A renowned egyptologist has defended the authenticity of an ancient Egyptian painting, the so-called "Meidum Gesse", against suspicions raised by an Italian professor, head of the Italian archaeological mission in Luxor.
Al-Masry Al-Youm had obtained a copy of the research paper prepared Francesco Tiradritti, professor of archaeology at Kore University of Enna, in which he states that the painting, displayed at the Egyptian Museum, is fake.
Tiradritti believes the painting was drawn by Luigi Vassalli, the Egyptologist who discovered the piece at the tomb of Nefermaat in 1871.
Zahi Hawas, former head of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, refuted Tiradritti’s claim that the grass-feeding geese depicted in the painting was a species not present in Egypt.
“The geese seen in the painting were discovered in Saqqara, Abusir and Giza”, Hawas wrote in Al-Masry Al-Youm. “Scenes depicting animals in the Delta jungles were common in the tombs from the Old Kingdom and pyramids, until the age of King Saho Raa, the second king of the Fifth Dynasty," he adds.
"The painting’s theme is genuinely Egyptian, with the symmetry and duality best known in Egyptian art”, Hawas said, adding that “the grass eaten by the geese can also bee seen on the walls of other Old Kingdom tombs.”
Hawas argues that Tiradritti should have discussed his conclusions with Egypt’s Ministry of Antiquities before making them public.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
