loading...
7 Wednesday , June, 2023
Official Portal of Cairo Governorate
Top News
Royal Mummies Transfer Parade

Royal Mummies Transfer Parade

 

Egypt is preparing to transfer 22 royal mummies from the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir to the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization in the Fustat area. The mummies will be transferred in an international ceremony and under high security measures. The transfer process will be treated as an important event, no less in importance in the previous transfer of Ramses statue that was transferred to the main lobby of the Grand Egyptian Museum.

 

http://www.cairo.gov.eg/en/Photos/English_site/new%20in%20cairo/Egyptian_museum.jpg 

 

A committee composed of specialists from the Tahrir Museum and the National Research Center of the Ministry of Antiquities, the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization and the Grand Egyptian Museum are maintaining and sterilizing the mummies.

 
Moreover, the mummies- after being documented- will be transferred in special containers to protect them from any shocks or damages. A rehearsal of the transfer took place on Jan. 14. Special cars will be used for the transport of the 22 mummies, to prevent any harm or damages.
 

The transfer event will also be broadcast globally, covering the mummies' departure from the Egyptian Museum and their arrival at the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization in Fustat.

 

 

 

The number of mummies and coffins to be transported are 22 and date back to the 17th, 18th, 19th, and 20th Dynasties. 18 of the mummies are for kings, while 4 are the mummies of queens.

 

Among the mummies transferred are mummies for King Ramses II, King Seqenenre Tao, King Tuthmosis III, King Seti I, Queen Hatshepsut, and Queen Meritamen; the wife of King Amenhotep I, and Queen Ahmose Nefertari, the wife of King Ahmose I.

 

The royal mummies will be transferred to the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization in a large march, in preparation for the opening of three halls that include the central exhibition hall and the mummies hall.

 

The royal procession that will take place on this occasion will take spectators back to the ancient Egyptian period, when kings and queens were transported to their tombs towards eternity. The new procession will see the royal mummies transported on the Nile and then accompanied by chariots and horses.

  

Mummies' Exhibition Halls

The Mummies Hall is designed to look like the royal tombs in Luxor’s Valley of the Kings. It has a slope leading down to it, where visitors will find themselves face-to-face with the royal mummies in a dimly lighted hall that is painted black.

 
“The NMEC’s exhibition committee selected black as the color of the Mummies Hall in order not to disturb visitors during their tour inside and to make the mummies the protagonists of the exhibition,” Mahmoud Mabrouk, the ministry of antiquities adviser for exhibition scenarios said.
 
 
 
He said the mummies would not be exhibited like they were in the Egyptian Museum, but that a new display would be created to acquaint visitors with the mummification process and its importance to the ancient Egyptians.
 

This would include panels about the first and second cachette of mummies, along with photographs of the Pharaoh Amenhotep II’s tomb (KV 35) and the hiding place where the second group of royal mummies was uncovered. Other objects would be shown, such as linen shreds decorated with an image of the ancient Egyptian god of mummification Osiris.

 

The history of each king and queen would be on show beside his or her mummy, as well as the results of DNA tests, the diseases the mummy had suffered during life, as well as the lineage and members of the family. 

  

Path of the transfer parade

Cairo governorate declared a state of emergency, in coordination with several entities, to prepare the path of the transfer parade, and the part that is being developed in the vicinity of the Museum of Civilizations in Ain Sira, which receives royal mummies, where the part located directly in front of the museum has been converted into a tourist attraction project linked to the museum, as well as the establishment of several roads to serve the area and link it to the main roads.

 

Cairo’s iconic Tahrir Square will also be a part of this procession. As the majestic parade will pass through the square on its journey to the NMEC, the newly re-erected obelisk in the square and the four ram-headed sphinxes will be revealed to the public.