Cairo: The Pharaohs “Golden Parade” to the National Museum – Stunning Images

Twenty-two carts carrying them mummies of kings and queens of ancient Egypt, paralyzed tonight, Saturday April 3, in its streets Cairo, in a pharaonic show. Destination, your new “home”, the National Museum of Egyptian Culture (NMEC).

The first black cars that brought gold patterns and they were made to look like funeral ships of antiquity, departed at 8 pm from Tahrir Square and the Cairo Museum, where the Pharaoh for more than a century.

The square was closed to traffic., both vehicles and pedestrians. Traffic was also banned along the seven-kilometer procession to the National Museum in Fustat, south of the capital.

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Time cannon shots were heard, the cars arrived at the brand new museum half an hour later and were received by the president Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.

In chronological order, Pharaoh Secenenre Tao (16th century BC) the so-called “The brave”, opened the parade, which closed with him Ramses I ‘ (12th century BC). One of the most famous mummies that passed through Cairo tonight was his Hatshepsut and Ramses.

Bathed in blue light, the procession of 18 kings and four queens, mostly from the New Kingdom, was accompanied by an impressive spectacle: chariots driven by horses and women, dressed in ancient Egyptian costumes, and men left and right in the road. They were beating drums.

The festivities began with a song, written especially for the occasion, by popular Egyptian singer Mohamed Munir.

Just before the parade starts, many Egyptian actors, like Ahmed Zaki and Mona Zaki, as well as Hed Sambri from Tunisia, recited texts on Egyptian culture.

Earlier, President Sisi went to the National Museum, accompanied by Prime Minister Mostafa Madbuli and UNESCO Director General Audrey Azoule, to inspect part of the collection.

“I am very proud to welcome the kings and queens of Egypt after their journey,” he wrote on Twitter.

The Museum will open its doors to the public tomorrow, April 4. Nevertheless the mummies will be on display after April 18.

Audrey Azule highlighted in her announcement that the “transfer” of the ancient kings to the Museum is “the culmination of a long work to preserve and expose them better.” In this work UNESCO also participated.

The 22 mummies were discovered near Luxor after 1881 and most of them had not left Tahrir Square since the early 20th century. They have been on display in a small room since the 1950s, but at NMEC they will be housed in modern display cases to better control room temperature and humidity, explained Salima Ikram, a professor of Egyptology. The decoration will refer to underground tombs of pharaohs, with sarcophagi and their personal belongings.