CAIRO: Egypt has launched “Experience Egypt” in the wake of the lockdown in the country following the emergence of COVID-19.
The virtual tours, available on the “Experience Egypt” website and on social media platforms, encourage people to stay home while experiencing the country’s most famous archeological and heritage sites.
“Our message to people is to stay home, stay safe, and enjoy the beautiful sites that make us all proud,” said Deputy Minister of Tourism and Antiquities Iman Ziad. “We’re pushing for virtual tours to send a message to the entire world about our history.”
The virtual tours began last Friday with the Menna Tomb in the Theban Necropolis, in cooperation with the American Research Center in Cairo. It is considered one of the more beautiful royal tombs on Luxor’s west bank.
“The details we’re able to see using these virtual tours are interesting, and will be helpful to students around the world who are learning about Egypt and archeology,” said Petra Ibrahim, an archeology adviser.
“Physical visits remain the best experience, but the virtual tours are a vital experience now too.”
Ziad said: “We want people around the world to leverage the lockdown times and learn more about Egyptian culture and history through a digital experience on their phones.”
The tour will explore the madrasa (school) and khanqa (hospice) of Sultan Barquq on Al-Muiz Street.
The madrasa and khanqa are known as the Zahiriya School. King Zahir Abu Sa’id Barquq ordered its construction, which began in 1384 AD.
Its inauguration took place two years later. The school lies in the middle of one of the world’s largest architectural heritage complexes.
The tours also include the famed Red Monastery in Sohag governorate, founded by St. Bishoy at the beginning of the fourth century AD. Its name derives from the red bricks that make up most of its masonry.
Minister of Tourism and Antiquities Khaled Al-Anani urged people in Egypt and the rest of the world to stay home and stay healthy to ensure the safety of their loved ones.
He said his ministry is periodically cleaning and disinfecting archeological sites and museums, and is monitoring the fumigation of hotels and touristic establishments in preparation for receiving visitors when the pandemic ends.
On Monday, Egypt announced it had 1,322 coronavirus cases, with 85 deaths. To limit its spread, the government closed schools, universities and airports in March.
Authorities have halted international flights, banned mass gatherings and shuttered cinemas, mosques, churches and schools. On March 24, Egypt declared a two-week night-time curfew from 7 p.m. to 6 a.m.
Egypt offers virtual tours during lockdown
https://arab.news/2xf9r
Egypt offers virtual tours during lockdown
- Stay home, stay safe and enjoy beautiful sites, says deputy tourism minister
Israeli settler attack injures Palestinian baby, five arrested
- The eight-month-old infant suffered “moderate injuries to the face and head” in the late Wednesday attack
- Israeli police said five suspects had been arrested for their “alleged involvement in serious, violent incidents in the village of Sair“
JERUSALEM: Israeli security forces announced on Thursday the arrest of five Israeli settlers over their alleged involvement in an attack on a Palestinian home that injured a baby girl in the occupied West Bank.
The eight-month-old infant suffered “moderate injuries to the face and head” in the late Wednesday attack, according to the official Palestinian news agency Wafa.
It blamed the attack on “a group of armed settlers,” accusing them of “throwing stones at homes and property” in the town of Sair, north of Hebron.
A statement from the Israeli police said that five suspects had been arrested for their “alleged involvement in serious, violent incidents in the village of Sair.”
Israeli security forces had received reports of “stones being thrown by Israeli civilians toward a Palestinian home,” adding a Palestinian girl was injured.
“The preliminary investigation determined the involvement of several suspects who came from a nearby outpost,” the statement said, referring to Israeli settlements not officially recognized by Israeli authorities.
All Israeli settlements in the West Bank are considered illegal by the international community.
Some are also illegal under Israeli law, though many of those are later given official recognition.
Almost none of the perpetrators of previous attacks by settlers have been held to account by the Israeli authorities.
A Telegram group linked to the “Hilltop Youth,” a movement of hard-line settlers who advocate direct action against Palestinians, posted a video showing property damage in Sair.
More than 500,000 Israelis currently live in settlements in the West Bank, occupied since 1967, as do around three million Palestinians.
Violence involving settlers has risen in recent years, according to the United Nations, and October was the worst month since it began recording such incidents in 2006, with 264 attacks that caused casualties or property damage.
The violence in the West Bank, a territory occupied by Israel since 1967, has surged since Hamas’ October 7, 2023 attack, which triggered the Gaza war.
Since the start of the war, Israeli troops and settlers have killed more than 1,000 Palestinians in the West Bank, including many militants as well as dozens of civilians, according to an AFP tally based on figures from the Palestinian health ministry.
According to official Israeli figures, at least 44 Israelis, both soldiers and civilians, have been killed in Palestinian attacks or Israeli military operations in the same period.
