Sisi inaugurates renovated Museum of Islamic Art

President Abdel Fattah El Sisi inaugurated the renovated Museum of Islamic Art Wednesday. 

Sisi was accompanied by Prime Minister Sherif Ismail and the ministers of interior and antiquities Magdy Abdel Ghaffar and Khaled el Anani respectively. 

A documentary was played on the history of the museum and renovation work.

A terrorist attack on Cairo Police headquarters in 2014 had caused huge damage to the nearby museum.

The Museum of Islamic Art is considered one of the greatest in the world, with its exceptional collection of rare woodwork and artifacts, as well as metal, ceramic, glass, crystal, and textile objects of all periods and from all over the Islamic world.

It houses more than 100,000 objects and its collection includes rare manuscripts of the Qur'an, with some calligraphy written in silver ink. 
Antiquities minister Anani said the Museum of Islamic Art is inaugurated today after two years of renovation work. 

According to him, the museum can very well serve as a main reference of Islamic art .

It is not the first time the museum has been rehabilitated, the minister said. The Museum of Islamic Art had been renovated a number of times, including in 1983 and 2010, Anani said.

Many friendly countries contributed to the renovation process, atop of which the UAE, which offered 50 million pounds worth of a grant that was used for the purpose, he said.

UNESCO also offered a grant of 100,000 dollars to help renovate the museum, the minister added.