Egyptian Tourist Authority Press Release - Millennium Celebrations

Press Release

Egypts Minister of Tourism

Egypt Update

February 10, 1999

Millennium Celebrations in Egypt

While Egypt will be sharing with all Mankind the celebration of the birth of the 21st Century, a momentous milestone in the world history, Egypt will have its splendid occasion to celebrate the dawning of the seventh millennium of the country's recorded history.

Egypt is currently repaving the route the Holy Family followed in Egypt. So as the world will be celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ, Egypt will be reviving and giving prominence to all the religious landmarks which constitute the spiritual heritage of one Egyptian civilization. The nation's project which is currently underway will restore and preserve this heritage, thus, generating a rennaissance in a temporal context connecting the past with the present and providing an impetus for the future.

Several tour packages are being finalized now. These tours are expected to draw tremendous numbers of tourists.

Another major celebration will be taking place at the Giza Plateau. The Great Pyramid of Cheops will be topped off with a golden pyramidian and the music entitled Twelve Dreams of the Son will be performed by the eminent French composer Jean-Michel Jarre. The musical, which will be divided into twelve sections, each lasting for one whole hour, will start at the sunset of December 31st, 1999 until the sunrise of January 1st, 2000. According to Mr. Jarre, the essense of this celebration will be to reflect the Egyptian traditions and rituals. The timing of the celebration which coincides with the setting and rising of the sun, relates to the ancient Egyptian heritage and traditions that have always been inspired by the sun. And as the millennium celebration also coincides with the duration of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, which is based on the concept of fasting from sunrise to sunset, a strong correlation between the different aspects of the celebration is to be derived.

Other celebrations offered by a number of Cairo-based tour operators include Edfu, Karnak, and Hatshepsut temples.

The Egyptian people are longing for this very unique celebration, and because they have always been the essential product in this harmony in diversity, they would like in their celebration to voice to the whole world an essential message which is:

On this land of Egypt, where the first voice proclaiming the Oneness of God through Akhenaton's monotheistic creed, and where Moses and Jesus lived, and where Islam entered, Egypt will always remain a safe haven of peace and co-existence.