13 Sep 2013 - 09:00
http://www.iae-egyptology.org/
Last year, the changes in Egypt made it impossible for the Egyptian organizers to continue their plans for the International Congress of Egyptologists that had been scheduled for September 2012 in Cairo. As a result, the IAE asked member organizations for bids to host the next Congress elsewhere, which we had planned to post on the IAE website this month so that all IAE members could vote on them. We have received a large number of such bids, and are all very grateful for the vision and initiative of the IAE members and member organizations who submitted them.
In the last few months, however, our Egyptian colleagues have come forward with a proposal to host the next Congress at the Calligraphy Center in Alexandria. As you may recall, this was actually the proposal first discussed at the 2008 ICE in Rhodes, before the Egyptian authorities changed the venue to Cairo. The officers of the IAE have discussed this new proposal in detail with our Egyptian counterparts, and we are agreed that we should accept it on behalf of the IAE. We have reached this decision primarily for two reasons. First, we feel a sense of commitment to our Egyptian colleagues because of the agreement reached in 2008 to hold the Congress in Egypt and because it has been the tradition to award the Congress to Egypt if they request it. Second, we feel it is important for the IAE to show its support for the efforts of our Egyptian colleagues to continue academic work after the disruptions of last year. In this, we believe that we reflect the feelings of all Egyptologists.
The next Congress will be held at the Calligraphy Center in Alexandria, under the direction of Ahmed Mansour, Deputy Director of the Center. The schedule has been set preliminarily for Friday, September 13, to Friday, September 20. All announcements, news, and details regarding the Congress will be posted on this website as we receive them. In addition, the Calligraphy Center is preparing its own website devoted to the Congress.
We extend our thanks and best wishes to our Egyptian hosts, and urge all IAE members to plan on attending. The IAE will cooperate in every way possible to ensure that ICE 2013 is a success.
See you in Alex!
James P. Allen, President, IAE
Laure Pantalacci, Vice-President, IAE
Ursula Verhoeven-van Elsbergen, General Secretary, IAE