The opening ceremony of the Grand Egyptian Museum was breathtaking. Dozens of delegations arrived from across the Western world to enjoy Western music, Western dancing, and the grand spectacle of the museum’s triangular buildings and the monumental staircase surrounded by artifacts and antiquities. At the center of these scenes and at the forefront of this event was the massive statue of Ramses II and five thousand funerary treasures of Tutankhamun.
The slogan of the museum and of the ceremony, as President al-Sisi declared, was civilization and peace: there can be no civilization without peace. The ancient Egyptian state that had forged peace is the same state that created this civilization that the world now extols.
As I watched the majestic ceremony, I immediately recalled Khedive Ismail’s celebrations of the Suez Canal’s inauguration. It was a grand European spectacle in which the Aida opera was performed. We saw this same model at the museum’s opening ceremony, only it was more dazzling and diverse this time- even if Empress Eugénie of France, the wife of Napoleon III, was not in attendance!
At Khedive Ismail’s celebration, traces of the “Oriental spirit” as imagined by the West were present despite the Western artistic approach. This time, however, both forms of Western culture, classical and modern, were unmistakably there, even in the so-called “Pharaonic” costume.
The new classicism that monumental museums and opera troupes represent, and that emerged in the seventeenth-century, was on full display. It embodied the civilization of peace as the Egyptians have chosen it, modeled on the legacy of seventeenth and eighteenth-century Europe. Europeans have long been enamored of the ancient Egyptian and Babylonian civilizations; most of the archaeological missions to find their treasures were carried out by Europeans, and only later did the Americans and Japanese join them. Thus, the museum’s opening celebration followed the model of European, American, and Japanese cultural ceremonies.
The traditions of the European Renaissance and its evolution were clear sources of inspiration- traditions that have become a model for the entire world. The Japanese, Indians, and Koreans have adapted to them, and the Chinese are on the verge of doing so as well. The Egyptians presented a spectacle that projected refinement and artistry. In the culture of this new global civilization (whether Eastern or Western, Asian or European) we find that this shared model has been essentially fully embraced. In our own region, in contrast, we continue to confront insurgencies and wars that, while they were once national, political, or strategic, have become culture wars that reflect the “clash of civilizations” Huntington had predicted.
A century and a half ago, Khayr al-Din al-Tunisi compared what he called the “European city” to an irresistible flood: unless we go along with the current, we will remain stranded on barren ground.
These are wars of modernity and colonialism. The polarizing struggles of identity and culture entered the fray later on, bringing their own forms of violence. So why, after a hundred and fifty years of imitation and conviction, do some of our youth continue to feel alienated; indeed, it is now music, museums, art, antiquities, and the other aesthetic dimensions of life that draw us? When Joseph Nye, the man who coined the term “soft power,” sought to explain the allure that granted the US influence beyond its military capacities, the “realists” mocked him as a dreamer! The Egyptians, for their part, say that the new museum will draw an additional five million tourists, mostly from Western Europe, America, and even Japan, fascinated by its exotic treasures. They are drawn to the spell of ancient Egypt, not modern Egypt. What is so objectionable about that, when the museums of New York, Paris, Greece, and Italy attract hundreds of millions?
I have previously written about Taha Hussein’s book “The Future of Culture in Egypt,” in which the Dean of Arabic Literature urged Egypt to model itself on the antiquity of Greece and the modernity of Europe. When issues of identity and belonging molest culture to reshape it, they often lead to multipronged divisions and push us in conflicting directions, all of them wrong, bringing a Quranic verse to mind: “And fear a trial not which will afflict those who do wrong among you exclusively. And know that Allah (is) severe (in) the penalty.”
The strength of this new, superior, “Euro-Mediterranean” culture stems from the lack of an alternative. After all, where are the alternative cultures? Where can we even find potential for an alternative that offers a healthier or more peaceful model? It is no longer a problem of imitation or idealized historical purity. It is also a question of the very culture that sustains the colonial mentality, in thought and in practice. A colonial impulse continues to plague both Enlightenment Europe and right-wing Europe alike, under the pretext of conspiring against the world, especially against Islam (!). To our misfortune, we have no real need for such conspiracies; as the saying goes, “the worm that spoils the vinegar emerged from within it.”
Modern Egypt draws upon ancient Egypt both for moral inspiration and to further material interests. However, Egypt does not benefit alone. This ancient civilization also draws tens of millions to Europe. If Africa enjoyed even a measure of stability, its heritage too would command attention, though many remind us that mass tourism has its own drawbacks.
Ultimately, this is a worldview and a way of life that can no longer be ignored or resisted. There are certainly excesses, but they are only found on the surface. The “model” as a whole has proven sound, and its success is beyond dispute.
