A-Four wrote: Sun Sep 29, 2019 10:50 pm I only hope that long before I die, such a place can be set up to tell the true story of the hill people of the West Bank, that already seems even now lost to the modern world.
If anyone wishes to do a search on here for Daramali House, you will see that a number of the old ex-pat community really wanted a museum of the hill people life, that now longer exists. There are many old true stories, I myself have seen wonderful gold statues, evidently from various wealthy tombs, where within a very short period these beautiful items, that I actually held in my hand, were simply taken away and melted down. What people have to understand is that if the authorities found any such treasure in any of those old houses, not only was the main suspects home destroyed but ALSO their near neighbours homes also.
Many of you will remember those oil barrel things mounted on wheels pulled by a donkey that brought water up the hills from either Noir El Querrna or near the Ramassis Restaurant I gave one of those things to Caroline Simpson, to then discover she had already purchase another from a rather candy character type person for the equivalent today for £50, that person knew I was to give mine for free, but that's life.
I remember at that time a certain Egyptologist working out of German House, he told me that he understood people needed the water to be taken up the hills, but could not understand why none of the such stuff, waste or otherwise was never brought down. Oh boy, he honestly believed that once the houses had been removed, the archaeologists would prepare the tombs below to be opened to the public. I could not believe how stupid this man was. Most of these tombs were cleared out years ago, by the time of the late 1980's, the last of the genuine wall plasters were sold off to tourist in small pieces, those since we're simply fake, usually made up in Gabouwi.
It was only years later that this truth became so, as the hill people moved out, the bulldozers moved in, if anyone is really serious of finding tombs in that area, you would certainly not move in such machinery , but the authorities knew only too well, anything there, had long gone.
Years ago, I was once asked if I would write a book, I made it quite clear then as now, I shall never write, simply because one has to name, names. I would never do that, so many of the old school Egyptians are now no longer with us. It has to be remembered that I was in Egypt when I was a young man of 30 years, even now I'm getting on, though I assure you all, I'm still able to climb The Quirn, even though it seem 'the mountain goats' have long gone, God bless them.
Ms Caroline Simpson recently gave a lecture in Bath, and now I understand back in London. Sad to say it is now my belief that Daramali House will not be so, simply because the Egyptian government will not fund its future, even though some of us fools would even pay to set-up the thing. Oh corruption why is it so important even in Egyptian culture. Farouk Hosni such a wonderful Culture Minister in Egypt, who actually cared,...........but then came the so called revolution.