A state of anger dominated the social networking sites Facebook in Egypt during the past few hours, after the Egyptian Supreme Council of Antiquities removed an ancient minaret of the Al-Ghouri Mosque in the Sayeda Aisha area in Cairo, which was established more than 500 years ago during the era of the Mamluk Sultan Qansuh Al-Ghouri in 1509 AD.
For his part, the Islamic Antiquities Sector of the Supreme Council of Antiquities confirmed that all the news circulating is false, and that the minaret was not demolished, and what happened was the dismantling of the minaret in order to number it piece by piece, so that it would be easier to install it directly after the restoration, confirming that a severe tilt occurred in the minaret as a result of Groundwater and demolition of nearby houses, which resulted in earthquakes and soil disturbance, negatively affected the antiquities in the area.
The person in charge of the Islamic Antiquities Sector, Dr. Abu Bakr Ahmed Abdullah, stated that what happened came within the framework of the project to restore the Al-Ghouri Mosque, which is currently being implemented under the supervision of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, explaining in a statement that the studies that were prepared before the start of the restoration project proved that the minaret could not be restored. In its place, documentation, archaeological photography and numbering of the minaret stones were completed before dismantling it, ensuring its installation as it was before the dismantling work.
He pointed out that the work of dismantling the minaret is a common practice sometimes if it is not possible to restore it in its place, which was what was done in the minaret of the “Fatima Al-Shaqraa” mosque and the “minaret of Al-Moayad Mosque” in Al-Azhar and Al-Ghouri regions, appealing to social media users to be careful before publishing such news. which may confuse public opinion.
Mohamed Hefny (Cairo)