By: Reem Sameh

Dr. Ashraf Sobhy, Minister of Youth and Sports, accompanied by Dr. Hassan Mostafa, President of the International Handball Federation and member of Executive Office of the Egyptian Olympic Committee, have checked the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization (NMEC) in Fustat, in which the draw of the world handball championship will take place in 2021, and will be organized by Egypt.

This museum is one of the most important projects that have been done in cooperation with UNESCO to become one of the largest civilization museums in Egypt and the Middle East with a new vision of the ancient Egyptian heritage.

Dr. Sobhy assured that Egypt will dazzle the world with an organization suits the name and reputation of Egypt, whether in the draw ceremony or the opening ceremony of the championship. Just as happened in many championships hosted by Egypt in various sports on the continental and international levels.

Dr. Hassan Mostafa, President of the International Handball Federation, praised the great effort the Minister of Youth and Sports exerts in preparation for the World Handball Cup, that he seeks to hold in it’s time. In light of the large role the government is playing in facing of Coronavirus. Pointing out that Dr. Ashraf Sobhy seeks to hold the championship in a way that reflects Egypt's organizational strength.

He also explained that Egypt exerts a great effort in preparing for the championship through the halls where construction work will be completed during the next period. Praising the great role of the Minister of Sports for ending all work according to the previously announced schedules and agreed upon with the International Federation.

It’s expected that the World Cup draw will be held in the middle of next September. in the presence of the representatives of the participating teams from all over the world.

During the tour, Dr. Ahmed El-Sherbini, General Supervisor of the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization, explained all the museum's accessories.

The museum includes all aspects of the richness and diversity of the Egyptian civilization from prehistoric times till the present time, and the various archaeological and heritage collections, as well as highlighting aspects of the Egyptian heritage by narrating the community life and the traditional arts and crafts in the Egyptian civilization.

The National Museum of Egyptian Civilization is located near the Babylon Fortress and overlooks to Ain El-Sira in the ancient city of Fustat in the region of ancient Egypt in Cairo, and is considered one of the most important and largest museums of antiquities in the world, and is the first museum to be devoted to the entirety of Egyptian civilization, where more than 50 thousand artifacts tell the stages of development of the Civilization from ancient times to the modern time.

It exhibit the museum's properties in a major permanent exhibition that possesses the most important achievements of the Egyptian civilization, in addition to six other exhibitions dealing with topics of civilization, the Nile, writing, the state and society, culture, beliefs and thoughts, in addition to the exhibition of royal mummies.

The museum also includes spaces for temporary exhibitions, and an exhibition on the development of the modern city of Cairo, it also includes a service, commercial, and entertainment buildings as well as a research center for restoration and old materials science.

In 2017, the temporary exhibition hall with an area of 1000 square meters was opened, and it includes a temporary exhibition entitled "Egyptian Crafts and Industries Throughout the Ages", aims to introduce the development of Egyptian crafts (pottery, weaving, carpentry, ornaments). This exhibition includes about 420 artifacts selected from some museums, many figures, in addition to large screens displaying a number of documentary films about the history of each craft and its development through the ages.