Egyptian mummies paraded through Cairo on way to new museum

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Nearly two dozen ancient Egyptian royal mummies were paraded through Cairo on Saturday evening in a dazzling display to mark their transferral to a new museum. Major roads along the Nile were shut down as the 22 royal mummies were carried across Egypt’s capital from the Egyptian Museum in central Cairo’s Tahrir Square to the National Museum of Egypt Civilisation in Fustat, a roughly 7km journey. Egyptian archaeologist Zahi Hawass said the ancient royal mummies would be displayed in a “civilised manner” rather than for “amusement” in their new home. The mummies had been discovered in the mortuary temples of Deir Al Bahari in Luxor and at the Valley of Kings as far back as 1871. open image in gallery A marching band marches at the start of the parade of 22 ancient Egyptian royal mummies departing from the Egyptian Museum in Cairo’s Tahrir Square on Saturday, 3 April, 2021, on their way to their new resting place at the new National Museum of Egyptian Civilisation about seven kilometres south in historic Fustat.