New Cairo museum hopes Tutankhamun's chariot will be a draw for tourists

Record ID: 876834

  • Title: New Cairo museum hopes Tutankhamun's chariot will be a draw for tourists
  • Date: 24th May 2017
  • Summary: CAIRO, EGYPT (MAY 23, 2017) (REUTERS) ***WARNING CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** TRUCK CARRYING BOX WITH TUTANKHAMUN'S BED ANTIQUITIES MINISTER, KHALED AL-ANANI, AND OTHERS GATHERED AROUND THE TRUCK VARIOUS OF BOX CARRYING TUTANKHAMUN'S BED BEING TRANSFERRED INSIDE MUSEUM PEOPLE GATHERED AROUND BOX INSIDE MUSEUM VARIOUS OF EXPERTS REMOVING WRAPPING LEGS OF TUTANKHAMUN'S BED (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) GRAND MUSEUM GENERAL SUPERVISOR, TAREK TAWFIQ, SAYING: "It was wrapped in foil to protect it from exterior heat - so it's not exposed to the heat during the transportation, and on the inside, there were special devices to preserve the relative humidity, and these devices will continue to be kept in there, with the bed, until it adapts to the new environment that it has arrived to, and this process will continue until it's transferred to the lab to prepare it to go on display at the museum." VARIOUS OF TUNANKHAMUN'S BED (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) ANTIQUITIES MINISTER, KHALED AL-ANANI, SAYING: "We invited you today to observe for yourself the process of transporting large antiquities. Until now, only small antiquities had been transferred to the new museum, but today, we began transferring large antiquities, and that's why we were keen for the world to watch us as we did it." PEOPLE GATHERED OUTSIDE OF TUTANKHAMUN'S CHARIOT VARIOUS OF TUTANKHAMUN'S CHARIOT
  • Embargoed: 7th June 2017 15:00
  • Keywords: Tutankhamen Egypt's Ministry of Antiquities Grand Egyptian Museum Ancient Egypt
  • Location: CAIRO, EGYPT
  • City: CAIRO, EGYPT
  • Country: Egypt
  • Topics: Arts / Culture / Entertainment
  • Reuters ID: LVA0016I73WWL
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: A chariot and funeral bed belonging to ancient Egypt's boy-king Tutankhamun were safely moved on Tuesday (May 23) across Cairo to a new museum that Egypt hopes will lure back wary tourists.
    Just beyond the Great Pyramids of Giza in the basement of Cairo's Grand Egyptian Museum, which is set to be the world's largest archaeological museum when it opens in 2018, Egyptian and Japanese restoration experts unpacked the pharaoh's treasured artefacts from sealed wooden boxes.
    Some of the world's oldest relics, including dozens belonging to King Tut, who ruled Egypt more than 3,000 years ago, are being carefully shuttled from the old Egyptian Museum in central Cairo to the vast halls of the new one 23 kilometres away.
    Egypt is hoping the splashy new museum will be a draw for tourism, a crucial pillar of its economy that has struggled since a 2011 political uprising drove away visitors who once flocked to ancient Pharaonic temples and pyramids.
    Transporting the artefacts became an issue of international concern in 2014 after the beard of the ancient Egyptian king's golden burial mask was accidentally broken off by workers changing the lights in its display case.
    The workers later tried to crudely reattach the beard with a an epoxy glue compound that damaged the mask, prompting outrage among archaeologists.
    King Tut ruled Egypt as pharaoh for 10 years until his death at age 19, around 1324 B.C..
    His nearly intact tomb was discovered in the Valley of the Kings in Luxor in 1922 by British archaeologist Howard Carter.
    The king's funeral bed is made of wood gilded with gold leaf and decorated with the head of the lioness goddess Sekhmet.
    Wrapped in foil to preserve its moisture levels, the ancient relic was transported across the city in a pick-up truck flanked by police cars, said Tarek Tawfik, the museum's general supervisor.
    ''Until now, only small antiquities had been transferred to the new museum, but today, we began transferring large antiquities, and that's why we were keen for the world to watch us as we did it,'' said Egypt's Antiquities Minister Khaled al-Anani.
    Tourism has continued to suffer amid a growing number of militant attacks, including two Islamic State church bombings last month.
    Earlier this month Egypt unearthed an ancient burial site replete with at least 17 mummies, clay sarcophagi, animal coffins, and papyrus inscribed with Demotic script.
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