The Golden Pharaohs’ Parade of Egypt

On Saturday, Cairo is on a date with one unique procession.

Cairo will witness a parade of 22 ancient Egyptian Kings and Queens as they or rather their mummies are being transferred from the Egyptian Museum of Cairo in Downtown’s Tahrir Square to the Newly inaugurated The National Egyptian Civilization Museum “NECM” in Old Cairo’s Fustat. 

They are transferred to a new home

They are going to a new home now after more than 100 years in The Egyptian Museum of Cairo as it is undergoing a huge renovation project sponsored by the EU and a bunch of European museums above them the British Museum.

The Mummies are reportedly to receive better and advanced care in the NECM because that care can’t be provided in the Tahrir Museum with its old structure.

The parade will take place at Sunset, at about 6 PM and it will take only 45 minutes but it will be a procession to be remembered. It will start at the renovated Tahrir square. 

The Tahrir square after renovation "Egyptian Cabinet" 

Those kings and queens from the Modern Kingdom's 17th, 18th, 19th and 20th dynasties were discovered in the 19th and early 20th centuries at the Valley of the Kings in Luxor.

They are: King Seqenenre Taa , Queen Ahmose Neferati,King Amenhotep I, Queen Merit Amun, King Thutmose I, King Thutmose II,  Queen Hatshepsut, King Thutmose III, King Amenhotep II, King Thutmose IV, King Amenhotep III, Queen Tiye, King Seti I, King Rameses II, King Merenpath, King Seti II, King Siptah, King Ramesses III, King Ramesses V, King Ramses IV, King Ramses VI, Ramesses IX

The mummies of the 18 kings and 4 queens will be carried on special vehicles with their names inscribed on them.

Egyptian actors will wearing ancient Egyptian clothes and will participate in the parade including Mona Zaki, Hussein Fahmy, Youssra, Amina Khalil and Hend Sabry.

The Military band will head the procession conducted by Maestro Nader Abbassi.

The entry and exit points to Tahrir Square, including those from 6 October Bridge and 15 May Bridge, will be closed along with the shutting down of Qasr El-Nile Bridge, El-Gamaa Bridge, Abbas Bridge and Misr-Helwan Road to ensure smooth traffic.

The streets have been cleaned and the buildings' facades were re-painted in the way of the parade. Some say that President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi will receive the mummies at the museum in Fustat. 

The Egyptian government hopes and prays too that this parade can help in bringing more tourists and revive an industry that was hit hard in the pandemic after years of struggling already.

The government says that the event will be transferred on 400 TV channels live

Here is a promo video released by the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities.

You can watch live the procession on the official YouTube channel of the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities. 

The Government has issued a collection of commemorative stamps for the events. 

One of the stamps 

There was a silly controversy about this parade thanks to those online Egyptian alt-right nationalists “Yes, they do exist as a result of this dangerous of right-wing politics tsunami in the world” objected to how Tunisian-Egyptian actor Hend Sabry participated in the parade.

Sabry has already got Egyptian citizenship, married an Egyptian and have Egyptian kids but what can I say !?

Personally, I have concerns about showing the mummies of ancient Egyptians all the time. I do not have a problem studying them but there are too many mummies out there.

I have seen the photos of the mummies shared online today and it bothered me that some mocked them after thousands of years.

I do not know why we have to show them all, we can choose one or two and then put the rest in some sort of decent burial for those kings or Queen like in Arlington National Cemetery in the United States or the Westminster Abbey.

Now here is a slide show with more data about some of those kings and queens heading for a new home in Fustat in Old Cairo inshallah on Saturday. The information source is the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities and Ahram Online

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