Egypt Restores Sadid Archaeological Atlas from Germany

Egypt`s Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry delivered to the Culture Minister Enas Abdel Dayem Sadid Archaeological Atlas after restoring it from Germany.

Shoukry thanked Germany's interest in restoring the Atlas to Egypt, saying, “This step indicates Germany's concern in preserving the heritage and holdings of countries and prevent their illegal circulation.”

He looked forward to Germany continuing this commendable approach, and to being emulated by the other European states, which had not yet reached that level of responsibility.

[caption id="attachment_87807" align="alignnone" width="960"] Sadid Archaeological Atlas[/caption]

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas expressed  Germany`s keenness to return this rare book to Egypt, confirming that it is one of the holdings of the Egyptian National Library.

Abdel Dayem praised the efforts of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the endeavors of Egyptian diplomacy in regaining a new part of the nation's history.

“It is a new victory for the state and the Ministry of Culture in its battle to restore our stolen heritage, where the history of Sadid Archaeological Atlas dates back to the nineteenth century, specifically in 1218 AH - 1803 AD,” She added. “It contains a number of the most prominent rare Ottoman maps, and is one of the rarest atlases in the world and was published by Mahmud Raif Efendi.”

[caption id="attachment_87808" align="alignnone" width="960"] Sadid Archaeological Atlas[/caption]

She pointed to the National Library and Archives of Egypt headed by Dr. Hisham Mahmoud Azmi exerted great efforts immediately after learned about offering the Atlas for sale in one of the auction halls in Berlin, Germany, for a huge sum of money on 12 October 2018. It officially wrote to the authorities in Germany, stressing that this  Atlas belongs to collectibles of the National Library and Archives of Egypt, demanding to stop the sale.

On his part, Dr. Azmi said: “In cooperation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the sale of the Atlas was stopped and was in the possession of the German authorities on October 17, 2018. A complete document has been sent documenting the ownership of the National Library and Archives of Egypt to the Atlas based on indexes and official registration.

He added, “National Library and Archives of Egypt called for its right to restore the Atlas as it was seized by the German authorities under the umbrella of the UNESCO Convention issued in 2007 and signed by Germany.”

“Atlas is also subject to the German Cultural Heritage Protection Act of 2017,” he said. “The period from November 2018 until October 2019, German police conducted extensive and lengthy investigations under a follow-up from the Egyptian Embassy in Berlin, where the Egyptian side was officially notified, through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, of accepting the handover of the Atlas to the Ministry of Culture.