not so busy. She took care of everything at home. Now, as the head of a museum, I have a lot of things to deal with every day, as well as various receptions, meetings and visits. “These all take time, and I don’t even have days off, but I am still the hostess of the family and do my best to do my best. Some housework, including laundry and cooking, so I get up at 4 o'clock every morning.”

However, people’s time and energy are limited after all, and Siddique devotes most of his time to work, which is inevitable for his family. There are some oversights. The husband did not complain about this. "My husband understands me very well and supports my work 100% without any complaints." When he said this, anyone could read the happiness on Siddique's face. "To be able to get to this point, my family is My support."

Siddiq has two sons, one 16 years old and one 13 years old. They were both born and raised in Germany, so they directly entered the secondary school of the German University in Cairo after returning to Egypt. "Both children are very sensible and will not cause trouble for me, but I feel very guilty. My parents are so busy and have no time to spend with them." In the eyes of many people, Siddique is a man with a prominent position and a happy family. A successful woman, but she said: "Actually, I am not a successful woman."

The imaginary Arab women all stay at home, devote themselves to their husbands and children, take care of the housework, and wear headscarves when going out. Wrapped tightly. In fact, the status of Arab women, especially Egyptian women, has been greatly improved. It is not uncommon for women to work after marriage. There are also female ambassadors, female congressmen, female ministers, female pilots... The wife of the British Prime Minister, Cherie... In a speech not long ago, Blair specifically pointed out that the Arab world has undergone positive changes in respecting women.

"Nowadays, there are female experts in all walks of life, especially in cultural relics and archeology. In addition to me, our museum also has two important departments that also have female directors." Siddique was referring to the director of the Department of Ancient Times Director and Director of the Department of Heritage Conservation.

"So, it doesn't matter what I am like," she said modestly. Siddique is a busy man. When I first contacted for the interview, the phone number in the curator's office was always busy. I finally got through and the secretary answered. After knowing the purpose of the interview, the secretary said that he wanted to take a look at the work schedule. I was afraid that the secretary would delay, so I said that there are 1.3 billion readers in China who are eager to know more about the Egyptian Museum and its director. The secretary may have been tempted by the "1.3 billion readers", and finally decided on Friday morning at 9:30.

"Friday?" I was surprised. That day is the Muslim Sunday. Everyone has a rest. Even many shops will be closed. The curator still has to go to work?

When arriving at the museum, tourists of all colors lined up outside the museum, waiting for routine security checks before visiting. Under the guidance of the staff, he walked into the curator's office and happened to see a scene of shaking hands and saying goodbye. It turned out that Siddique had just received several foreign friends.

During our interview, people came in to greet Siddique from time to time, and she also answered several phone calls. When it was almost half past ten, the curator said sorry, "Please speed up, I have a meeting later."

Even though she was so busy, it was not obvious that Siddique was tired, she always spoke She is neither hurried nor slow, and her articulation is clear and her voice is magnetic. Especially her smile, which is very subtle and kind, naturally revealing the intellectual beauty in her beautiful appearance and wisdom.