A grand parade conveyed 22 ancient Egyptian royal mummies in special capsules across the capital Cairo on Saturday to a new museum home where they can be displayed in greater splendor.
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The convoy transported 18 kings and four queens, mostly from the New Kingdom, from the Egyptian Museum in central Cairo's Tahrir Square to the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization in Fustat, about 3 miles to the south-east.
Authorities shut down roads along the Nile for the elaborate ceremony, designed to drum up interest in Egypt's rich collections of antiquities when tourism has almost entirely stalled because of COVID-19 related restrictions.
As the royal mummies arrived at the museum, which was officially inaugurated on Saturday, cannons fired a 21-gun salute. President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi stood by as the mummies filed past on vehicles bedecked with golden pharaonic motifs.
The heads of the UN cultural agency UNESCO and the World Tourism Organization were also present at the ceremony.
