A total of 22 ancient Egyptian royal mummies made their way across Cairo on Saturday night, April 3, during the Golden Pharaoh Parade as they are being transferred to their new and more splendid home at the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization.
They were composed of 18 kings and 4 queens mostly from the New Kingdom and were originally from the Egyptian Museum in central Cairo’s Tahrir Square. Among the royal mummies transferred include Seqenenre Tao, Ramses II, Seti I, and Ahmose-Nefertari.
Check out this photo gallery from The Washington Post below:
They were carefully packed in their respective vehicles, which were specifically-equipped with nitrogen-filled capsules to keep them stable and protected during the five-kilometer procession, as stated by Egyptian archaeologist Zahi Hawass.
Also according to Hawass, they chose the Civilization Museum “because we want, for the first time, to display the mummies in a civilized manner, an educated manner, and not for amusement as they were in the Egyptian Museum.”
During the spectacle, musicians and performers were dressed in ancient Egyptian clothing. The parade was televised for everyone across the country to take part of. It ended with cannons performing a 21-gun salute as they arrived at the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization.
President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi – together with the heads of the United Nations cultural agency UNESCO and the World Tourism Organization – stood in attendance as the royal mummies passed by in their vehicles ornamented with golden pharaonic motifs.
According to Salima Ikram, one of the Egyptologists at the American University in Cairo, by performing the parade “with great pomp and circumstance, the mummies are getting their due.”
“These are the kings of Egypt, these are the pharaohs.” Ikram added. “And so, it is a way of showing respect.”
Archaeologists discovered these Egyptian mummies in two batches in the year 1871. First, at the complex of mortuary temples of Deir Al Bahari in Luxor. Second, at the nearby Valley of the Kings. The oldest among them was King Seqenenra, who ruled ancient Egypt during the 17th Dynasty.
Watch the Golden Pharaoh Parade here:
(Source: YAHOO! News)
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