PHARAONIC SHOW

WITH THE PARADE OF ROYAL MOMIES IN CAIRO

Twenty two tanks were transported Saturday night mummies of kings and queens of ancient Egypt to the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization, the new home of the royal remains.

Twenty-two floats carrying mummies of kings and queens of ancient Egypt marched, Saturday April 3, 2021, in the evening, in the streets of Cairo during a grandiose spectacle, to join the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization ( NMEC), new home of the royal remains .

In a blue light, the procession left the century-old museum, under the beating of the drums and against the background of symphonic music.

In a blue light, the procession left the century-old museum, under the beating of the drums and against the background of symphonic music.

Framed by a mounted guard, the first black floats adorned with golden and luminous patterns reminiscent of ancient funeral boats left Tahrir Square and the Cairo Museum at 8 p.m., where the mummies had rested for more than a century.

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 sovereigns Hatshepsut and Ramses II.

Earlier in the evening, President Abdel Fattah Al-Sissi visited the NMEC, accompanied by its Prime Minister, Mostafa Madbouli, and the Director General of Unesco, Audrey Azoulay, to review some of the collections . "With great pride, I look forward to welcoming the kings and queens of Egypt after their journey," Mr. Sissi had tweeted earlier.

The procession was accompanied by extras in Pharaonic costume and horse-drawn chariots.

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.

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.

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 of Cairo, specialist in mummification .