Page 77 - Bulletin, Vol.83 No.2, September 2024
P. 77
EGYPT
The Egyptian "new administrative capital" (Arabic: ﺔﻣﺻﺎﻌﻟﺍﺩﻳﺩﺟﻟﺍ ﺔﻳﺭﺍﺩﻹﺍ ﺓ, al-ʿāṣima al-
ʾidārīya al-gadīda), sometimes called Wedian or Al-Masa, is a new city under
construction since 2016, intended to eventually become the capital of Egypt replacing
Cairo. The construction site is located approximately forty-five kilometres east of Cairo,
in the middle of the desert.
The planned move is an attempt to relieve congestion in the Nile metropolis, which is
experiencing demographic and economic expansion that the infrastructure is struggling
to keep up with. But observers point out that this move eastwards probably also has
political aims, in particular to bring the government closer to the strategic Suez Canal
zone (for more information: https://legrandcontinent.eu/fr/2019/08/15/une-capitale-
chinoise-pour-legypte-au-caire-le-profil-de-la-nouvelle-capitale/).
"L'Octogone", the city's monumental square, in November 2020.
Source WIKIPEDIA
Ancient Egypt changed its capital city with each pharaonic period. Some have withstood
the test of time and remain important sites for the archaeology that gives us so much
information about ancient Egypt, but one has completely disappeared, the one that
Akhenaten wanted: Tell al-Amarna.
AAFI-AFICS BULLETIN, Vol. 83 No.2, 2024-09 75
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