This photo shows a sculpture created by an Egyptian artist for Cairo International airport in 2008

  • This article is more than one year old.
  • Published on August 14, 2019 at 11:15
  • 2 min read
  • By Adeng MAYIK
A photo has been shared thousands of times in multiple posts on Facebook which claim it shows stones tied up by the Prophet Mohammed 1400 years ago. The claim is false; the photo shows a sculpture created by an Egyptian artist for Cairo International airport in 2008.

The photo was published here on Facebook on 19 December 2015.

It has been shared more than 40,000 times.

The Urdu-language caption translates to English as: “These stones were tied by prophet Mohammed Peace be Upon Him 1400 years ago, till today they are still standing the same, if your heart allows then share by saying Glory to God.”

Below is a screenshot of the misleading post:

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A screenshot of the misleading post

The photo has also been shared here and here with a similar claim.

The claim is false; the photo shows a sculpture created by an Egyptian artist for Cairo International airport in 2008.

This photo taken by photo agency Alamy shows the installation at Cairo International airport in Egypt.

The French language caption translates to English as: “Optical illusion sculpture, Sha'ban Abbas, 2008, at Terminal 3, Cairo Airport, Egypt”.

Below is a screenshot of the photo:

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A screenshot of the photo

Sha’ban Mohamed Abbas is an award winning contemporary sculptor who died at the age of 41 on November 17, 2010.

Here is a report about his death published by Eygptian newspaper Al-Ahram on November 18, 2010.

According to this page on the Egyptian government’s official website for fine art, Abbas’ artwork can be found in various museums in Egypt, including Museum of Modern Egyptian Art  in Cairo, New Cairo International Airport and the Garden Museum at Gezira Art Center - Cairo.

A similar photo of the installation was published in this online magazine in March 2017.

Below is a screenshot of the photo:

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A screenshot of the photo

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