WAS MOSES the former King of Egypt, AKENATEN, who was deposed and exiled for his belief in ONE true God (Aten, as in the end of his name) and destroying the idols of his people. Was his wife Nefertti and son King Tut who were the last rulers of the 18th Egyptian dynasty? For decades, scholars have debated this issue with men like Sigmund Freud speculating on the prospects. The word ‘Moses’ is not originally a Jewish name but Egyptian and it comes from the line of kings Tutmosis meaning ‘child of Thoth (the Egyptian pluralist god). The Bible has 430 years of missing data from the time Moses led the Jewish people out into the desert. This gap has severed the continuum between the roots of the Jews to the very fundamentals of their religion which became altered over those years.
Today living in Charlottesville direct from California is an extraordinary family, Edgard and Maj-Gun Mansoor who own a tiny store at 300 West Main Street next to the Bus Terminal called Mansoor’s. Edgard’s family, originally from Egypt, owns the Tel-El-Amarna Collection, which are the only private pieces of King Akhenaten and his family in the world. The collection is the largest equal only to that of the Vatican! Mr. Mansoor’s father was the Head of Antiquities for the King of Egypt in the 1930’s. The family collection was displayed in the famous Sheridan Hotel in Egypt, which was burned to the ground during the 1950’s by rebel’s. The only thing that remains from the collection is the Akhenaten treasures. The family lost everything else.
Mr. Mansoor is an expert, as his family heritage would suggest, in Egyptian and Oriental Art and jewlery. The store displays many interesting pieces (for sale) from long forgotten eras. One interesting piece is an oriental wall hanging done in ‘blind art’. It is known as this because the stitch was so tiny that the artists usually went blind before completing the work. This art was banned in Asia and hence, the tiny stitching is unable to be replicated.
There are original jewelry pieces from stones of the 18th dynasty as well as new pieces which the Mansoor’s design themselves. There are original treasures from all over the globe for sale. We sell semi-precious stone bead necklaces, antiques, Oriental art (carved laquer vases, cloisonne’, jade carvings, soapstone, etc.), antique paintings and embroideries.We also restring and/or knot all kinds of bead necklaces, including pearls.
The Mansoor’s came here to be closer to their grandchildren in the senior days of their lives although Mr. Mansoor could do without the snow here in Cville! Mrs. Mansoor is a native of Sweden and both met in CA. Expecting them to be of a typical religious persuasion of that side of the globe, it turns out that the Mansoor’s are Christian, Catholic to be exact! When Mr. Mansoor’s father went to Italy on a project, he met his future wife who was an Italian Catholic and brought her back to Egypt!
Formerly known as “Mansoor of Shepheard’s Hotel” in Newport Beach and Corona Del Mar, California and “Mansoor’s Imports” in San Juan Capistrano, California Edgard Mansoor is one of ten children of the late M.A. Mansoor and his wife Isabelle, of Cairo, Egypt. M.A. Mansoor established himself as a reputable antiquities dealer working out of his shop in the Shepheard’s Hotel in Cairo in 1904. He gained the respect of, and was consulted by, antiquities dealers and collectors as well as kings and ambassadors from around the world. Most notably, he was an advisor to Egypt’s last monarch, King Farouk. M.A. Mansoor is perhaps best known for his acquisition of ancient limestone carvings now known as the Tel el Amarna Collection. Edgard Mansoor arrived in the United States in 1953. Having worked a variety of jobs, he finally found his niche following in his father’s footsteps – dealing in jewelry, antiques and works of art. Today, he and his wife Maj-Gun, a Swedish speaking immigrant from the Aland Islands, own and operate Mansoor’s in Charlottesville, Virginia.
