Advertisement
Egypt on Saturday held a spectacular parade to transport 22 mummies of its most famous pharaohs from central Cairo to their new resting place at a museum.
The ceremony snaked along the Nile corniche from the Egyptian Museum overlooking Tahrir Square to the newly opened National Museum of Egyptian Civilization in Fustat, Cairo, where Egypt s first Islamic capital was located.
The mummies - 18 pharaohs and four other royals - were transported in climate-controlled cases loaded onto trucks decorated with wings and pharaonic design for the hour-long journey from their previous home in the older, Egyptian Museum.
They were originally buried around 3,000 years ago in secret tombs in the Valley of Kings and the nearby Deir el-Bahri site. Both areas are near the southern city of Luxor. The tombs were first excavated in the 19th century.
VIDEO: In show of Pharaonic heritage, Egypt parades royal mummies
5 hours ago A convoy of vehicles transporting royal mummies is seen in Cairo on Saturday. AP
Egypt held a gala parade on Saturday celebrating the transport of 22 of its prized royal mummies from central Cairo to their new resting place in a massive new museum further south in the capital.
The ceremony, designed to showcase the country’s rich heritage, snaked along the Nile corniche from the Egyptian Museum overlooking Tahrir Square, to the newly opened National Museum of Egyptian Civilization in the Fustat neighbourhood, where Egypt’s first Islamic capital was located.
Sunday, 04 Apr 2021 07:45 AM MYT
A mummy is seen during a ceremony of a transfer of Royal mummies from the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir to the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization in Fustat, in Cairo, Egypt April 3, 2021, in this screen grab. Host Broadcaster/Reuters TV pic
Subscribe to our Telegram channel for the latest updates on news you need to know.
CAIRO, April 4 A procession of floats carried the mummified remains of 22 pharaohs, including Egypt’s most powerful ancient queen, through Cairo yesterday evening, in an eye-catching parade to a new resting place.
Under hefty security, the mummies were driven on floats seven kilometres across the capital from the iconic Egyptian Museum to the new National Museum of Egyptian Civilisation.
Egyptian mummies pass through Cairo in parade worthy of royals
Royal mummies pass through Cairo in gala parade
Replay Video UP NEXT Nearly a century and a half after entering Egypt labeled as salted fish due to their obscurity, nearly two dozen Egyptian mummies were celebrated in a grand parade in Cairo on Saturday. Twenty-two mummies, 18 kings and four queens, were treated as royals as they were conveyed from the 120-year-old Egyptian Museum in Cairo s central Tahrir Square to the newly inaugurated National Museum of Egyptian Civilization in the old Islamic city of Fustat. Among the mummies were that of Ramses II, a New Kingdom ruler whose reign lasted for 67 years and who signed the world s first-known peace treaty; Hatshepsut, who defied gender norms to become a queen in the 18th dynasty era; and Seqenenra Taa, who is best known for initiating a liberation war against the Hyksos.