Achievements
Since its establishment, the Center has taken a number of important steps, which represent its future plan in order to preserve, document and market the distinguished Aswan heritage:
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-Submitting a request to the university presidency to provide a headquarters for the center, and to provide it with the necessary equipment to carry out its various activities and works. As well as appointing the legal and financial auditor, opening an account for the center and approving it from the Ministry of Finance.
-A presentation was prepared about the center, its mission, vision, goal, nature of work, and its development strategy, and this presentation was explained to the Council of the Community Service and Environment Development Sector at the university.
-Three consecutive meetings of the Center were held under the chairmanship of His Excellency Prof. Ahmed Ghallab_ university President, and the Chairman of Board of Directors of the Center, and members of Board of Directors to discuss the work and activities of the Center and what it will provide to the Aswan community in the field of preserving and developing the original heritage of the governorate.
– The Director of the Center submitted a proposal to His Excellency the University President regarding the establishment of a website on the university’s electronic portal called: Aswan Civilization and Heritage to introduce the public to the heritage of Aswan Governorate, and marketing for cultural and heritage tourism in it, as well as the development of industries and heritage crafts. The website is being designed and launched after providing the necessary funds for its establishment, activation and maintenance.
– The Director of the Center submitted a proposal to His Excellency_ University president regarding starting a project to preserve and protect the archaeological heritage in the nearby archaeological sites From urbanization.
-Rehabilitation and development of heritage and historical buildings in Aswan as a source of national income, in cooperation between the faculties of law, Archaelogy, engineering and science at the university after providing the necessary funding for it, and addressing the concerned authorities with specialization and common interest for participation and technical and material support.
His Excellency preferred to transfer the proposal to the Council for Community Service and Environment Development for discussion and opinion.
-The Director of the Center, based on the approval of the President of the University, addressed the university’s faculties and departments, Academic staff, Employees and students, to form teams of volunteers to document Aswan’s intangible heritage, and activate related activities through field movements in villages and hamlets to study and document and marketing it.
THE ACHIEVEMENTS OF THE ASWAN HERITAGE AND CIVILIZATION CENTER 2020-2021
Aswan University cares about assuming its responsibilities towards society in preserving the tangible and intangible of Aswan heritage, and in a strong response to the obstacles and problems it faces, and also working on good management, development and marketing of the elements of the diverse and distinct Aswan cultural heritage to benefit from them in activating non-traditional tourist patterns, and also work on Exploiting the cultural heritage in the governorate as an important and effective tool for sustainable development and the development of the local community culturally, socially and economically.
This is achieved through the following actions:
Documenting the natural, tangible and intangible cultural heritage of Aswan Governorate.
* Good management of the heritage elements in the governorate and marketing for it with high efficiency.
* Strengthening cultural and scientific links with other universities and scientific bodies at the local, Arab and international levels.
* Raising the level of cultural and heritage awareness for Aswan University students.
* Defining the elements of the distinguished and diverse cultural heritage of Aswan Governorate.
* Holding training and teaching courses in the field of cultural heritage to train target groups of university students or from outside, whether workers in the ministries of culture, antiquities, environment, tourism and other relevant bodies and common interest.
* Establishing a special library to collect all data and studies, ancient and modern on the Egyptian cultural heritage, and collect documents, manuscripts, archaeological, heritage and environmental research, and scientific books of Aswan civilization throughout the ages.
* Organizing local, regional and international cultural and heritage festivals and exhibitions on a regular basis.
* Implementation of research projects aimed at documenting cultural heritage inside and outside Aswan.
* Holding an annual international conference in the field of cultural heritage.
* Concluding protocols and joint cooperation agreements with authorities, associations and institutions concerned with preserving the civilizational and cultural heritage locally, regionally and internationally.
First: annual conferences
The First Conference of Southern Upper Egypt Universities: (Luxor: 11-13 March 2019).
This conference brought together a large number of universities, including Aswan University, under the title “Towards a sustainable development map for southern Upper Egypt.”
Second: Concluding protocols and cooperation agreements with Authorities, associations and institutions concerned with preserving the cultural heritage:
Concluding cooperation protocols with institutions interested in cultural heritage, whether inside or outside Egypt:
1-Egyptian Cultural Heritage Organisation (ECHO)
2- Center for Documentation of Cultural and natural Heritage (CULTNAT) affiliated to the Alexandrina Library in the Smart Village, and the UNESCO office in Egypt, where the center can benefit financially and morally.
Working to cooperate with Arab and Islamic institutions specialized in heritage issues, such as organizations that sponsor culture and science in the Arab and Islamic world, such as:
1-Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ISSESCo)
2- Arab Leage Educational, Cultural and scientific Organization (Alesco)
3-Arab Regional Center for World Heritage (ARC-WH)
4-The Queen Rania Center for Cultural Heritage in Jordan.
Holding agreements and joint workshops with the departments of cultural heritage in foreign universities, those workshops that will be funded by international institutions in Egypt.
1-German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD)
3-Aga Khan Education Foundation.
Third: The Intangible Heritage of Aswan Governorate: –
- The Center has made an inventory of the manifestations of the intangible cultural heritage:
1-Aswan Music Arts
2- The arts of folk dance or Aswan folklore
3- Aswan singing arts
4- Arts of storytelling
5- Art of Aswan perfume composition
6-Art of Aswan incense composition
7- Art of cosmetics composition from natural elements
8-Aswan various foods and drinks throughout the year or on different occasions
9- clothes and costumes of the people of Aswan, both men and women
10-Henna painting
11-Aswan customs and traditions in various occasions
12-Crafts and Handicrafts
13-Ornaments and adornments such as necklaces – bracelets – earrings – head ornaments – bags of wool and macrame threads – Ramadan lanterns – caps – keffiyehs – palm products: palm arjun – wicker – fiber – pottery – kilims – bedspreads).
Some of the other activities and achievements of the center:
1-The center organized many field visits and meetings with craftsmen and owners of traditional craft industries in the places where they manufacture and work these products.
2-Documenting and registering visits and meetings in several ways (photographing – video recording – transcribing and analyzing the owners of crafts – writing articles to make a textual description of these crafts).
3- The Center’s participation in the membership of a university committee to survey and study the distinctive productive features of traditional crafts, agriculture, trade and marketing in villages (haya Karima initiative). The activities of the committee were activated and implemented by organizing field visits to these villages.
4-The center’s participation in the membership of a committee at the university to develop the villages of Upper Egypt and achieve sustainable development in them.
5- making a channel for the center on YOUTUBE to broadcast the videos that it records during its visit and various activities.
6- The center, through multiple and repeated visits to the owners of traditional crafts, has identified the demands of these craftsmen in each craft separately and the problems they face in practicing the crafts and propose appropriate solutions to them.
7- The center made an integrated vision for the development of handicrafts and heritage industries in Upper Egypt and donated it to the office of the Governor of Aswan in 2021.
8-Holding training and teaching courses in the field of cultural heritage Short Courses for a period of 10-20 days to train target groups, whether from university students or from outside the local community or workers in the ministries of culture, antiquities and tourism, whereas the teaching will be done by specialized university professors in addition to experts in that field to teach these courses.
9-These courses and their content are marketed through the official correspondences of the ministries in addition to marketing them through social media, whereas the trainee will receive an accredited certificate from Aswan University in the training program, its content and duration.
10-Cooperating with Egyptian and foreign excavation missions that is working in Aswan to give introductory lectures on the latest archaeological discoveries in Aswan to university students, especially within the faculties of Archaelogy and tourism.
11-Working to help the local community in Aswan by trying to help the owners of crafts and heritage industries in Aswan, who suffer from the inability to purchase the raw material for the crafts industry, in addition to their inability to sell and market their crafts, whether internally or externally.
12-Participation strongly in the events related to the cultural heritage that take place in Aswan, such as the celebration of the Aswan Governorate National Day, the tourism festival, the Nubia celebrations, and the sun perpendicular to the Temple of Ramses II in Abu Simbel, where it is possible to participate in an organizational form for these festivals and to shed more media support.
13-Publication of the book (Nubian Decorations in Architecture and Wicker Dishes – Nubian Heritage in Aswan).
14-The Director of the Center gave a lecture on (Managing the Tangible Heritage) at the kind invitation of the Sharjah Antiquities Authority _ United Arab Emirates.
15-The Center’s participation in the opening of the annual heritage handicrafts exhibition, which was entitled “The Legacy of the Grandparents, the Legacy of the Grandchildren” at the invitation of Mr. Adel Monib _ Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Foundation to Protect Our Heritage.
16- Director of the Center gave a lecture entitled: (Besilkis: The Bench in Lower Nubia – A Look at the History and Archeology of the Site) in partnership with Prof. Khaled Ghareeb – Professor and Head of the Department of Greek and Roman Archeology at Faculty of Archeology _Cairo University_ within the activities of the monthly Greek and Roman Archeology Seminar For the Center for Papyrus Studies and Inscriptions – Ain Shams University _on Monday, 7 December 2020 online.
17-writing an article entitled (Nubian Habits: Ramadan Drinks and Food for the Nubians in Aswan) prepared by Professor /Ali Jenaidi – the employee at Faculty of Archeology and the Secretary of the Vice Dean for Community Service and Environment Development at the faculty.
18-Writing an article entitled (Nubian Habits: Safflower “Koshi”) prepared by Professor/ Ali Jenaidi – employee of Faculty of Archeology and Secretary of Vice Dean for Community Service and Environment Development at the faculty.
19-Writing an article entitled (Nubian Legacies and Customs) prepared by Professor/ Ali Jenaidi – the employee at Faculty of Archeology and Secretary of Vice Dean for Community Service and Environment Development at the faculty.
21-Using a simple manual machine to make a shawl or keffiyeh 2022.
22-Traditional handmade ornamental necklace products in Aswan made of colored beads in a crochet way.