Preservation Project of Ahmed Pasha Kamal's Dictionary of the Ancient Egyptian Language Shortlisted for ICCROM-Sharjah Award
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ICCROM Regional Centre in Sharjah (ICCRIS) has announced the shortlist of projects nominated for the fourth round of the ICCROM-Sharjah Award for Good Practices in Cultural Heritage in the Arab Region (2023-2024). The preservation project of the Dictionary of the Ancient Egyptian Language by Ahmed Pasha Kamal (Bibliotheca Alexandrina) has been shortlisted among 18 outstanding projects from Bahrain, Lebanon, Libya, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia, and Yemen.
In June 2024, the Bibliotheca Alexandrina submitted the project "Legacy of a Dictionary: Managing, Preserving, and Documenting Ahmed Pasha Kamal's Dictionary" after its digitization and restoration by the BA Restoration Laboratory. Dubbed the "Hieroglyphic-Arabic Dictionary", the 22-volume dictionary is a unique work, as each volume carries a hieroglyphic character and is translated into French and Arabic, as well as Coptic, Hebrew, Greek, Amharic, and Assyrian (in certain words).
The family of Ahmed Pasha Kamal has gifted the dictionary to the Bibliotheca Alexandrina for preservation and restoration, to be later displayed to the public.
It is worth mentioning that the project of preserving the Ahmed Pasha Kamal Dictionary is a collective work that involved different departments at the Library, namely the Writing and Scripts Center, the Chemical and Paper Restoration Laboratory, the Digital Lab, and the Studio Department.
The winners of the fourth round of the ICCROM-Sharjah Award will be announced at a special ceremony, to be held in Sharjah in late November 2024.