We all know how Nerfertiti's portrait-bust was found practically intact on 6 December 1912, in the workshop of Thutmose, an Ancient Egyptian sculptor from Tel al-Amarna, Akhnaton's capital city.

Painted in the most delicate manner, the long-necked queen is adorned for a ceremony with a crown and a large necklace. So well made, she is virtually alive, imagines her discoverer, the director of the German Orient Society (Deutsche Orient-Gesellschaft). Alive enough so that he could no longer part with her. "Describing her is useless," he writes the following day. "She must be seen!"

The bust eventually turns up in Berlin and its discoverer decorated by a grateful Kaiser. Later, in an act of recognition for services rendered to the Vaterland, Borchardt is nominated honorary cultural attaché at the German Embassy in Cairo.

The Berlin-born archeologist turned temporary smuggler and sometime diplomat is the legendary Ludwig Borchardt (1864-1938) formerly of No. 13 Maa'had El Swissry Street (ex-Amir Saiid Street), Zamalek.

Listed in a 1910 directory, Herr Borchardt is one of the island's first long-term residents. Recognized as Germanys' leading Egyptologist, Borchardt convinces his government to purchase the next door villa so that together with his own, the German Orient Society becomes one of Gezirah Island's most respected cultural landmarks. And with more discoveries credited to the Society each year, the name Borchardt became a household name in the world of Egyptology.

One therefore asks the question as to why a half-century later, neither the German Orient Society nor the Foundation that physically replaced it is attendant in our collective memory.

Another interrogation is how these historic premises became al-Maa'had al-Swissry a.k.a. the Swiss Institute for Archaeology and Architecture --hence the name of the street. Why, for instance, was the street not renamed Shari'a Boorkart?

As though by some Pharaoh's curse, three decades of Borchardt-Cairotica are suddenly irrelevant. Furthermore, the Egyptologist is undeserving of a visible commemorative plaque. A plaque evidencing that the discoverer (ok, part-time smuggler if you will) of the world's most highly recognized bust, spent the best years of his life on Cairo's blessed island. Is this blatant omission possible in a country that prides itself as the world's largest depository of ancient relics?

Yet, in all due fairness, we are not alone when turning our backs on Herr Borchardt. At least we can remonstrate he was a smuggler par excellence and that Queen Nefertiti rightfully belongs in the Cairo (or Tel al-Amrarna) and not the Berlin Museum.

No, the temporary attempts at erasing Borchardt's remembrance started back when he went into early retirement. It was about this time that the German Orient Society closed shop only to re-open as the German Archeological Institute in another part of Zamalek. In 1931, with Professor Herman Junker at the helm (some scholars consider Junker to be Austrian), the latter moved into a new villa situated at No. 5 Kamel Mohammed Street, now, the Canadian Ambassador's residence.

The German Institute's new director was Borchardt's former aide and colleague. Both savants had dedicated their lives to the study of the worlds' most ancient civilization. But there was one variance that separated them. Borchardt was a Jew and no longer worthy of any association with the Reich's prestigious overseas cultural center. Never mind that Adolf Hitler was reportedly smitten with Queen Nefertiti mentioning her more than once in his fiery diatribes. In fact, there were rumors that in exchange for Egypt's declared support of the Third Reich, the Fuhrer would return Germany's most visited bust. Just rumors.

But as Nazism and Fascism sped on, the former director of the Deutsche Orient-Gesellschaft had fewer oppotunities before him; perhaps the rationale behind his decision to create a privately funded Foundation. Married to the wealthy Emilie "Mimi" Ed. Cohen of Frankfurt, money was not an issue and the savant could thus pursue his academic interests unhindered.

As the situation deteriorated in Europe and as anti-semitism spread among Germanophiles all over the world an uncomfortable Mimi Borchardt resigned from several German associations/guilds of which she had been a patron.

Ill at ease and by now stateless, Ludwig Borchardt's predicament worsened. Fearing for his interests and a lifetime's wealth of research and artifacts, it was time to look around for some form of legal and diplomatic protection. Options were limited so that ultimately, and in typical pre-WW2 fashion, a deal was struck with the Swiss Confederation.

Professor Borchardt died in Zurich on 12 August 1938 aged 74. Ten years later the Swiss were declared official beneficiaries of his floral estate on the Nile a.k.a. the Ludwig Borchardt Foundation. In 1952 the name of the street fronting the new Swiss Institute was aptly renamed Maa'had al-Swissry.

Meanwhile Nefertiti is alive and well in Berlin's Aegyptisches Museum having miraculously survived the bombing and looting of the Third Reich hidden firstly in a bunker at the Berlin Zoo and later in salt mines in the Thuringen region.

One question remains however, did the 3,000 year old Queen ever transit in Zamalek?

Reader Comments

From: John Doe Date: Wednesday, February 08, 2006 10:29 PM Alain Pierre should have told you that Borchardt was not a director of the German Orient Society, instead since August 1907 he was the director of the "Imperial German Institute for Egyptian Archaeology (Altertumskunde)", later "German Archaeological Institute at Cairo". He supervised the excavations of the German Orient Society at Amarna; the society never rented or owned a house in Cairo or anywhere else in Egypt. Mr. Pierre Z. a Franco-Swiss member of the IFAO (French Archeological Institute in Cairo) commented on above article shortly after its publication: "It is incomplete and inaccurate!" Unfortunately he refused to point out the inaccuracies! Author of above article wishes to inform his readers that yes, his research can never be 100% accurate or complete. Which is why most of his articles are posted on his website on internet. This gives us all the chance to read, comment, correct and share information relevant to articles dealing with Cairo's architectural landmarks. It is thanks to this kind of e-interaction that we shall eventually get a complete and more accurate picture. So please, don't be an indisposed Monsieur Pierre. Feel free to E-mail me your comments and corrections. THEY ARE MOST WELCOME.

Member of parliament for Zamalek and Garden City (18th district) The Honorable Hesham Moustafa Khalil (NDP) is deputy chairman of the Parliamentary Culture, Tourism and Media Committee reachable at: hkhalil54@yahoo.com

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