Friday, December 19, 2008

A quiet, safe place for the Pharaoh?

Egyptian Gazette

N.B. story will expire in the next few days on the above address

The transport of the giant granite statue of ancient Egyptian Pharaoh, Ramses II, from Ramses Square, downtown Cairo on August 25, 2006, where it stood for more than 50 years, was watched by millions.

In Egypt and abroad, fond farewells were said as the stature was moved from the square that bore the Pharaoh's name, to a new prestigious location in the Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM) on the Giza plateau. The reason given for transporting the 83-tonne monument was that noise, pollution, and vibration from traffic and subways was threatening its existence. The Egyptian Government, therefore, decided to relocate the statue to a safer, and more dignified location. At a temporary location on the Giza plateau, it will undergo restoration. But because the Grand Egyptian Museum is scheduled to open in 2020, the statue is imprisoned in a steel cage near the plateau, not far from el-Remaya Square, another busy junction which funnels traffic from Cairo to other governorates, including dozens of trucks, every day.

See the above page for the full story.

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