Egypt transports 22 mummies in procession through Cairo

In an unprecedented action, 22 mummies were brought to their new display venue in a solemn procession across Cairo on Saturday. The remains of queens and kings of ancient Egypt were transported in specially decorated chariots in the style of the time, in which the name of the deceased could be read. To protect the mummies, the wagons were especially shock absorbers.

The “Golden Parade of the Pharaohs” was broadcast live on television. “I am very proud to welcome the kings and queens of Egypt after their trip,” wrote Head of State Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on Twitter shortly before the 40-minute procession began. “This great spectacle is one more proof of the greatness … of a unique civilization that delves into the depths of history,” the president added.

Great security presence

Egypt transformed the relocation into a procession based on ancient models, when deceased rulers were transported to their graves with great honors. Under the title “The Golden Parade of the Pharaoh”, the cars circulated along the cordoned off Nile promenade, accompanied by a column of police. Dozens of costumed horsemen and actors dragged parts of the road with them. To protect the precious mummies of 18 ancient Egyptian kings and four queens, a large security force was deployed along the seven-kilometer route. Tahrir Square, from where the procession started, and some other sections of the route were closed to vehicles and pedestrians.

The mummies had been in the Egyptian Museum in downtown Cairo for more than a century; they are now moving into their new premises in the newly built National Museum of Egyptian Civilization (NMEC) in the south of the city. This huge, modern exhibition complex has been under construction for years and is due to open fully on Sunday. The mummies will not be visible until April 18, because they will first come to the laboratory for restoration work. At NMEC, the president saw the mummies arrive.

Among the mummies is that of the important pharaoh Ramses II, also called “the Great” and from 1279 BC. He ruled Egypt for 66 years. He built the temples of Abu Simbel and, after several wars, led his country to prosperity in a relatively long period of peace. Pharaoh Hatshepsut’s mummy was also relocated. The daughter and wife of the Egyptian kings first ruled over her son Tuthmosis III a good 1400 years before Christ. and finally she was crowned ruler of Egypt herself. Under his command, commerce flourished in ancient Egypt. The mummies of Thutmosis I., II., III. and IV. as well as by Ramses III., IV., V., VI. and IX. They were moved to the new museum.

New discoveries continue to come to light about mummies discovered near Luxor in 1881. For example, a high-tech analysis of Pharaoh Seqenenre II’s mummy revealed that he was believed to have been executed after being captured in battle.

The parade of the mummies marked “the end of much work to improve their preservation and presentation,” said the director of the UN cultural organization Unesco, Audrey Azoulay, who traveled to Cairo for the show. Now people could “see the history of Egyptian civilization unfold before their eyes.”