Egypt completes new National Museum with 22 Royal Mummies
A few days ago Egypt stunned the world with a procession of golden pharaonic mummies. The mummified remains of 22 ancient Egyptian kings and queens were carried through the streets of Cairo on Saturday in an eye-catching royal parade to a new resting place. They were paraded from the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir Square to the new National Museum of Egyptian Civilisation as a museum event.
Dubbed “The Pharaohs’ Golden Parade'", the 18 kings and four queens travelled in order, oldest first, each aboard a separate chariot decorated in ancient Egyptian style.
This new museum in the south of the capital opened its doors to limited exhibitions in 2017 and was fully opened on Sunday, shortly before the mummies go on display to the general public from April 18.
Each of the carriages has been adorned in gold with the name of its assigned ruler, and fitted with shock absorbers for the 40-minute journey through Cairo to ensure none of the precious cargo was accidentally affected. The parade was boosted by music and performances by Egyptian artists, all broadcast live on state television.
The National Museum of Egyptian Civilisations in Cairo welcomed hundreds of visitors and tourists of different nationalities, reaching 5,000 visitors after its two-day opening. For the time being, the Hall of Mummies will remain closed until 18 April.
As we enter the main hall of the museum, we see monuments from the Stone Age surrounded by pieces from the ancient Egyptian civilisation. They also alternate with monuments from the Coptic and Islamic eras.
It includes more than 50 artefacts that are part of the developmental stages of Egyptian civilisations, creating a timeline through which the visitor travels. The Stone Age set of artefacts at the beginning of the exhibition is an older Egyptian skeleton from 30,000 years ago. It also includes pieces of stone that were the tools of daily life at the time.
As the tour progresses, the visitor finds himself in the times of ancient Egypt in the pre-dynastic era, where he can contemplate rare artefacts of daily life. Then the ancient, medieval and modern eras gradually appear.
The museum also exhibits pieces from the Greco-Roman and Coptic periods, which contain rare icons, as well as artefacts from the Islamic era, including the cover and key of the Ka'ba. It also includes antiquities from the modern era, including a statue of Khedive Ismail and drawings of Muhammad Ali.
There is also a golden coffin of the Pharaonic priest Najm Ankh, which was returned to Egypt in 2019 from the United States. It also displays everyday ancient Egyptian tools and examples of furniture, as well as the presence of traditional Egyptian clothing worn by women in Sinai and the Siwa Oasis.
In addition, in the centre of the museum there are large screens to present the most important pieces of the exhibition.
Next to the exhibits there are smaller screens to familiarise the visitor with the related information. It includes information about the history and places of discovery.
The Royal Hall of Mummies, which includes 22 modern state mummies from ancient Egypt that have been kept since the early 20th century at the Egyptian Museum in the capital's iconic Tahrir Square, will be inaugurated on April 18. From the 1950s onwards, they were displayed in a small room side by side, unaccompanied by explanatory advertisements.
In their new location, they will each be displayed individually next to a sarcophagus, and in some cases, a statue.
The exhibits will be marked with a brief biography and, in some cases, copies of CT scans.
Among these 22 mummies are King Seknen, who led the procession, King Ramesses II, the most famous king of the modern state, King Seti II, son of King Merenptah, and Queen Ahmose Nefertari, the mother of Amenhotep I. Queen Merit Amun, "daughter of King Ahmose", King Thutmose II, son of King Thutmose I, Thutmose III, Queen Hatshepsut, Queen T, as well as King Amenhotep III.
The remains of the kings are currently in nitrogen chambers after being isolated from the tubes that transported them, and are undergoing conservation processes by restorers and specialists.
The mummy centre includes three main units: firstly, the mummy shop which is called the " Morgue ". It contains rooms filled with nitrogen gas that reaches 99% and is placed inside the mummies to maintain their temperature and protect them from any microbes. The second is the one that transports the mummies from the tents to the displays and is called the "laboratory". Here they empty the air from the two primers and replace it with nitrogen to put the mummies in, which prepares them for display for up to 10 years. The conservation and restoration processes are then repeated.
The third unit is dedicated to the study of the mummies in detail, including conducting historical research and practical x-ray studies on the mummies.
The programme's work began three years ago, when the mummy coffins were collected, especially since many kings were found in the hiding place without their own coffins.
The National Museum of Egyptian Civilisation was completed in 2010 and was planning to open this museum in 2012, however, due to the Arab Spring that affected Egypt, it was not possible.
In the coming months, the country is due to open another new facility, the Grand Egyptian Museum, near the pyramids of Giza. It will also house pharaonic collections, including the famous Tutankhamun treasure that was discovered in 1922. The tomb of the young ruler, who briefly assumed the throne in the 14th century BC, contained treasures including gold and ivory.
An alleged 'curse of the pharaoh' was unleashed following the discovery of Tutankhamun in 1922-23. A British funder of the excavation, Lord Carnarvon, died of blood poisoning months after the tomb was opened, while one of the first visitors died abruptly in 1923.
Egyptian authorities hope the new museum will help revitalise tourism, a major source of revenue for the country. The industry has been hit by political turbulence over the past decade and, more recently, the pandemic.