Supreme Council of Antiquities

As part of the Minister of Culture, The SCA is directed through the Administrative Council by the Secretary-General. The SCA was the only agent permitted to restore or preserve Egyptian monuments. It defined the boundaries around archaeological sites and required foreign archaeologists working in Egypt to report all discoveries and finds to the SCA before publication. This somewhat controversial rule led to the expulsion of some archaeologists from Egypt, but reduced the theft of archaeological finds dramatically and notified the authorities to set up security around new finds. The SCA was also responsible for the recovery of antiquities previously stolen or illegally exported from Egypt: between 2002 and 2008, it retrieved 3,000 artefacts. It became embroiled in a dispute with the Egyptian Museum of Berlin over the bust of Nefertiti, which it claimed was removed from the country by deceit; previously it had asked for the return of the Rosetta Stone from the British Museum and the Dendara Zodiac from the Louvre. == Antiquities service ==

The SCA consists of a team of experts whose aim is to protect Egypt and its history. In the 21st century they also face the difficult task of keeping monuments safe from those who wish to destroy the Pharanoic monuments. The position may entail also, as was done by Zahi Hawass for many years, to stimulate tourism to Egypt, with charm and charisma. Sayed Tawfik was an Egyptologist who served from 1989–1990, when the body was called the Egyptian Antiquities Organization. At the end of 2011, Dr. Mohamed Ibrahim Aly was named antiquities minister and he promised to give new life to the body, by bringing in young archeologists and restarting projects which had been put on hold. ==History==

Department of Antiquities In the 1850s, Auguste Mariette made several discoveries at Saqqara, which revived interest into Ancient Egypt, their culture, and their monuments. and revived an interest in Egyptology. In response to the renewed interest, in 1858 the Department of Antiquites was established, and its first Conservator was Mariette. "Professor Maspero resigned his office of directorship on June 5, 1886, and was succeeded in the superintendency of excavations and Egyptian archaeology by M. Eugène Grébaut. In the same month Grébaut started upon the work of unbandaging the mummy of the Theban king Seqenenre Tao, of the Seventeenth Dynasty. It was under this monarch that a revolt against the Hyksos, or Shepherd Kings, had originated, in the course of which the Asiatics were expelled from Egypt. The history of this king has always been considered legendary, but from the signs of wounds present in the mummy, it is certain that he had died in battle. In the same season the mummy of Seti I. was unbandaged, and also that of an anonymous prince." It was located in room 91 on the ground floor, directly accessible from the outside. When the Egyptian Museum moved to Tahrir, in the early years of the 20th century, the sale room was located in room 56 on the ground floor, accessible from the western entrance. The Egyptian state continued to operate the sale room in the Egyptian Museum until 1979, selling original ancient Egyptian artworks and other artefacts there. From a packing list as well as from other sources, such as the pages of the register of the sale room or the museums' inventories and archives, which have already been checked or reconciled, it can be deduced that the objects sold were: Reliefs, architectural elements, offering tables, coffins, complete or fragmentary statues, statue heads or torsos, headrests, capitals (mostly Coptic), canopic jars, as well as stone or glass vessels, ushabtis, weights, amulets and scarabs. Despite the opinion that the objects sold to public institutions were more important than those sold to private collectors or dealers, we can see from the register of the sale room that the latter were also able to acquire very important objects. All of these works could subsequently be legally exported. Many objects that are now kept in private collections or public museums originated here. ==Heads of Antiquities==

Directors of the Department of Antiquities • Auguste Mariette (1858–1881) • Gaston Maspero (1881–1886) • Eugène Grébaut (1886–1892) • Jacques de Morgan (1892–1897) • Victor Loret (1897–1899) • Gaston Maspero (1899–1914) (bis) • Pierre Lacau (1914–1936) • Étienne Drioton (1936–1952) • Mostafa Amer (1953–1956) • Abbas Bayoumi (1956–1957) • Moharram Kamal (1957–1959) • Abd el-Fattah Hilmy (1959) • Mohammed Anwar Shoukry (1960–1964) • Mohammed Mahdi (1964–1966) • Gamal Mokhtar (1967–1971) Directors of the Egyptian Antiquities Organization • Gamal Mokhtar (1971–1977) • Mohammed Abd el-Qader Mohammed (1977–1978) • Shehata Adam (1978–1981) • Fuad el-Oraby (1981) • Ahmed Khadry (1982–1988) • Mohammed Abdel Halim Nur el-Din (1988) • Sayed Tawfik (1989–1990) • Mohammed Ibrahim Bakr (1990–1993) Secretaries-General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities • Mohammed Abdel Halim Nur el-Din (1993–1996) • Ali Hassan (1996–1997) • Gaballa Ali Gaballa (1997–2002) • Zahi Hawass (2002–2011) • Mohamed Abdel Fattah (July–September 2011) • Zahi Hawass (2011) • Mohamed Ibrahim Aly Ministers of Tourism and Antiquities • Zahi Hawass 31 January 2011 – 3 March 2011 • Mamdouh Eldamaty from June 2014 • Khaled al-Anani from 23 March 2016 • Ahmed Issa (2022 - 2024) == References ==