Egypt Collector Preserves Hundreds of Classic Cars

FILE: An Egyptian collector of vintage cars, drives a British Standard Flying Eight Tourer - 1948 automobile at his father's store where he also has an exhibition of old cars, in the Giza suburb of Abu Rawash, Egypt October 25, 2020. (Reuters)
FILE: An Egyptian collector of vintage cars, drives a British Standard Flying Eight Tourer - 1948 automobile at his father's store where he also has an exhibition of old cars, in the Giza suburb of Abu Rawash, Egypt October 25, 2020. (Reuters)
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Egypt Collector Preserves Hundreds of Classic Cars

FILE: An Egyptian collector of vintage cars, drives a British Standard Flying Eight Tourer - 1948 automobile at his father's store where he also has an exhibition of old cars, in the Giza suburb of Abu Rawash, Egypt October 25, 2020. (Reuters)
FILE: An Egyptian collector of vintage cars, drives a British Standard Flying Eight Tourer - 1948 automobile at his father's store where he also has an exhibition of old cars, in the Giza suburb of Abu Rawash, Egypt October 25, 2020. (Reuters)

The past frequently collides with the present in Cairo, with traffic snarling next to ancient sites.

Cars in the city can take a beating — between soaring temperatures, desert dust and the crowded streets. Classic models are not uncommon, but they often languish in dusty alleys or garages. One man, however, has decided to try to preserve a slice of Egypt’s four-wheeled history.

Car collector Mohamed Wahdan says he has accumulated more than 250 vintage, antique and classic cars. Most of them he discovered inside the country, The Associated Press reported.

A fleet of this size would rank him among the world’s top classic car collectors. Experts typically classify vehicles as vintage, antique or classic depending on their year of production.

The 52-year-old Wahdan runs a tourist company taking visitors to Egypt's famous landmarks. But he’s devoted to his hobby. He owns several different garages to keep all of them, and employs a full time team of mechanics for maintenance.

He says one of the challenges is in getting the cars license plates. Government employees often aren’t sure how to classify them.

Wahdan's oldest, a 1924 Model T Ford that belonged to Egypt’s last monarch, King Farouk, is a museum piece, complete with a velvet rope to mark its parking place in his garage.

The country’s history makes it a treasure trove for antiques. Egypt was a destination for Europeans in the late 19th Century and the first half of the 20th century. Italian, Greek, and Jewish communities once flourished in Cairo and the Mediterranean city of Alexandria. Its historic markets, or souqs, sell many reminders of times gone by, replicas and genuine.

Wahdan has collected many of them. Rotary-dial telephones, gramophones, and old newspapers and stamps also fascinate him.

Recently, his cars have also made a name for themselves, with one appearing in a TV series set in the 1930s. He’s noticed that interest in car collecting is growing among Egyptians, as more flock to classic car shows where his vehicles are displayed.

One of his dearest items is his first purchase, a 1970s Mercedes. Like his other cars, he doesn’t drive it often. But he says he would never sell any of his collection.

“Anyone who is passionate about those cars is unable to do without them,” he said.



Remains of 5,000-year-old Noblewoman Found in Peru Dig

An ancient artifact found in a recently discovered burial site at the Aspero archaeological complex, belonging to the Caral civilization, during a press presentation at the Ministry of Culture in Lima on April 24, 2025. ERNESTO BENAVIDES / AFP
An ancient artifact found in a recently discovered burial site at the Aspero archaeological complex, belonging to the Caral civilization, during a press presentation at the Ministry of Culture in Lima on April 24, 2025. ERNESTO BENAVIDES / AFP
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Remains of 5,000-year-old Noblewoman Found in Peru Dig

An ancient artifact found in a recently discovered burial site at the Aspero archaeological complex, belonging to the Caral civilization, during a press presentation at the Ministry of Culture in Lima on April 24, 2025. ERNESTO BENAVIDES / AFP
An ancient artifact found in a recently discovered burial site at the Aspero archaeological complex, belonging to the Caral civilization, during a press presentation at the Ministry of Culture in Lima on April 24, 2025. ERNESTO BENAVIDES / AFP

Archaeologists in Peru said Thursday they found the 5,000-year-old remains of a noblewoman at the sacred city of Caral, revealing the important role played by women in the oldest center of civilization in the Americas.

"What has been discovered corresponds to a woman who apparently had elevated status, an elite woman," archaeologist David Palomino told AFP.

The mummy was found in Aspero, a sacred site within the city of Caral that was a garbage dump for over 30 years until becoming an archaeological site in the 1990s.

Palomino said the carefully preserved remains, dating to 3,000 years BC, contained skin, part of the nails and hair and was wrapped in a shroud made of several layers of fabric and a mantle of macaw feathers.

Macaws are colorful birds that belong to the parrot family.

The woman's funerary trousseau, which was presented to reporters at the culture ministry, included a toucan's beak, a stone bowl and a straw basket.

Preliminary analyses indicate that the remains found in December belong to a woman between 20 and 35 years old who was 1.5 meters (5 feet) tall, and wearing a headdress that represented her elevated social status.

Palomino told reporters the find showed that while "it was generally thought that rulers were men, or that they had more prominent roles in society" women had "played a very important role in the Caral civilization."

Caral society developed between 3000 and 1800 BC, around the same time as other great cultures in Mesopotamia, Egypt and China.

The city is situated in the fertile Supe valley, around 180 kilometers (113 miles) north of Lima and 20 kilometers (12 miles) from the Pacific Ocean.

It was declared a UN World Heritage Site in 2009.