Egyptian Arts, Letters:
Originality, Modernization

In view of its political weight, and record of civilization across history, Egypt has been a meeting-point and melting-pot for all civilizations, cultures, visions, ideas and life experiences. In this respect, Egyptian art and letters have served as instruments of communication between Egypt and the world, and a message of peace, cooperation, fraternity against wars and conflict.

While it is necessary for achieving modernity, education and settle technology at home, attention to culture is badly needed as well. Our culture is original but not "past-centred" and modern but not unconsciously overwhelmed by other cultures. It is based on moderation in thought and action. It discards violence and respects values of work, creativity, science, tolerance and interaction with others. Egyptian literature as part of the broader stream of Arabic literature has been an enriching tributary for world literature, a fact that has been enhanced since Naguib Mahfouz won the Nobel Prize for literature .

A long-time habitat for literature and arts, Egypt hosts every year a great number of literary and artistic events in the realms of opera, theatre, music, cinema, folkloric and plastic arts, and festivals. Salient of these is the Reading for All festival. This project was sponsored by Mrs. Suzanne Mubarak since June 1991. Through the fruits of this great project, the Egyptian family can easily obtain useful books at nominal prices. According to the Presidential decree No. 430 of 1989, the State also established the Cultural Development Fund, which provides ambitious cultural projects with necessary funds.

In recognition of scientists, thinkers and creative writers and artists, the state offers prizes in science, letters, arts and humanities and sponsors cultural bastions such as the Academy of Arabic Language, the National library, Academy of Arts among others.
Markedly, arts and letters in Egypt have never been isolated from causes of the nation, nor have they ceased to push forward its march towards free decent life or to accelerate its step towards democarcy, stability and development. Prior to the October war, arts, letters and media served as essential weapons of victory. They were instrumental in whetting national will and re-inforcing steadfastness, thus setting the stage for the October victory.

Through high-quality works of arts, the great crossing by Egypt to victory, peace and development was depicted and the originality and unique nature of the Egyptian personality was vividly illustrated.Under President Mubarak, letters and arts have forged out new streams of creativity and innovation, thus pursuing the long-standing march of originality and modernity, as well as continum with elevated world arts and letters towards a better future for humanity.
Egyptian Culture in the 20th Century

Across history, culture has always posed as a common strength of Egypt and a sign of greatness and distinction of its people.The ancient Egyptian civilization rose on a set of sublime values and ideals deeply-rooted in the Egyptian culture. These have made up Egyptians' way of life, stimulating creativity in various fields of art including sculpture, painting, decorations, music, art and letters.
Across ages, the stream of Egyptian creativity has been flowing, feeding minds, incessantly producing the best in novel, drama, lyrics, songs, films and plastic arts.
Within this course, the Twentieth Century was witness to the rise of dozens of creative writers who enriched cultural life and maintained Egypt's cultural excellence. Building on the basic constituents of the Egyptian civilization of, inter alia, acceptance of and dialogue and interaction with rather than dissolution into the other, they successfully managed to make a happy blend between orignality and modernity.
The following names are but a few examples of the voluminous body of creative writers and artists who are indeed hard to count.

Intellectual Pioneers
So many are the intellectual pioneers who illuminated Arab intellectual life during the 20th Century. Those include, without limitation; Ahmad Lotfy as-Sayyed, an early advocate of parliamentary democracy and wide coverage of higher education as well as the understanding of universal philosophical thought. Qasim Ameen was one of the first to call for the emanicipation of women . He firmly believed that no awakening can be achieved unless women were capable of raising a new generation and given the opportunity to work in fields of science, arts, trade and industry.
Taha Hussein was an encyclopaedic thinker, philosopher, academician, historian and creative writer. He maintained that education was as vital for man as water and air and therefore an intrinsic and basic human right. According to Dr. Hussein, the objective of culture is to elevate the standard of human beings from the level of necessity to that of freedom which means equality between men. Taha Hussein indeed exemplified intermarriage between the Arab and the European-particularly the French culture.

Abbas Mahmoud al-Aqqad was a man of letters, a poet, a critic, a politician, a philosopher and a historian commonly known as "Advocate of the Genius", being the writer of a renowned series of books on the prophet's companions entitled " the Genius of ...". al-Aqqad was typically an encyclopaedic writer. Zaki Naguib Mahmoud was a philosophical thinker of a positive critical approach. He left behind a rich heritage of philosophical and literary writings, both enlightening and innovative.
Gamal Himdan, the author of "Egypt's Personality" was not only an ingenious geographer but also an outstanding scholar of history, sociology, economics and political science.
In his illuminative study of Egypt, he delved deep beyond terrain, cilimate and geology to unravel the relationships between land, man, history and even the future.

Novelists and Dramatists
In literary history, Dr. Muhammad Hussein Heikal is known as the writer of the first Arab novel in the modern age; namely, "Zeinab".
Similarly, Tawfiq al-Hakim was the pioneer of dramatic revival. Inspired by Pharaonic history; mainly, the legend of Isis and Osoris, he wrote his novel "Return of the Soul", where he called for the revival of the Egyptian identity in spite of the foreign colonist domination and the ruling monarchy, also of foreign origins. In fact, the novel fortells the emergence of a new leader from among the rank and file. His novel " A Bird from the East" reflects the relationship between the Egyptian and French cultures. Other works as "Diary of a Prosecutor in the Countryside", "Shehrezad", "Death Game" and "the Bewildered Sultan" have enriched the Arab novel and drama.

Abdel-Qader al-Mazni was the initiator of the psychological novel in Arab literature, with his novels "Reap the Wind", "Straw Harvest" and "The Cosmorama". Yahya Haqqi, with his masterpiece " Umm-Hashim's Lantern" and Eesa Ebaid with his novel "Ihsan Hanem", further paved the way for other novelists to come forward.
During the late 20th Century, Naguib Mahfouz was the first Arab writer ever to win the Nobel Prize for literature. His novels, including "a Beginning and an End", "Struggle of Thebes", "the Triology", "al-Midaqq Alley", " The Thief and the Dogs" among others depict contemporary Egyptian society. Mahfouz's style of rendering his characters was so elaborate that most of his novels were easily dramatized or filmed.
Abder-Rahman ash-Sharqawi was a great novelist, dramatist, poet and historian. His social-realist novel "The Land" turned into a great classic of the Egyptian movie. His poetic dramas, " The Young Mahran", " Ahmad Orabi", " Al-Hussein, as a Revolutionary" and " Al-Hussein, as a Martyr" were widely controversial.
Youssef Idriss was a pioneer of the short story, with his collections "the Cheapest Nights", "Farahat's Republic" and "Bottom of the City". In the novel, he excelled with his works" A Love Story" and "The Forbidden" among others. In drama, he made a leap in quality through his plays " The Cotton King", "Small Fish" and " The Clown".
Last but not least, there come distinguished novelists and playwrights such as: Ameen Youssef Ghorab, Abdel-Hameed Gouda as-Sahhar, No'man Ashour, Alfred Farag, Mahmoud Diyab, Mikhail Roman, Sa'd-Eddin Wahba, Edward Al-Kharrat, Mageed Tobya, Gamal al-Ghitani, Khairi Shalabi and Ali Salem.

Classical Arabic
and Colloqual Poets
The 20th Century witnessed a poetic revival thanks to poet Laureate Ahmed Shawqi, Hafiz Ibrahim, the poet of the Nile, and Abder-Rahman Shokri, Ali Mahmoud Taha, Mahmoud Hassan Ismail, Ibrahim Nagi, Ibrahim Eisa and Muhammad at-Tohamy. While the above-mentioned poets gave momentum to conventional poetry, one can never forget poets such as Salah abdes-Sabour, Ahmed abdel- Mo'ti Higazi, Hassan Teleb and Amal Donqol who brought poetry to modernity in a way that combined both originality and contemporaniety.
On the other hand, the 20th Century had seen the emergence of several innovative poets who could impart great value to colloquial poetry . Among them come Beiram at-Tonsi, Salah Jaheen, Foad Haddad, Abder Rahman al-Abanoudi, Ahmad Foud Negm and Sayed Higab.

Birth and Evolution
of the Egyptian Cinema
While the late 19th Century had marked the beginnings of cinematography in general, the 20th Century witnessed the birth of Arab and Egyptian cinema. The real birth of the Egyptian cinema came at the hands of Talat Harb, the economist, who viewed cinema as an industry. Thus, he sent missions to Europe so as to learn specializations like montage, shooting and direction. He established Egypt Studio where many films were produced.
Since its birth in the 1930s, the Egyptian cinema presented hundreds of creative artists. In direction, Kamal Selim was known as the pioneer of realism starting by his film " The Nile", produced in 1931, followed by Salah Abu Seif with his films including "The Thug" 1954, " Between Heaven and Earth" and "Citizen Masri".

There followed Youssef Shahin who won many prizes from international film festivals; including the "Golden Frond Prize from Cannes Festival, 1997. Among his works are " An-Nasser Salah ed-Din", The Land", The Return of a Stray Son", "The Emigrant", and "Destiny" ,.etc.
In addition, Barakat was a pioneer of romanticism in the Egyptian cinema. There are also great directors like Kamal ash-Sheikh, Atef Salem, Hassan al-Imam, Fateen abdel-Wahab, and Niazi Mustapha who excelled in historical films such as Antar Ibn Shaddad (1961). There followed another generation of innovative directors like Atef at-Tayyeb, Muhammad Khan, Ali abdel- Khaliq among others.

In the field of acting, there emerged stars like Naguib ar-Rihani, Youssef Wahbi, Zaki Rostom, Zaki Tolaimat, Mahmoud al-Mileegi, Hussein Riuadh, Imad Hamdi, Anwar Wagdi, Shokri Sarhan, Roshdi Abbaza, Ahmad Mazhar, Salah zhul-Faqqar, Farid Shawqi and others; in addition to Amina Rizq, Faten Hamama, Laila Fawzi, Madiha Yousri and Magda.
During the 20th Century, there was an increasing trend in the Egyptian cinema to express the causes and agonies as well as happy times and national occasions. Films like " Give me back my Heart" by Ezz-Eddin zhul-Faqqar "The Land" by Youssef Shahin, a Song on the Passage' for Ali abdel-khaleq, "The Bullet is still in my Pocket" by Kamal ash-Sheikh are indicative of such trend.

Songs of the Century
It is no exaggeration to say that the 20th Century was the time of beautiful singing, romantic, partiotic, descriptive or religious. The century witnessed great singers, on top of them comes Sayyed Darwish who renewed the oriental music. Muhammad al-Qasabgi, Zakariya Ahmad, Reyadh as-Sonbati, Muhammad abdel -Wahab, Muhammad al-Mougi, Kamal at-Taweel, Baleegh Hamdy, Sayyed Mekkawi, Muhammad Sultan and Ammar ash-Shera'ie are all examples of innovative composers.

This was the century of soaring singers; on top of them comes "the Lady of Arab Singing" Umm-Kolthoum who has captured the admiration of all the Egyptian and Arab people. There are also Laila Murad, Shadiya, Abdel-Halim Hafez, Farid al-Atrash , each of whom was a super star of his own merit.
It is also the century of great lyrists such as Beiram at-Tonsi, Ahmad Rami, Abdel-Fattah Mustapha, Ahmad Shafiq Kamel, Abdel- Wahab Muhammad, Salah Jaheen and Abdel-Rahman Al-Abanoudi.
In this century, great attention was given to the music and arts education, through the Arts Academy which comprises institutes for Arab music, Conservatoire performing arts and ballet. The Egyptian Opera House was originally built in1869 but reconstructed under the rule of President Mubarak.

In plastic arts, there rose great artists like Mahmoud Mukhtar, sculptor of 'Egypt's Revival statue', Salah Taher, Seif Wanli, Gazhebiya Serri and Ingi Aflatoun. This century also witnessed great comedians like Ismail Yassin as well as a world actor like Omar Sharif and Shady abdes-Salam, a director who astounded the whole world with his film "the Mummy". There are other outstanding creative artists such as TV dramatists Usama Anwar Okasha, Muhammad Galal Abdel-Qawi among others. We should give tribute to Zakariya al-Hegawi, a dedicated scholar, collector and producer of Egyptian folk art, and Redha folk art troupe.
The stream of the Egyptian creativity will keep flowing stimulated by the great attention given by the state to the cultural institutions and recognition of creative artists and writers in all fields of arts and letters. A further incentive is given to writers and intellectuals through the " Family Library" Project, sponsored by Mrs. Suzanne Mubarak. This project asserts the importance of culture and the need to interact and communicate with other cultures.

Egyptian Cultural Landmarks
New Channels of Culture in Egypt

Opera House
The Egyptian Opera House is an important cultural edifice, as it plays a significant role in building thought and awareness of the Egyptian citizens particularly youth. On its several stages, opera, ballet, music and modern dancing are performed, in addition to intellectual symposia, movie shows, art exhibitions and concerts. The educational cultural centre, "Opera House", was established 17 years after the old opera was burned down. Built on an area of 45000 sq.m it consists of seven-storey building, three theatres; the 1,300-seat large theatre, the 500-seat small theatre and the 600-seat open-air theatre which was opened on October 10,1988. It also contains an art gallery, music library and exercise and rehearsal rooms:


Al-Hanager Centre
It was so named because it was originally a hangar (warehouse) earlier used by the Japanese contractor that built the Opera House. Instead of removing the "hangar" after completing construction of the Opera House, it was turned into a cultural centre. Over four years, the 4,500 sq.m-centre was adjusted and renovated.

New cultural edifices,houses of creativity.
culture; a way of life for man

It now houses an unconventional theatre with the stage centrally located amidst the audience. The centre's cafeteria is the hub for poets, artists and men of letters. The centre also has an art gallery of an area of 400 sq.m. The centre was inaugurated in 1992.

Arts Academy
The Academy aims at serving and promoting the community culturally and artistically. It contributes to maintaining national trend for arts, preserving national heritage and fostering ties with bodies involved in the realm of culture and arts in both Arab and foreign countries. The Academy works to enrich artistic life through 6 art institutions covering its mission, ranging from teaching arts to disseminating artistic awareness in the society. Salient among such 6 institutions are the Higher Institutes for Arabic Music; Ballet; Artistic Appreciation and the Conservatoire.

Library of Alexandria
Following 23 centuries, the Library of Alexandria emerges once more to play its cultural role as an international window for Egyptians to various cultures. Keeping abreast with the information revolution, the library includes a digital library that houses a great number of rare manuscripts and books. It also includes research room. The library building is a wonderful architectural masterpiece, adding beauty to the mermaid of the Mediterranean. The library was inaugurated on October 16, 2002.

The Great Library of Cairo
The library occupies a historic palace overlooking the River Nile. The 3-storey, 3,465-sq.m-palace earlier belonged to Princess Samiha Kamel, the eldest girl of Sultan Hussein Kamel. By virtue of the Republican decree No 35 of 1986 the palace was turned into a public library. The public library occupies the first floor of the palace building, while the audio-video library lies in the second floor. The third floor houses a hall for cultural activities. The library was inaugurated in 1995.

Mubarak Public Library
The library occupies Al-Tahawia Palace that overlooks the west bank of the River Nile. By virtue of the Republican decree of 1992 the palace was turned into public library. Later, the Cultural Development Fund and German Burglesmann institution undertook the task of turning the palace into a public library keeping original architectural design of the palace at the same time. The library has a total area of 2000 sq.m, surrounded by a 600 sq.m- garden. The library consists of three storeys; the first, dedicated to adult readers, contains a cafeteria; the second, dedicated to children, contains an activity hall and the last contains a conference room and an open space for activities and free reading. The library, housing 110,000 cultural media, was inaugurated in March 1995. The library is typically a magnet for young readers.

Monumental Museums
The monumental museums are of the most important cultural landmarks in Egypt. Salient of these are the following:

Ancient Egyptian Museum
The museum was built in the early 20th Century. It displays antiquities in chronological order. Housing the most important pieces of monuments such as that of Tutankhamen and Seinigm Collection, the museum enjoys world fame due to the great number of monuments inside the museum. The state has allocated 117 feddans near Giza Pyramids area to establish a new museum to display the old museum monuments in such modern way that suits Egypt's great civilization. The project of establishing the new museum costs $350 million and is planned to receive 3 million visitors annually.

Luxor Museum (the Cache)
Luxor museums are deemed to be some of the greatest open-air museums. The Cache Museum, located within Luxor Museum, is a special museum, as it houses 24 statues of kings and gods of Ancient Egypt. The Cache discovered in April 1989, was deemed to be the most important archeological find next to the discovery of Tut ankh Amun treasures.

Art Museums
Art museums in Egypt are numerous and diversified; national art museums and artist-specific museums such as Museums of Muhammed Mahmoud Khalil, Muhammad Nagui, Zakarai Al-Khatani, in addition to museums for Ahmad Shawki, Taha Hussein and Umm-Kolthum. All such museums, as a matter of fact, are landmarks in Egypt's cultural life.

Most important national museums

Museum of Modern Art
It is located near the Opera House. Inaugurated in October 1991, the museum houses 6512 works of art made by Egyptian creative artists since the beginning of the 20th century up till now. The museum adopts on a style of periodical, partial change of exhibits.

Al-Gazira Arts Centre
Al-Gazira Centre for Arts is located in the palace of Prince Omar Ibrahim in Zamalik district. It houses the pieces of works earlier displayed in Mohamed Mahmoud Khalil Museum. After the pieces were sent back to its place, the Ministry of Culture decided to turn the palace into a centre for arts that includes; Islamic Pottery Museum, three halls for displaying plastic arts and an open-air theatre.

Islamic and Coptic Monuments
Islamic monuments in Egypt are diversified according to various ages and the kind of the monuments itself, such as Mohamed Ali Mosque and Saladin's Castle. Monumental churches are deemed to be of great cultural landmarks in Egypt, such as Saint Catherine Monastery, the Hanging Church and Anba Shenouda Monastery.

Ancient Egyptian Monuments
Ancient Egyptian monuments are spread everywhere along the banks of the River Nile, but there are cultural and monumental landmarks, especially attractive to visitors, such as the Pyramids, the Sphinx, Dahshour Pyramids, Ramses II tomb, Karnak Temple to name but a few.

Cultural Festivals and Ceremonies in Egypt


Egyptian Cultural Festivals
Culture is such a comprehensive concept that it embraces all walks of life; it is indeed a lifestyle including habits, traditions, heritage, geographical, historical and human values in addition to various arts. Thus, it goes without saying that Egypt, with its 7000-years' record of civilization commands a plethora of cultural, historical and tourist festivals and ceremonies. In view of Egypt's pioneering role, location and history, many of such festivals have an international status. Following are examples of such festivals:

Cairo International Book Fair
The annual Cairo International Book Fair is the second largest of its kind next to FrankFurt Book Fair, in terms of the number of books, publishers and participants. It has witnessed a remarkable progress thanks to the great attention given by the state to the book as an effective tool of cultural diffusion.
President Mubarak's annual meeting with writers, intellectuals and artists in the context of the Book Fair celebrations has been a remarkable annual tradition. Gradually, the Fair has become no longer restricted to displaying books but it also contains various literary and artistic activities including poetry reading, folk arts, singing and music. Hence, the Fair has turned into a popular festival for all categories of people.
In the latest round of the Book Fair, for example, about 92 countries and 2,825 publishers participated in with about 3.95 million book titles. Through Cairo Book Fair, the Reading-for-All Festival that started in 1992 is still making a remarkable success.

Cairo International Experimental Theatre Festival:
Started in 1988, this festival is mainly concerned with the theatrical innovations of youth. In an environment of fair competition, young artists from all over the world present experimental shows that express free and democratic creativity, including theatrical performance, directing, decor, program music. Experimentation through the perspective of this festival amounts to openness to and positive interaction with international creativity. Most remarkably, the Opera House, through its theatres, is the venue of the opening and closing ceremonies of this festival.

Arab Music Festival:
Since Februrary 1992, the Opera House started organising this festival. Within its framework, Egyptian and Arab singers compete, presenting the best of their musical and lyrical performances. Thus, the festival turned into a gathering of top stars and Arab music fans, who anxiously wait for this major event year by year. Undoubtedly, the festival witnessed remarkable progress not only on the artistic level but also on the political one. This year, many performances were presented to share the Palestinian people their ordeal, thus creating an atmosphere of solidarity and cordiality among Arabs.

Cairo International Film Festival:
This festival has been held annually for the last 26 years. It is an international gathering where international, Arab and Egyptian films are shown, thus giving top actors and directors from all over the world the opportunity to meet and engage in healthy competition. Winners are awarded substantial material or moral prizes.The latest festival round was held under the slogan of "the sun", as a cosmic reality and a source of cultural, artistic and religious inspiration. The festival is normally held in mid-October every year.

Ismailia International Folk Arts Festival:
During this festival, considered also to be a tourist one, Ismailia becomes the venue of a vibrant carnival that reflects folk arts of respective countries with their bright colourful national costumes. Hence, Ismailia Festival attracts people's attention from all over the world.

National Festival of Egyptian Cinema:
This national festival has been held every year since 1991. Initiated under the name of the National Festival of Narrative Films, the festival has now become one of the most significant regional films' festivals where artists compete for excellence and the best are awarded prizes by the state.

International Sculpture Symposium:
Held annually since 1996, this symposium is dedicated to sculpture. Aswan was chosen as the venue of this symposium, given the availability of the stone suitable for sculpture. Aswan also has fascinating scenery that serves as a source of inspiration for artists and attraction for tourists. In the festival's seventh round, about 16 artists from 9 countries participated and enjoyed working in the open air for 60 days during which they produced many distinguished pieces of sculpture. As a facility to this festival, Aswan governorate allocated a large landplot for a permanent open-air sculpture exhibition of this annual symposium. In addition, many ateliers are allocated for accomodating participating artists.

Egyptian Perfumes Festival, Cairo and Paris:
Held simultaneously in Cairo, Paris and Marseilles, this festival was undoubtedly a unique one. It exhibits perfumes and cosmetics in ancient Egypt. As an unprecedented cultural event, the festival unveiled secrets of women's perfumes and cosmetics in ancient Egypt with their religious and mundane connotations. On the sidelines of the festival, many seminars, open discussions and artistic presentations of perfume extractions were held.

Citadel Annual Singing and Music Festival :
Since 1994, the Citadel Singing and Music Festival has been held annually in one of the most fascinating areas near Saladin's Citadel. Participants in this festival are young musicians and singers in addition to other distinguished performances by the modern dancing troupe of the Opera House. This festival has a great appeal to young people.

International Song Festival:
Over the past seven years, this festival has been held every year at Cairo International Conference Centre. Within this festival, Egyptian, Arab and world singers compete for excellence in the art. By and large, the festival attracts huge numbers of visitors as well as world media. At the close of the festival, winners are awarded prizes for distinguished lyrics, music and performance.

23rd July Revolution Anniversary Festival (Golden Jubilee):
This was one of the most remarkable national festivals held this year on the occasion of the 23rd July Revolution golden jubilee from July 10 to August 10. Many ministries, including those of tourism, culture and information, participated in the festival by providing publications, posters and audio-visual programmes. In addition, many Nile shows were presented along with fireworks. This festival has revived the memory of the bloodless Revolution in the minds and hearts of the people.

Inauguration of Bibliotheca Alexandrina:
Another Egyptian Success Story

" Today, we are celebrating the inauguration of Bibliotheca Alexandrina. By building it back in place, we are reviving human heritage in the region. Here, religions were revealed and prophets lived to sow eternal values of tolerance and co-existance. It was the launching pad of movements of liberation and enlightenment throughtout history and time. "
Hosni Mubarak,October 16, 2002
* To be a window for the world on Egypt.
* To be a window for Egypt on the world.
* To be a library for the new digital era.
* To be a centre for learning and dialogue.
The ancient library of Alexandria is back to life in the 21st century, to pursue, in a totally modern form and content, its role as a beacon of art, literature and science, extending bridges of communication and
integration between peoples and civilizations.

Inauguration
The Biliotheca Alexandrina (BA) is a modern cultural institution that is directed by the Egyptian minds through a comprehensive vision set by the Library's Board of Trustees chaired by Mrs. Suzanne Mubarak.
The revival of the library of Alexandria opens up a window on new human knowledge and a vital artery that enriches human thought.
The scientific awakening earlier brought about by the ancient library of Alexandria has encouraged Egypt to adopt a project of reviving the library once again. In the words of President Mubarark himself, it is only by bread alone that man survives; but culture that is the nourishment of the mind, conscience and ethos is of no less importance than bread and material requirements. Hence came the decision to re-build the Bibliotheca Alexandrina .

The total project cost hit more than US Dollar 250 million mostly provided by the Egyptian government in addition to donations by 46 Arab and foreign countries amounting to more than US Dollar 31 million. Other countries donated furniture, equipment and books totalling $8 million.
The library building is an 11- storey structure half of which is located under sea-level. The library contains one of the largest reading halls in the world. It is naturally lit from sun-rise to sun-set in order to provide researchers and library visitors with a natural reading environment.

The hall comprises 280 rooms for full-time researchers in addition to galleries and exhibitions and museums. Dr. Taha Hussein library is one for the blind, named after one of the leading pioneers of Mediterranean culture.
The 160-m-diameter building is shaped as a solar disk rising from a depth of 16 metres underground to a height of 37 metres above gound, slanting at 8.22 degress.
The library encompasses an information and technology school on an area of 8,000 m2; occuping 3 floors in addition to lecture rooms, language laboratory, museums for science and monuments earlier found in the same area since Greek and Roman ages.

First Book Fair at B.A.

During last August, B.A. organized the first book fair under the aegis of Mrs. Suzanne Mubarak. Two hundred publishing houses from Egypt, Italy, France, Kuwait, Uk, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, United Arab Emirates, Iraq, Libya and India, participated.
The fair contained 73 illustrations of masterpieces acquired by the National Library (Dar al-Kotob) including manuscripts, papyrus and ancient documents; some of which were issued by the Egyptian government during various periods.
During the fair time, key themes were offered for discussion salient of which was electronic publishing, which coincided with B.A.'s goal of adressing the digital challenge keeping pace with the information revolution; and bridging the gap between classical culture and technology.

Permanent Exhibitions
B.A. houses a set of permanent exhibitions such as that of photographer Muhammad Awadh and that of film director and producer Shadi Abdel-Salam. There are also exhibitions for treasures of the Earth and for Arabic caligraphy etc.

5 Scientific Centres at B.A.
President Mubarak issued five Presidential decrees to establish 5 scientific and cultural centers in B.A. namely;"The Informative Studies International Institut", "Manuscripts Centre", "Sciences Museum", "Caligraphy Studies Museum" and "Manuscripts Museum".

Archive: Second Worldwide
B.A.'s electronic archive ranks second worldwide with its record of 10 billion digital pages. The significance of this archive rests in the fact that the average coverage life span per page on the Internet is about 100 days only. Moreover, the library contains 200 computer sets that can handle such high volumes of information.

B.A. Planetarium Second in ME
The Planetarium is an effective tool of illustrating scientific facts for youth and children. B.A.'s planetarium is the second in the Middle East next to the one in Iran. It is shaped like a hanging globe of a 12-m diameter, that can host 99 visitors.


18 B.A. Friends Societies Worldwide
The UNESCO acts as a coordinator or liaison officer among major civil associations worldwide, they bear the name friends of the B.A linked with their respective countries. from of these are located in US in Baltimore, San Francisco, Milowauk and Colorado. The rest are located in Spain, Italy, France, Greece, Cyprus, Swedan, Norway, Switzerland, United Kingdom, Germany, Japan, Denmark, Australia, Finland and Mexico. An anual meeting of members of such societies is held to discuss progress made over the passing years and to explore means of providing the library with services every year. In a meeting held prior to official opening, seven new friends socities were declared open in each of South Africa, Portugal, Switzerland, Germany (Frankfort) and US (New Jersey&New York).

A Miracle of 21st CenturyArchitecture
Among various projects from all over the world, B.A. obtained one of the four best prizes. The library deservedly won an award, granted for the first time in the history of the International Engineering Associotion over 150 years for distinction and unique cultural innovation of a special flavour, backed by the efforts of Mrs. Suzanne Mubarak, the chairperson of the Board of Trustees and the unlimited patronage by President Mubarak.
An international architectural engineering source described the B.A. as a miracle of architecture in the 21st Century. Although 1600 years have elapsed since it disappeared, B.A. still remains one of the most significant intellectual institutions in history. It is indeed a cultural project that regains for Egypt its pioneering role on the international cultural arena