KUWAIT:  A number of academics and history researchers celebrated on Sunday the 200th anniversary of the ancient Egyptian decoding language and the 100th anniversary of the discovering Tutankhamen's tomb at the Kuwait National Library. The celebration was organized by the Arts Faculty at Kuwait University in cooperation with the Egyptian Embassy in Kuwait, under the slogan "The Golden Year of Ancient Egyptian Civilization".

Egyptian ambassador to Kuwait Osama Shaltout in a statement to KUNA, praised the depth of the Egyptian-Kuwaiti relations, the role of National Council for Culture, Arts and Literature and the Faculty of Arts at Kuwait University, and their permanent cooperation, adding that Kuwait is a cultural beacon.

In a speech he delivered during the ceremony, Shaltout said that the Egyptian civilization is a leading civilization in its arts, antiquities, science, and human interaction, adding that it was the first civilization in the ancient world to create signs and letters as rules for writing. He stressed the keenness of the ancient Egyptians to record their history and the events they witnessed, noting that with this step "Egypt became the first country in the world to have a written history".

The Dean of the Faculty of Arts at Kuwait University in the history department Dr Abdullah Al-Hajri indicated that Champollion opened the door for new sciences after its announcement, concerned with studying all aspects of the political, social, economic and religious civilization of the Pharaonic era.

A number of history professors, Dr Sultan Al-Duwaish, Dr Khaled Al-Nouri and Dr Ahmed Saeed, presented important aspects of the Egyptian civilization, speaking about the discovery of the Rosetta stone, the discovery of the tomb of King Tutankhamen, the Egyptian inscriptions and writings, and the Egyptian antiquities found in the land of Kuwait.

The lecture and the celebration were moderated by Professor of History at Kuwait University Dr Al-Sayed Ahmed Mahfouz and the General Coordinator of Culture and Arts at the Egyptian Embassy Dr Ibrahim Salam. - KUNA