United States Preserves Egyptian History in Bassatine
November 20, 2022
United States Preserves Egyptian History in Bassatine
The U.S. Embassy & Partners Restore the Historic Karaite Jewish Cemetery
Cairo – The U.S. Embassy in Cairo, in partnership with the American Study Heart in Egypt (ARCE) and reps of American and Egyptian Jewish companies, inaugurated these days the newly-restored Lichaa and Menasha burial web pages in Cairo—the sole remaining part of Egypt’s Karaite Jewish cemetery (the Bassatine Cemetery) and a person of the oldest operational Jewish cemeteries in the earth. As section of the U.S. Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation, the U.S. Division of State issued a $150,000 (close to 2.25 million Egyptian Lbs .) grant to ARCE and its husband or wife, the Fall of Milk Foundation, to fund the cemetery’s restoration. A non-public donation from the Karaite Jews of America presented more amenities and landscaping for a memorial garden—the Yard of Remembrance—at the web-site.
At the inauguration ceremony, U.S. Charge d’Affaires, a.i. Ambassador Daniel Rubinstein highlighted the United States’ motivation to preserving the memory of the central job the Jewish neighborhood has played in Egyptian heritage: “[T]he Bassatine Cemetery has served Egypt’s Jewish local community because its establishment in 1482 by Mamluk Sultan al-Ashraf Qaitbey. The U.S. Govt will stay Egypt’s fully commited spouse in the preservation, restoration, and protection of Egypt’s valuable cultural and spiritual websites, these kinds of as the Lichaa and Menasha burial websites, which contribute to the richness and range of Egyptian history.”
Ambassador Rubinstein was joined at the celebration by David Ovadia, President of the Karaite Jews of The us, Dr. Louise Bertini, Govt Director of ARCE, Magda Haroun, Head of the Jewish Neighborhood in Cairo, and Eli Eltachan, President of the Karaite Neighborhood, together with other esteemed guests and VIPs.
In excess of the earlier 25 years, the U.S. Authorities has contributed over $100 million (close to 2.4 billion Egyptian Lbs .) to protect environment heritage web sites in Egypt, these as the Sphinx at Giza, Kom Ombo Temple in Aswan, the Imam al-Shafi’i Mausoleum in Cairo, and the Kom El Shoqafa Catacombs in Alexandria. Most just lately, the United States funded the restoration of the Howard Carter Household in Luxor and announced a partnership with Factum to develop a Virtual Truth (VR) working experience of King Tutankhamun’s burial chamber for Egyptian faculty small children.
To learn extra about the U.S.-Egypt cultural partnership, check out: https://eg.usembassy.gov and https://www.usaid.gov/egypt and comply with @USEmbassyCairo and @USAIDEgypt on social media.
To study far more about the Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation, together with opportunities to post proposals, go to: https://eg.usembassy.gov/education-tradition/afcp/
###