AFTER SEVEN YEAR FACE-LIFT CAIRO MUSEUM TO REOPEN

THE WORLD'S LARGEST MUSEUM OF ISLAMIC ART WILL REOPEN IN CAIRO IN COMING WEEKS AFTER A SEVEN-YEAR FACE-LIFT, MUSEUM OFFICIALS SAID RECENTLY. TOURISTS FLOCK BY THE MILLIONS TO THE PYRAMIDS AT GIZA AND THE TEMPLES OF LUXOR DATING BACK MORE THAN 3,000 YEARS, BUT THE WEALTH OF ART AND DESIGN HERALDED BY THE ARRIVAL OF ISLAM TO EGYPT IN THE 7th CENTURY TENDS TO TAKE SECOND PLACE. BEFORE IT CLOSED IN 2003, ONLY A FEW THOUSAND CURIOUS TRAVELERS WERE VENTURING EACH MONTH INTO THE MUSEUM, SET BY A NOISY ROAD IN THE HEART OF EGYPT'S FRENETIC CAPITAL. THE BUILDING DESIGNED BY ITALIAN ALFONSO MANESCALO DATED FROM THE EARLY 20th CENTURY AND WAS JAMMED WITH SOME 3,000 TREASURES FROM A COLLECTION OF OVER 80,000, MANY POORLY LABELED, INCLUDING CERAMICS, TOMBS, DOORS, WOODEN SCREENS, ROBES AND RUGS. DURING THE CLOSURE, A RIVAL MUSEUM OF ISLAMIC ART OPENED IN THE GULF STATE OF QATAR DESIGNED BY CELEBRATED CHINESE-AMERICAN ARCHITECT I M PEI. 'OUR MUSEUM WAS OLD AND NEEDED ITS WALLS STRENGTHENING OR IT WOULD BE AT RISK OF COLLAPSE', MOHAMMED ABBAS SELIM, GENERAL DIRECTOR OF THE CAIRO MUSEUM TOLD REUTERS IN A RECENT INTERVIEW. AMONG THE 80,000 OBJECTS THAT SELIM AND HIS TEAM HAD TO CHOOSE FROM, SOME 1,700 ARE ON DISPLAY IN THE REFURBISHED MUSEUM. THEY INCLUDE AN EWER FOUND BESIDE THE TOMB OF EGYPT'S LAST UMMAYAD DYNASTY CALIPH AND DOORS COMMISSIONED BY THE FATIMID CALIPH AL HAKIM FOR THE AL AZHAR MOSQUE. THE NEW MUSEUM IS BRIGHTER, CLEANER AND LESS CLUTTERED. IT TELLS A STORY OF THE NUMEROUS ISLAMIC EMPIRES THAT PASSED THROUGH EGYPT OVER 1,400 YEARS AND HOW THEY INFLUENCED ART AND DESIGN ACROSS THE MEDITERRANEAN AND AS FAR AS BRITAIN.