Egypt | The Pharaohs’ Golden Parade (2021)

The Pharaohs' Golden Parade was an event held in Cairo, Egypt on 3 April 2021, during which twenty-two mummies belonging to Kings and Queens of the New Kingdom of Ancient Egypt were moved from the Egyptian Museum to the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization in Fustat.

Background

The twenty-two mummies that were moved were discovered in two locations, the Royal Cache in Deir el-Bahari and the tomb of Amenhotep II, in 1881 and 1898, respectively. Since their discovery, they had been moved multiple times, until they were finally placed at the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir Square.

Over the years, due to the increasing number of archaeological discoveries, the Egyptian Museum started to lose its ability to fully show the artefacts placed in it, which lead the government to plan new museums including the Grand Egyptian Museum and the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization (NMEC).

Ahead of the event, the government began renovating Tahrir Square by putting together a broken-up Obelisk from Tanis that was built by King Ramesses II in the middle of the square, surrounded by four Sphinxes that were brought from the Karnak Temple in Luxor, in addition to lighting work done in buildings overlooking the square.

Event

The Parade started at 6:30 PM local time. It included a performance by the United Philharmonic Orchestra lead by Egyptian maestro Nader Abbasi, and composed by Egyptian artist Hisham Nazih. The performance included a chant in Ancient Egyptian titled "A Reverence for Isis", sung by Egyptian soprano Amira Selim, the words of which were taken from inscriptions on the walls of Deir el-Shelwit in Luxor. Other lyrics used were taken from the Book of the Dead and the Pyramid Texts.

Multiple recordings were shown during the parade, including one of Egyptian actors and actresses in many Ancient Egyptian archaeological sites, as well as a video of Egyptian actor Khaled El Nabawy touring many sites around Egypt that have been restored in the past few years.

During the parade, roads leading to or near the two museums were closed and under heavy security. At the door of the NMEC, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi received the convoy, which was met with a 21-gun salute by the Republican Guard.