Ancient civilizations find common ground

Enhancing cooperation

From 2024 to 2025, the Shanghai Museum's On Top of the Pyramid: The Civilization of Ancient Egypt exhibition marked successful cooperation between the museum and the Egyptian antiquities authorities, attracting over 2.77 million visits in its 13-month run.

Gao highlights the display as "the cultural event of the year", owing its success to the curators' creative displays and activities that attracted large audiences every month, the charm of ancient Egyptian civilization, which remains mysterious and also offers archaeological evidence for discussion, and, more importantly, the Chinese people's interest in other civilizations.

"I feel strongly that Chinese people today want to get closer to other ancient civilizations. It becomes part of their cultural life," Gao says.

Chinese archaeologists have participated in unveiling more about Egypt's past. An official Chinese-Egyptian joint archaeological mission was launched in 2016 by the Institute of Archaeology at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and Egypt's Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, focusing on studies of the Temple of Montu, part of the Karnak Temple in Luxor, an ancient city.

Gao is a member of the joint archaeological team. He says that in the past decade, the cooperation has achieved many successes by enriching understanding of the layout of the site, its construction process, functional changes over time, and its place in history.

"Ancient Egyptian civilizations were iconic in our minds, and my Egyptian colleagues had the same impression of Chinese civilizations. But after working together for almost 10 years, I have seen a branching out, which helps deepen each other's understanding of our cultures," says Gao.

Both Egypt and China have such long histories; their ancient cultures are often compared. For example, China's Shang Dynasty (c. 16th century-11th century BC) ruled during a similar time to Egypt's New Kingdom, which makes it possible for comparative studies between the civilizations.

Gao recalls the moments when the whole team truly connected. In March 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic broke out, Chinese members had to stay in Luxor for several months. Their Egyptian colleagues offered food and protective masks and took care of them as if they were family members.

Moreover, on March 1, he saw the Egyptian government's support for China's fight against the pandemic by lighting up the first pylon of the Karnak Temple with China's national flag.

"It was really moving and unforgettable," he says.

Westra speaks highly of the joint project. "The mission is very symbolic of China's engagement with world heritage and willingness to preserve human heritage around the world," he says.

Speaking about ancient wisdom that inspires the modern world, Gao says that when ancient Egyptians built the pyramids, they used materials from around the world. He believes we still need to "find the wisdom to collaborate and create the future we want".

Westra highlights the long-term and the planting of something positive for future generations.

"An ancient Greek proverb says,'Wise people plant trees whose shadow they will never enjoy'. I think if there is something we learn from the past, it is that people lived their lives, they satisfied their needs and desires, and they built something for posterity.

"We build something today that we may never see the fruits of. This idea of leaving something positive for the future is one lesson I would keep from the past," Westra says.