The World Is Burning: Is Time Still on Our Side? Op-ed
In recent decades, scientists have increasingly warned about rising global temperatures, and today we are witnessing the devastating consequences: destructive floods, recurring wildfires, and unprecedented heatwaves. Global warming is no longer just a scientific term — it is a daily reality threatening life on Earth.
According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), human activities — primarily the burning of fossil fuels — are the main driver of global temperature increases, which have already surpassed 1.1°C above pre-industrial levels.
Worryingly, even this seemingly small increase has triggered massive changes in climate systems. So what happens if we exceed 1.5°C or even 2°C? Will life as we know it survive?
The need for urgent action is no longer optional — it is a matter of survival. What is required is not only a reduction in emissions but also a complete transformation in the way we produce, consume, and live. The world must shift toward renewable energy, green economies, and climate justice — without delay.
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See - Sada Elbalad
19 hours ago
- See - Sada Elbalad
The World Is Burning: Is Time Still on Our Side? Op-ed
By Walid Abbas In recent decades, scientists have increasingly warned about rising global temperatures, and today we are witnessing the devastating consequences: destructive floods, recurring wildfires, and unprecedented heatwaves. Global warming is no longer just a scientific term — it is a daily reality threatening life on Earth. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), human activities — primarily the burning of fossil fuels — are the main driver of global temperature increases, which have already surpassed 1.1°C above pre-industrial levels. Worryingly, even this seemingly small increase has triggered massive changes in climate systems. So what happens if we exceed 1.5°C or even 2°C? Will life as we know it survive? The need for urgent action is no longer optional — it is a matter of survival. What is required is not only a reduction in emissions but also a complete transformation in the way we produce, consume, and live. The world must shift toward renewable energy, green economies, and climate justice — without delay. read more Analysis- Turkey Has 0 Regional Allies... Why? Analysis: Russia, Turkey... Libya in Return For Syria? Analysis: Who Will Gain Trump's Peace Plan Fruits? Analysis: Will Turkey's Erdogan Resort to Snap Election? Analysis: What Are Turkey's Aspirations in Iraq? Opinion & Analysis Analysis: Mercenaries In Libya... Who Should Be Blamed? Opinion & Analysis Analysis- How 'Libya Nightmare' Takes Erdogan to Algiers Opinion & Analysis Analysis: What Happens After Brexit? Opinion & Analysis Analysis: Strategic Significance of Libya's Sirte, Jufra! News Israeli-Linked Hadassah Clinic in Moscow Treats Wounded Iranian IRGC Fighters Arts & Culture "Jurassic World Rebirth" Gets Streaming Date News China Launches Largest Ever Aircraft Carrier News Ayat Khaddoura's Final Video Captures Bombardment of Beit Lahia Business Egyptian Pound Undervalued by 30%, Says Goldman Sachs Videos & Features Tragedy Overshadows MC Alger Championship Celebration: One Fan Dead, 11 Injured After Stadium Fall Lifestyle Get to Know 2025 Eid Al Adha Prayer Times in Egypt Arts & Culture South Korean Actress Kang Seo-ha Dies at 31 after Cancer Battle Arts & Culture Lebanese Media: Fayrouz Collapses after Death of Ziad Rahbani Sports Get to Know 2025 WWE Evolution Results
Al-Ahram Weekly
20 hours ago
- Al-Ahram Weekly
The mummy of Queen Nefertiti - Heritage - Al-Ahram Weekly
It is the dream of many people to discover the mummy of the famous ancient Egyptian Queen Nefertiti. One theory about the mummy was announced by Joan Fletcher, a member of an English expedition working inside the tomb of Amenhotep II (KV 35), in 2003. Fletcher was making a TV show with the Discovery Channel, and her theory was published all over the world. According to Egypt's antiquities law, any discovery must be reported first to the Antiquities Department, and after review, and if it is correct, the Supreme Committee of Antiquities (SCA) announces the name of the person who made the discovery. Fletcher was informed about this law, but as she broke it Egypt's Permanent Committee of Antiquities decided not to permit her to work again in the country. There was a great furore over Fletcher's announcement that she had discovered the mummy of Nefertiti. As head of the SCA at the time, I felt it was my duty to set the record straight. Two things in particular disturbed me. The first was that Fletcher's theory, which is no more than that, was presented in the media as a fact. The second was that my criticism of Fletcher, who ignored SCA regulations and thus betrayed responsible Egyptology, was interpreted as nationalism or fundamentalism. I should like to take this opportunity to share the opinions of two Egyptologists, both of whom supported my position, as did the majority of other Egyptologists around the world. The first is Rosalie David, professor and director of the Centre for Biomedical Egyptology at the School of Sciences at Manchester in the UK, who was Fletcher's thesis adviser. David is one of the foremost experts on mummies and mummification in the world (in contrast to Fletcher, who wrote her thesis on wigs and hairstyles in Ancient Egypt). In a letter to the SCA, David wrote that 'apart from electron microscopy of a head-louse found within one of the hairpieces that Joan Fletcher was studying, there was no specific scientific content to the research or the thesis. The electron microscopy was carried out by the university's electron microscopy unit (not by Joan Fletcher herself) and she was allowed to use the results in her thesis.' 'Joan Fletcher received no training in anthropology or biomedical Egyptology or any other scientific techniques related to human remains; she was never involved in any of the work or research undertaken by the Manchester Egyptian Mummy Project; and indeed she showed no interest in the anthropological and biomedical research on the mummies that were undertaken at that time.' David added that 'in summary, she received no training in anthropology or studies related to mummy research during her university course at Manchester.' David had no contact with Fletcher after she finished her thesis, even though, as she was her adviser, she should have had a close relationship with her. David concluded by saying that 'I am surprised to see that in recent years she has chosen to describe herself in the media as an expert in mummy studies.' The second letter was from George Tassie, an archaeologist who works in the Delta and is concerned for the preservation of our common heritage. Here is the text of a letter that came to me at the time. 'I don't know whether anyone else was outraged by the article in last Friday's edition of [the UK] Times (22 August 2003) 'How Nefertiti put a curse on British Archaeologist' reporting how Joan Fletcher and her team from York University have been barred from conducting research in Egypt.' 'I thought it was one of the most biased, offensive, bigoted, racist and inflammatory pieces of journalism I have ever read. This article is available online in The Times archives, but the minimum fee is £10 to become a member to access them. However, I do have a copy if anyone would like to see this terrible article. I have already written a letter of complaint to the editor of The Times, but as of yet have had no reply.' The most disturbing part of The Times article, Tassie wrote, was the interview with an unnamed British Egyptologist who declared that Hawass and the SCA were practicing a form of cultural nationalism and that, desirous to keep Egyptology for Muslims, they had issued new regulations that make life 'very hard for foreign Egyptologists'. This was a dangerous and inflammatory remark, presumably based on the fact that there was a moratorium on excavation in the Nile Valley. During the Eighth International Congress of Egyptologists (28 March-3 April 2000), members of the SCA voiced their concern at the rate of destruction of sites in the Nile Delta, and many leading archaeologists from around the world called for attention to be directed towards that area and other threatened regions. For that reason, it was declared that while concessions would be granted during the upcoming 10 years for widespread restoration, conservation, archaeological survey, documentation and epigraphical work, new concessions would not be granted between Giza and Abu Simbel. However, new applications for excavation concessions in the Western Desert, the Eastern Desert, and the Delta would be granted. These regulations were welcomed by the larger community of archaeologists who were concerned with protecting Egypt's cultural heritage against such modern threats as the salinisation of the soil from the high water table and the flooding of vast areas of land, mechanised farming techniques and agricultural expansion, the activities of the sebakhin (people who dig in ancient mud-brick settlement sites for fertiliser or for brick manufacture), not to mention building and development projects, pollution, and expanding urban development, all of which were acutely felt in the Delta. Although sites in Upper Egypt are similarly threatened, they do not face problems so severe as those in Lower Egypt. In cases where an archaeological site in the Nile Valley does face a direct threat from any of the above causes, and just reason can be given for its excavation with a view to protection, the SCA will grant permission for such archaeological work to take place. The anonymous Egyptologist's claim that Egyptians do not like the British and resent them for their colonial past, made in the original Times article, is too outrageous to dignify with further comment. I shall simply refer readers a paper by D M Reid (1984) entitled 'Indigenous Egyptology: Decolonisation of a Profession?' (Journal of the American Oriental Society 105: 233-246). The SCA recognises the need for more collaborative projects between international and Egyptian archaeologists, and the dissemination of both academic and technical information. We welcome help both in terms of teaching young Egyptians the advanced techniques of field archaeology and in building an archaeological infrastructure. We are the custodians of a rich world heritage and welcome all those who wish to protect it. TAMPERING WITH NEFERTITI: Meanwhile, I also received many e-mails from art historians in the United States expressing outrage at the Berlin Museum's astonishing insolence in briefly fusing the beautiful painted bust of Nefertiti to a modern bronze nude body, also in 2003. One scholar, highly respected in his field, wrote passionately about this 'disgusting, ugly and unscientific' synthesis, an affront to one of our most treasured masterpieces. Writing to the director of the UN cultural organisation UNESCO, the German ambassador to Egypt, and Mohamed Al-Orabi, the Egyptian ambassador in Berlin at the time, I listed our objections to the treatment of Nefertiti, pointing out not only the aesthetic offence but the very real peril it entailed. Attaching a limestone bust to a bronze body may have caused it irreparable damage and risked its destruction, had it somehow fallen from it. To subject a rare masterpiece to such degradation combined with the possibility of harm is inexcusable. The Egyptian artist Thutmose who created this work of art in his studio in Tel Al-Amarna thousands of years ago, sculpted the bust of the beautiful queen as a trial piece. He did not intend it to have a torso, let alone a nude body sculpted 3,300 years later in a completely different medium. This bust was created in the likeness of the queen in order that her fine features could be reproduced in later works. The sculptor must have been turning in his grave at the thought of the abuse done to his art thousands of years later. The intricately painted bust of Nefertiti was unearthed in 1912 by a German mission directed by Egyptologist Ludwig Borchardt, who discovered it inside the studio of the long-deceased artist. He brought it, along with other remarkably well-preserved artefacts found during his excavation to the Egyptian Museum. The beauty of the statue, and its excellent state of preservation, was hidden, however, according to some, intentionally, by a layer of grime, so that its priceless value was not recognised. Pierre Lacau, director of the Egyptian Antiquities Service at the time, was deceived. With Lacau's permission, the bust left Egypt for Germany, though it was not exhibited in Berlin for 10 years. The joining of the bust to a modern body took place in May 2003, when the bust of Nefertiti was removed from its display area in the Berlin Museum and joined with a nude bronze body made by Hungarian artists, apparently in a bid to draw publicity. Thus, one of the most wonderful examples of ancient art and an Egyptian national treasure was treated with wanton disrespect and subjected to physical danger. International law permits Egypt to ask for the return of objects taken abroad, and the outroar over the Berlin Museum's fusion prompted Farouk Hosni, the then Minister of Culture, to hold a press conference at the Cairo Opera House, announcing Egypt's intention to formally request that the German government return the bust of Nefertiti. I wrote to the Berlin Museum to ask for the bust of Nefertiti to be borrowed for three months for the opening of the Grand Egyptian Museum in Cairo. The authorities in Berlin refused our request, raising questions about the bust's safety. I said we were not 'the pirates of the Caribbean' in response. I earlier appointed a research committee and began to research how the bust left Egypt, and we collected evidence that showed the bust had left Egypt illegally. I asked permission from the Prime Minister and wrote the first official letter to ask for the return of the bust in 2010. But the 25 January Revolution then took place in Egypt in 2011, and I could not follow up the letter. SEARCH FOR NEFERTITI: Nefertiti married King Akhenaten and bore him six daughters, one of them being Ankhesenamun, who married Tutankhamun. Some scholars believe that she ruled for a few years after the death of Akhenaten. Inside the tomb KV21 two mummies were found, one of them headless. A DNA study revealed that the KV21 A mummy should be that of Ankhesenamun. I believe that the other mummy, KV21 B, could be that of Nefertiti because the Egyptians always put daughter beside mother, as we see in KV35, where an elder mummy is that of Queen Tiye and a younger that of her daughter who married her brother Akhenaten. We also began to search for the skeleton of Motnujmet, her sister, and archaeologist Geoffery Martin found her burial inside the tomb of Horemhep at Saqqara. The bones were studied by Strouhal, who published his research and stated that Motnujmet died at the age of 40. * A version of this article appears in print in the 7 August, 2025 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly Follow us on: Facebook Instagram Whatsapp Short link:
See - Sada Elbalad
a day ago
- See - Sada Elbalad
Menoufia University Celebrates Graduation of First Cohort of 'Remote Sensing Specialist' Certificate Holders
Ali abo deshish Menoufia University recently celebrated the graduation of the first cohort of students who completed the 'Remote Sensing Specialist' certification program. The training program, designed for students of the Department of Geography at the Faculty of Arts, was conducted with the active participation and support of the Egyptian Space Applications and Remote Sensing Company and Brilliant Remote Sensing Labs. As part of the celebration, both companies fully sponsored the training costs for ten top-performing students in the program, offering them a hands-on training course titled 'Practical Training in Assembly, Integration, and Testing of Small Satellites Using the EDUCAN Cansat Educational Satellite.' In a parallel initiative, the two companies also funded the same training program for another ten engineering students from the Communications and Computer departments. Furthermore, five outstanding students will be selected for an intensive hands-on internship inside the lab dedicated to small satellite assembly and integration. Dr. Ahmed El-Qassed, President of Menoufia University, congratulated the honored students who successfully completed the training, commending the role of the Geographic and Cartographic Research Center under the Department of Geography. The center was officially certified as an 'Accredited Training Center' by the program provider, granting it the right to deliver the 'Remote Sensing Specialist' certification through its qualified trainers. Dr. El-Qassed expressed his hope for the center's continued excellence in spreading scientific and professional expertise in this vital field. Dr. Lotfy Azzaz, Head of the Geography Department, Director of the Geography and Geomatics Program, and Director of the Geographic and Cartographic Research Center, emphasized that the training grant was held at the center's headquarters and aimed to provide students with internationally recognized licenses in remote sensing to better prepare them for the job market. He added that the university has entered into a partnership with Brilliant Remote Sensing Labs, which is responsible for training students in the ERDAS IMAGINE Essential program—one of the world's leading remote sensing software tools developed by the U.S.-based company Hexagon SIG. Dr. Salah Diab, coordinator of the training program, noted that the support from the Egyptian Space Applications and Remote Sensing Company was presented as a gift in recognition of the students' academic excellence and commitment to scientific study. Mr. Shady El-Shafie, Chairman of the Egyptian Space Applications and Remote Sensing Company, affirmed that this initiative is part of the company's broader strategy to support young talents and prepare them for the workforce by offering practical and scientific training opportunities, while also enhancing student awareness of the space and advanced remote sensing sectors. read more Gold prices rise, 21 Karat at EGP 3685 NATO's Role in Israeli-Palestinian Conflict US Expresses 'Strong Opposition' to New Turkish Military Operation in Syria Shoukry Meets Director-General of FAO Lavrov: confrontation bet. nuclear powers must be avoided News Iran Summons French Ambassador over Foreign Minister Remarks News Aboul Gheit Condemns Israeli Escalation in West Bank News Greek PM: Athens Plays Key Role in Improving Energy Security in Region News One Person Injured in Explosion at Ukrainian Embassy in Madrid News Israeli-Linked Hadassah Clinic in Moscow Treats Wounded Iranian IRGC Fighters Arts & Culture "Jurassic World Rebirth" Gets Streaming Date News China Launches Largest Ever Aircraft Carrier News Ayat Khaddoura's Final Video Captures Bombardment of Beit Lahia Business Egyptian Pound Undervalued by 30%, Says Goldman Sachs Videos & Features Tragedy Overshadows MC Alger Championship Celebration: One Fan Dead, 11 Injured After Stadium Fall Lifestyle Get to Know 2025 Eid Al Adha Prayer Times in Egypt Arts & Culture South Korean Actress Kang Seo-ha Dies at 31 after Cancer Battle Arts & Culture Lebanese Media: Fayrouz Collapses after Death of Ziad Rahbani Sports Get to Know 2025 WWE Evolution Results
