Breathtaking images.
In an extraordinary show, broadcast on television with thousands of artists and extras, 22 mummies of kings and queens of Egypt, joined the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization (NMEC).
Framed by a mounted guard, the first black floats adorned with golden and luminous patterns reminiscent of ancient funeral boats left Tahir Square and the Cairo Museum at 8 p.m., where the mummies had rested for more than a century.
The square was closed to traffic and pedestrians, as was the entire journey of some seven kilometers through the streets of Cairo to the NMEC located in the south of the capital.
Under cannon fire, the tanks arrived at the new museum around 8:30 p.m., greeted by President Abdel Fattah al Sisi.
Transfer of mummies from the Egyptian Museum to the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization, in Cairo
Tahir Square.
REUTERS / Mohamed Abd El Ghany MOHAMED ABD EL GHANY
In chronological order, the pharaoh Seqenenre Tâa (16th century BC), nicknamed "the courageous", led the way, closed by Ramses IX (12th century BC).
Among the most famous mummies are those of the famous rulers Hatshepsut and Ramses II.
They had not left this place since the twentieth century
Bathed in a blue light, the procession left the century-old museum, accompanied by a show with extras in Pharaonic costume, chariots drawn by horses, under the beating of drums of a brass band and to a background of symphonic music.
Transfer of mummies from the Egyptian Museum to the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization, in Cairo
REUTERS REUTERS TV
"With great pride, I am delighted to welcome kings and queens of Egypt after their journey," President Sisi had tweeted earlier.
The NMEC, which occupies a large modern building, is scheduled to open to the public on April 4.
But the mummies will not be on public display until April 18.
Audrey Azoulay, former French Minister of Culture and Director General of Unesco, said in a statement that the move of the mummies to the NMEC was "the culmination of a long work to better preserve them and better display them".
A work in which Unesco took part.
Transfer of mummies from the Egyptian Museum to the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization, in Cairo
General view of a parade at 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. Host Broadcaster / REUTERS TV via REUTERS THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY.
REUTERS TV
Discovered near Luxor (south) from 1881, most of the 22 mummies had not left Tahrir Square since the beginning of the 20th century.
Since the 1950s, they were exhibited there in a small room, without clear museographic explanations.
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At the NMEC, they will appear in more modern boxes “for better temperature and humidity control than in the old museum,” explains Salima Ikram, professor of Egyptology at the American University in Cairo, a specialist in mummification.
The Royal mummies parade from the Egyptian museum in Tahrir to Egyptian museum for civilization #Cairo #mummiesparade # موكب_المومياوات_الملكية #Egypt #ThisIsEgypt #visitegypt #travel #mummies
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- Deluxe Tours Egypt (@deluxetoursegy) April 3, 2021
They will be presented alongside their sarcophagi, in a setting reminiscent of the underground tombs of kings, with a biography and objects linked to the sovereigns.
The macabre nature of the mummies has in the past put off more than one visitor.
“I will never forget when I took (Princess) Margaret, sister of Queen Elizabeth II, to the museum: she closed her eyes and ran away,” says Mr. Hawass.
The fear of a curse
After years of political instability linked to the popular revolt of 2011, which dealt a heavy blow to tourism, Egypt is seeking to bring back visitors, in particular by promoting culture.
In addition to the NMEC, Egypt is due to inaugurate within a few months the Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM) near the pyramids of Giza, which will house Pharaonic collections.
Transfer of mummies from the Egyptian Museum to the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization, in Cairo
REUTERS / Mohamed Abd El Ghany MOHAMED ABD EL GHANY
"The museum in Tahrir Square will not die, we will develop it," Khaled al-Enany assured Saturday evening.
A few days before the event, under the hashtag in Arabic # malédiction_des_pharaons, many Internet users associated the recent disasters in Egypt with a "curse" which would have been caused by the displacement of the mummies.
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In one week, Egypt experienced the blockage of the Suez Canal by a container ship, a train accident that left 18 dead in Sohag (south) and the collapse of a building in Cairo which resulted in death of at least 25 people.
The "curse of the pharaoh" had already been mentioned in the 1920s after the discovery of Tutankhamun's tomb, followed by the deaths considered mysterious of members of the team of archaeologists.
