The
colossal statue of the pharaoh arrived at its new resting place to the sounds
of the national anthem. Written By/ Nevine El-Aref.
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| The 3,200-year-old colossal statue of King Ramses II is seen during its
transfer to the main entrance of the Grand Egyptian Museum in Cairo's twin city Giza on January 25, 2018. |
The
colossus of Ramses II arrived safely at its new display area in the atrium of
the Grand Egyptian Museum on Thursday, in preparation for the museum’s soft
opening later this year. The statue had been being stored in another part of
the GEM, and the 400-metre journey to its permanent resting place was marked
with ceremony. Senior officials were in attendance, and the statue was preceded
on its jourey by 11 Egyptian horsemen in ceremonial military dress. As it
reached its final location, the national anthem was played.
Thursday’s
trip was the fourth time that the colossus of the great king, who ruled from 1279–1213
BC, has been moved. The first trip took
place 3,000 years ago; the statue was carved in an Aswan quarry and then taken
to Mit Rahina archaeological site in the Memphis necropolis, to be displayed as
part of the façade of Ptah’s temple. In 1955, president Gamal Abdel-Nasser
decided to move the statue to Bab Al-Hadid (now Ramses Square) in Cairo, as
part of an initiative launched by the minister of governmental affairs,
Abdel-Latif El-Boghdadi, to beautify the streets and squares of Cairo. The
third relocation was in 2006 when former minister of culture, Farouk Hosni,
decided to move the statue from Ramses Square to the headquarters of the GEM to
protect it from pollution.
The
relocation process was carried out in collaboration with the Engineering
Authority of the Armed Forces and the Arab Contractors Company, which was
responsible for the previous move in 2006. Antiquities Minister Khaled El-Enany said that
over the past three months the statue has been intensively studied to assess
its condition before transportation. Safeguarding procedures have been put in
place, and the foam rubber covering the statue has been replaced with stronger
material and weak points consolidated.
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Statue of Ramses II uncovered in Memphis by Joseph Hekekyan, 1852-1854
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El-Enany
added that the whole process has cost about EGP 13.6 million, including packing
and unpacking the statue and preparing the road. Mohsen Salah, chairman of the
Arab Contractors Company, told Ahram Online before the move that the statue
would be transported in at iron cage, wherein it would be hung like a pendulum
to allow it to move freely during the 400-metre journey. Tarek Tawfik,
supervisor general of the Grand Egyptian Museum, said that the museum is
expected to be fully open totally in 2022, but its soft opening will be at the
end of this year.
The
museum, located on the Giza Plateau, will feature an atrium, a grand staircase,
and the Tutankhamun hall. The golden king’s whole collection will by put on
show for the first time; it includes 5,200 artifacts. The partially broken
colossus of Ramses II was discovered at Mit Rahina archaeological site in 1820
by the Italian adventurer Giovanni Caviglia, along with another similar one
that remains on site. Caviglia tried to move it to Italy but he was unable to
because of its 83-tonne weight. Mohamed Ali decided to offer the statue to the
British Museum in London but the offer failed for the same reason. The statue
stood in its place at Mit Rahina until it was eventually transferred to Ramses
Square.
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