Printed papers on the political situation and military policy in Egypt [‎58v] (116/176)

333. An extensive programme oi paving in tiie narrow streets in the older
quarters of the city and of extending macadam in developing areas suffered heavily
owing to financial restrictions. Meanwhile experiments in substituting bitumen for
tar for road surfacing gave promise of success, and are especially interesting because
bitumen can be obtained locally from the distillation of crude Egyptian oil. During
the year the department acquired a laboratory equipped with means of keeping a
constant check on the pressure, heating powers and purity of the city gas supply, as
also with photometric apparatus of great value in the regular testing of new and
improved types of lamps, both gas and electric. The department’s control over
various companies of public utility necessitated its intervention in labour problems,
which at one time became very prominent owing principally to ecbnomic conditions,
although partially caused by political unrest. The establishment of boards of
enquiry, on which a delegate of the department takes an active part, has proved
beneficial in helping to avert strikes.
334. With regard to town planning, a considerable advance has been made in
the preliminary investigations essential to a well-established scheme of development.
The results have been carefully incorporated in civic survey diagrams and plans.
Not only has the trend of the modern development of the city of Cairo been con
sidered. but also its history and growth in the past.
53. Antiquities.
335. The question of enabling the Department of Egyptian Antiquities not only
to return to pre-war activity, but considerably to enlarge the scope of its operations,
has been the subject of careful consideration by the Ministry of Public Works. It
is hoped that it will be possible to give effect to the department's plans in 1923.
Meanwhile the Director-deneral of Antiquities is engaged upon the preparation of
a programme which will accompany his request for larger grants. These are intended
to provide for an increase in the staff which is employed in protecting antiquities in
Egypt and in supervising excavation on ancient sites, particularly the digging and
removal by the fellaheen Arabic for ‘peasant’. It was used by British officials to refer to agricultural workers or to members of a social class employed primarily in agricultural labour. of rubbish for manure (a long established practice which it
would be impossible to prohibit and which, under careful observation, is even of
advantage in disengaging sites without expense to the State), and for the excavation,
on a tolerably large scale, of those sites which the Government reserves the right to
open up itself.
336. During the year excavation was resumed upon the two important sites of
Karnak and Saqqara, which had been closed down during the war. At the former
site, in addition to ordinary work of consolidation, the plans are being reconstituted
and the great avenue of pylons, which leads from the temple of Amon to the temple
of Mout, is being cleared. ^ At Saqqara the dependencies of the pyramid of Teti are
being cleared, and the plan of the site stands out plainly. The exterior part of the
great Mastabas of the Vlth dynasty, hitherto unknown, has also been disclosed; the
pits of these tombs, which possess a certain novelty in their arrangement, have been
emptied and were found to contain various objects of interest. At Dendera the great
“ Birth Temple,” dating from the time of Augustus, has been completely cleared.
The anterior hhlf of the temple had been demolished by Christian hands and the
materials used again in the construction of a basilica, of a remarkable type, which
is well preserved. Private excavation has everywhere been nearly as active as ever
and has been prolific of results. It is sufficient here to mention the discovery by
Mr. Winlock, working for the Metropolitan Museum, New York, at Deir-el-Bahari,
of a sarcophagus of the Xlth dynasty, covered with paintings and sculptures in an
excellent state of preservation. ,
337. The Antiquities Department is preparing to publish the results of its own
recent excavations. This publication, however, as well as the continuation of the
General Catalogue, of which sixty-five volumes have been published up to the present,
is retarded by the high cost of printing. The rearrangement and redecoration of the
Egyptian Musuem have been in progress for some time, and promise to result in a
notable and much-desired improvement.
54. Mechanical Department.
338. The Mechanical Department are able to record a large increase in the
number of inspections of engines, which means an advance in the degree of public
safety that is maintained in Egypt; the number of inspections in 1920 was 5,463; in