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- CAIRO (AFP) -
In a symbol
of the renewal of life through the ages, Egypt's Great
Pyramid of Cheops
will be rigged to emit golden rays of light at the
birth of the new millennium
after an all-night electronic
opera.
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- The
rays will bathe an international audience of 50,000
people at dawn on
the year 2000 on the desert plateau by Cheops and the
two other
pyramids, the last of the seven wonders of the ancient world
still in
existence.
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- The moment will also be beamed to a world television
audience
in what officials here see as a great opportunity to promote Egypt,
whose tourism has suffered greatly from Islamic militant violence.
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- In a three-act
performance with the two other focal points
at sunset and midnight,
French composer Jean-Michel Jarre revealed he will
follow the theme of
"Twelve Dreams of the Sun," central to ancient
Egyptian
mythology.
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- His "special effects will give the illusion that
the
Pyramids are the doors through which the sun passes," he told
a
news conference here Wednesday.
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- "In ancient Egypt, the sun travelled through the
night passing through 12 doors, each one representing a dream, to be
reborn
young and perfect," Jarre said.
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- "The sun, symbol of Egypt
and time, seemed to me
to be the best analogy to celebrate the new
millennium," he said.
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- There will also be fireworks, dances, a blend of
Oriental
and Western music, as well as performances by Egyptian groups
playing ancient
Egyptian instruments.
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- A brochure released at the news
conference said the show
was designed to revive notions from an ancient
time.
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- "The essence of the ancient Egyptian civilization
and its
primary catalyst is the ancient Egyptian belief that human life
is
never ending with death," it said.
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- Cheops, estimated to be 4,500
years old and the largest
of the trio at 137 meters (452 feet) tall,
re-opened to tourists in June
after more than a year of
restoration.
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- Egypt is promoting the event as marking the start of
its own
seventh millennium, although critics point out it also coincides
with
the subdued Moslem fasting month of Ramadan.
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- Critics have also complained
that Jarre and his cast
of 1,000 performers, technicians and others
were receiving hundreds of
thousands of dollars for a performance that
should have been awarded primarily
to Egyptians.
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- They also fear Cheops will be
damaged when show organizers
place a modern nine-meter (29.5-foot) high
golden pyramid atop the pyramid's
missing peak to transmit the rays of
light for the dawn culmination.
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- But Culture Minister Faruk Hosni, who was at Wednesday's
press conference, again defended the celebration.
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- "Its 9.5-million-dollar
cost ... is much lower than
the artistic value" of the show, he
said.
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- Hosni added that a consortium involving 60 countries
will
broadcast 20 minutes of the extravaganza on 300 television channels
in
a "promotion blitz for Egypt in which every minute is worth a
publicity
campaign."
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- "Islam does not forbid beauty nor the spread of
great values," Hosni said.
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- In respect for Ramadan, Jarre said the opera will start
in a low-key way at sundown, when Muslims conduct prayers before breaking
the daytime fast.
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- There will be discreet lighting and music inspired by
the
mystical Muslim Sufi chants, he said.
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- Hosni and Jarre also pointed
out that the celebration
will feature not only Egyptian performers but
also the music of the late
Egyptian diva Um Kalsum, whose voice Jarre
pledged would not be modified
electronically.
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- The price of tickets ranges
from 150 dollars to 400 dollars.
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