Antiquities Minister Mamdouh al-Damaty announced he would petition The Islamic World Heritage Committee (IWHC), a subsidiary of the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ISESCO) to include the city of Rosetta in its Heritage List.
“Rosetta, famous for its well-preserved buildings in a unique Islamic architectural style, is considered the second most significant historical city of Islamic heritage after Cairo in terms of the number of historical monuments the city houses,” Damaty was quoted in Al-Ahram Monday.
The committee convened its 5th meeting in Cairo Tuesday to enhance cooperation to preserving the Islamic civilization’s heritage, according to a statement on the Facebook page of the ministry Monday.
Members of the IWHC are also scheduled to discuss the challenges facing Islamic monuments in hotspots in Arab and Islamic countries and also to propose mechanisms to protect Islamic heritage during armed conflicts, Al-Ahram reported Monday.
Rosetta, located 65 kilometers east of Egypt’s Mediterranean city of Alexandria, is a port city on the western branch of the River Nile and located 13 kilometers southeast of the river’s entrance into the Mediterranean.
“The city was founded in the eighth century by Haroun al-Rashid, the fifth caliph of the Abbasid dynasty (786–809.) It acquired its Arabic name, Rashid, from the Caliph,” archaeologist Sherif el-Sabban told The Cairo Post Tuesday.
It is also the city where the famous Rosetta stone was found, Sabban added.
