The Night of Counting
the Years
The Night of Counting the Years, directed by Egyptian
filmmaker Shadi Abdel Salam, was released in 1969.
A film based on documented events involving a French
archeological expedition that carried out excavations in the Valley
of the Kings near Thebes in 1881, and local people who found themselves
forced to sell revered Egyptian artifacts on the black market to
sustain themselves. By presenting a story that probes into complex
relationships between archeological grave robbers and Egyptians,
the film challenges European accounts that equate the removal of
ancient Egyptian artifacts with claims of "rescue" or
"scientific progress". It provides more than a simple
condemnation of individuals and institutions that mounted and supported
Egyptology. The central concern of the film is exploring the Egyptian
cultural identity, a complex identity that depends on "a synthesis
of Pharaonic past, Arabic language and Islam” (Shohat, 39).
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