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Majalla Goes on an Exclusive Tour of the Grand Egyptian Museum
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Majalla Goes on an Exclusive Tour of the Grand Egyptian Museum
The Museum Will Open in Late 2020 and Will Display All of Tutankhamun’s Treasures
by Ahmed Salem
* The museum will display no less than 50 thousand antiquities by the time of its grand opening. * The museum will feature a seven-thousand-meter long section which, for the first time in history, will showcase all of King Tutankhamun’s treasures. *The Archeology Restoration Center in the Grand Egyptian Museum has restored 46 thousand artifacts.
will have put the final touches to the Grand Egyptian Museum which is slated to be open to the public by the final quarter of 2020. The museum, which the ministry says is at 95 percent completion, will display no less than 50 thousand antiquities by the time of its grand opening. The museum will feature a seven-thousand-meter long chamber which, for the first time in history, will showcase all of King Tutankhamun’s treasures.
The museum’s opening ceremony is set to be one of the biggest events in the Middle East, the fact that it will be the world’s largest museum, both in terms of size and number of items, means that the opening ceremony might even prove to be one of biggest events in the world. As the grand scale of the museum reflects the grandiosity of Egyptian culture, the Egyptian Prime Minister wanted the opening ceremony to replicate such magnificence. As such, the opening ceremony will be 12 days long and there are studies currently being conducted on which companies should participate in the event, and which ones would yield the highest returns to
the event. Furthermore, a myriad of international institutions is set to sponsor the event.
The main entrance will feature a square where the world’s first hanging obelisk will be displayed. This hanging obelisk is not an ancient artifact, but rather a modern art piece that replicates ancient Egyptian artwork and architecture. According to Dr. El Tayeb Abbas, the General Director of Archeology at the Grand Egyptian Museum, this marks the first time that Egyptian artists and sculptors attempted
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to accurately imitate the intricate art styles of the ancient Egyptians. Dr. Abbas also confirmed that the process of transporting artifacts to the museum from various sites and other museums is still ongoing in order to accelerate the completion of the exhibitions.
The General Director also said that many of the pieces on display at the Egyptian Museum in the Downtown Cairo area of Tahrir Square, will be transported to the Grand Museum and, as a matter of fact, 50,000 ancient pieces from Tahrir Square
have already made the Grand Museum their new home. Additionally, the museum will display Ramses II’s statue which stands at 11 meters tall and is 3200 years old.
Dr. Abbas was optimistic that the Egyptian tourism industry would surge this year, as an estimated 15 million tourists are expected to visit this year. The last time Egypt saw such numbers was in 2010, the year preceding the Arab Spring which destabilized many countries and industries in the region. Such great news comes as many cultural institutes around the world named Cairo as one of the top ten cities to visit this year. Factors such as the opening of the Grand Museum and plans to start building the Sphinx Airport near the Giza Pyramids have made Egypt such a hot tourist destination.
Furthermore, two months from now all sections of the museum will start being showcased, according to Dr. Abbas. Even the major sections, such as the chamber dedicated to Tutankhamun’s treasures will be part of the showcase. To put into perspective how massive the King Tut section is, Dr. Abbas said that 105 vitrines will be used to store and display the Golden Pharaoh’s treasures. Egyptian archeologist Zahi Hawass said that the
completion of the Grand Egyptian Museum was an extraordinary accomplishment and that it would serve as President Abdel Fatah El Sisi’s gift to the world. At his side was Dr. Eissa Zidan, the Director-General of Executive Affairs for Restoration and Transportation of Antiquities of the Grand Egyptian Museum, who said that the Archeology Restoration Center in the Grand Egyptian Museum has restored 46 thousand artifacts. Additionally, 50 thousand pieces of King Tut’s treasures have arrived at the Archeology Restoration Center as restoration work is done on a weekly basis as to keep up with the established restoration timetable. This also ensures that the pieces will be on display during the preliminary showcase.
The museum’s exterior will have slabs that will have names of the Pharaohs written on them, resembling the cartouches that ancient Egyptians used to display the names of their kings. The cartouches will be hung at the main entrance of the museum and will display the names of the twenty-five dynasties that ruled over Egypt during the Old Kingdom. The family members making up the fourth dynasty will also be included as there will be cartouches for Khufu, Khafre Menkaure
and Snefru. There will also be cartouches bearing the names of the kings that ruled during the 12th dynasty of the Middle Kingdom, as such there will be cartouches for King Senusret, and King Amenemhat. The kings of the New Kingdom will also be commemorated in the museum’s interior, which will have cartouches for King Ahmose, King Amenhotep II, King Akhenaton, King Tutankhamen, and King Rameses II. As a result, these cartouches would turn the museum into a hall of fame for the Pharaohs who reigned over Egypt during its rich ancient history.
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Zhou Qunfei: The Entrepreneur Who’s Behind the Touch Screen Technology We Use Everyday
by Majalla-London
Early Struggles in the Chinese Countryside Zhou Qunfei was born in 1970 in Xiangxiang a city situated in the largely rural province of Hunan. She was born to a poor working-class family. Tragedy seemed to follow the family; her father who was a factory worker and the household’s main provider lost a finger in an industrial accident. He, nevertheless, still made ends meet by taking on a number of odd jobs such as repairing bicycles and weaving baskets. Her mother would soon die when she was just 5 years old, and her father had started to slowly lose his vision. All those tribulations meant that the young Zhou would have to start pulling her own weight to help her struggling family. As such, she would take on a job rearing pigs and ducks for a small wage.
The School Pupil turned Glass Artisan Eventually, she would become the only member of her family to attend secondary school, and she showed promise of becoming a bright student. However, her circumstances forced her to quit school and move to her uncle’s house in Shenzhen in the more industrial province of Guangdong. To make up for her lack of a diploma, she would work for companies close to Shenzhen University where she took a number of different courses, eventually became qualified in accounting and computer operations. At the age of 22, she would work a small company that made watch parts, making an equivalent of just one dollar a day. After a few short months, she wasn’t satisfied with her working conditions and gave her management a letter of resignation. Having proved herself as a hard worker and valuable asset to the company, upper management decided to give Zhou a promotion. Her work experience and independent course work made her into a highly qualified glass lens maker. Opportunity Knocks the Glass Ceiling for Qunfei Eventually, the company she worked for went under and she suddenly found herself out of a job. Rather than going on a job hunt, Zhou decided to take the entrepreneurial route and start a business venture. This was a risky decision since she would need ample funding (around 3,000 dollars) to jumpstart her business. Furthermore, as startup culture in China is a male dominated field, the odds were stacked against her. But, her family believed in her, and with their encouragement and financial cooperation, she founded her own watch lens business in 1993. The company had modest familial beginnings, as her brother, sister, their spouses, and two of her cousins were her first business partners as they turned their small -3bedroom flat into their workstation.
Quality that’s Affordable Zhou had a simple vision for her business, she wanted to make high-quality watch lenses at affordable prices. To ensure this quality, she took upon herself to oversee all the operations of the company, from repairs to creating improved designs of factory machinery. The quality of her company’s products caught the eye of TCL Corporation a large Chinese electronics corporation which, in 2001, contracted her company to make glass screens for their mobile phones. important turning point not just in her own life, but in the mobile industry as a whole. Soon after her work on the Motorola Razr, she foresaw another transition in the mobile market: touch screens. As such, she started another company named Lens Technology to fulfill this growing demand. While touchscreens on phones were already becoming more commonplace in the early 2000s, most phones that sported this new technology had resistive touch screens, which needed pressure to function. This was a reason why many touch screen phones at the time came with a stylus, as the blunt end of this simple tool was effective in registering commands in such pressure-sensitive screens. However, in 2007, Apple introduced the first-ever iPhone to the public, a phone that popularized the capacitive touch screen in the mobile industry. Unlike, resistive screens, these glass capacitive screens were not pressuresensitive and would respond easily to the simple touch of the human fingers and surprise, surprise it was Qunfei’s Lens Technology which provided Apple with the screens for its first iPhone. After Apple popularized the capacitive touch screen, other mobile companies followed suit. Soon enough, Lens Technology provided touch screens for companies like Huawei, Samsung and, of course, Apple. It is highly likely that the touch screen you use every day on your smartphone was made by Qunfei’s company.
The transition from Plastic to Glass While the transition from plastic screens to glass screens would not take place in other electronics companies for another few years, it was Motorola which made this transition a bigger trend in the international market. Like TLC Corporation the American tech giant asked Qunfei’s company to make the glass screen for the Motorola Razr. The Revolutionary Capacitive Touch Screen Qunfei’s work with Motorola proved to be an Defying the Odds Zhou Qunfei is now the world’s richest self-made woman. Her company, Lens Technology, has become an integral part of the modern mobile industry. Her journey was not an easy one as she has had to overcome poverty, sexism and harsh working conditions. However, through her perseverance, she was able to change her life and, on a wider scale, helped make our big world feel a little bit closer.
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Quick-start Guide to Mental Health Professionals
Learn About the Different Kinds of Experts and How They Can Help You
by Harvard Health Letter
Where should you turn when you suspect that you have a mental health condition: a psychiatrist, a psychologist, or some other type of mental health professional? It›s tough to figure out what kind of clinician can best help you sort out your problems and provide the care you need.
Often a primary care visit is a good start. Your physician can assess your symptoms and refer you to a mental health professional for evaluation and appropriate treatment.
MENTAL ILLNESSES
In the United States, at least one in five adults has a mental health disorder. «Mood and anxiety disorders are surprisingly common, as are stress disorders and personality disorders. A smaller but significant number of people have a major, disabling mental illness like schizophrenia,» says Dr. Michael Craig Miller, assistant professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. These conditions are just as real as physical disorders and should not be chalked up to older age. «Getting older presents challenges, but any increase in mental distress should not be considered normal,» Dr. Miller says.
WHO CAN HELP
Mental health professionals have a range of training and expertise. You may be referred to any of the following. A psychiatrist. Psychiatrists can provide medical and psychiatric evaluations, treat psychiatric disorders, provide psychotherapy, and prescribe and monitor medications. Training: An M.D. or D.O. (Doctor of Osteopathy) degree, plus at least four years of special training in psychiatry.
A psychologist. Psychologists do psychological evaluations and testing. They provide psychotherapy to treat mental disorders. They cannot prescribe medication. Training: A doctorate (Ph.D., Psy.D., or Ed.D) in clinical, educational, counseling, or research psychology.
A psychiatric/mental health nurse practitioner (PMHNP). PMHNPs can evaluate and diagnose mental health disorders, provide psychotherapy, and prescribe medicine (in some states under a psychiatrist›s supervision). Training: A master of science in nursing (M.S.N.) or doctor of nursing (D.N.P.) degree, with added mental health education.
The mental health professional you need depends on your condition, your preferences, and the availability of clinicians in your area.
the education level and the state, psychiatric or mental health nurses may be able to assess mental illnesses, provide psychotherapy, or prescribe medication. Training: An associate›s degree (R.N.), bachelor›s degree (B.S.N.), master›s degree (M.S.N. or A.P.R.N.), or doctoral degree (D.N.Sc., Ph.D.).
Clinical social worker. Depending on their level of education, social workers can assess and treat mental illness and provide psychotherapy. They cannot prescribe medication. Training: A master›s degree (M.A., M.S., M.S.W., or M.S.S.W.) or doctoral degree (D.S.W. or Ph.D.).
Licensed professional counselor. Licensed professional counselors, who come from a variety of backgrounds, are licensed by individual states. They can assess mental health conditions and provide individual, family, or group therapy. They cannot prescribe medication. Training: A master›s degree (M.A. or M.S.) in psychology, counseling, or another mental health-related field and typically two years of supervised postgraduate experience.
Other specialists. Members of the clergy (ministers, priests, rabbis, or imams) or peer counselors (people who›ve experienced mental health issues) can provide support and advice. They cannot prescribe medication. Training: Certification varies by state for peer counselors. Some states require clergy members to be licensed in order to provide counseling.
HELP FOR CHANGES IN MEMORY AND THINKING SKILLS
You might assume that a mental health professional is the first expert to consult if you are having
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trouble with your memory or mental skills. But if such problems are interfering with your dayto-day functioning, a physician should evaluate you to check for neurological illnesses such as mild cognitive impairment, Parkinson›s disease, Alzheimer›s disease, or vascular dementia.
Your primary care physician can perform the initial assessment. He or she may then refer you for an examination by a neurologist or for a scan of your brain. Or you might need to see a neuropsychologist, who can conduct extensive testing to identify specific areas of difficulty. Once the problems have been defined, you may be given
treatment to either reverse or prevent further progression of the underlying illness. You may also be referred to a clinician who specializes in helping people manage problems. For example, if decision making has become difficult, the clinician may look for practical, achievable ways to make decisions simpler, such as reducing the amount of clothing in your closet or paring down pots and pans in your kitchen.
You may also benefit by seeing a team of experts who can suggest activities and lifestyle changes to improve brain fitness. Treatment usually integrates physical exercise, nutrition, sleep, meditation, and cognitive training. Cognitive training routines make use of games, sometimes on a computer, to help you improve mental skills, response times, and attention.
WHO’S RIGHT FOR YOU?
depends on your condition, your preferences, and the availability of clinicians in your area. If your doctor suspects that you›ll benefit from medication, you may be referred to a psychiatrist or a PMHNP. If your problems are milder or you›re coping with life stress or situational issues, any kind of professional who provides therapy may be able to help. Sometimes a number of mental health professionals will work together to get you feeling better, such as a psychiatrist for medication and another professional for psychotherapy.
WHAT YOU CAN EXPECT?
Any evaluation will involve you describing the problems and stresses in your life, the important people in your support system, and your feelings about your situation. Mental health professionals who can prescribe medicine will ask about your medical history and any other medications you›re currently taking.
Psychotherapy involves talking about yourself, including some of your intimate thoughts and feelings. Your therapist will ask questions to guide you and will likely offer tips or tools to help you cope. He or she will keep all the information strictly confidential.
For more information, check out the Harvard Special Health Report Understanding Depression (www.health.harvard.edu/UD).
