Egypt celebrates reopening of Museum of Islamic Art

Egypt's ministry of antiquities celebrated Thursday the inauguration of the renovated Museum of Islamic Art.

The ministry held a concert in the vicinity of the museum that was officially inaugurated Wednesday after two years of renovation work.

In January 2014, the museum sustained severe damage when a car bomb exploded outside a nearby security building.

The event was attended by large numbers of government officials, local and foreign archaeologists as well as foreign diplomats.

Speaking to journalists during the ceremony, Egyptian minister of antiquities said the restoration costs of the museum are estimated at 57 million Egyptian pounds, with 50 million donated by United Arab Emirates.

He added that the museum is now the largest museum of Islamic arts worldwide as it embraces some 100,000 artifacts.

Egypt, one of the most ancient civilizations, has been working hard to preserve its archaeological heritage and discover the secrets of the archaeology of Pharaohs and other ancient civilizations across the country.

It's in a bid to revive the country's ailing tourism sector which has been suffering an acute recession over the past few years due to political turmoil and relevant security issues.

The North African country netted just 6.1 billion dollars in tourism revenues in 2015, a drastic downturn from 12.5 billion in 2010, according to the country's Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics. Endit