Despite the difficult times, the world is witnessing amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities in Egypt is continuing its achievements, as it transferred the royal mummies in a majestic parade and opened the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization. Also, it is preparing to open the great avenue of sphinxes and the Grand Egyptian Museum and transferring the whole collection of King Tut from the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir Square to the GEM. Among these great projects is transferring the Khufu ship or the solar boat to the Grand Egyptian Museum.

The History of this Boat On 26 May 1954, Kamal El Malakh discovered this boat in a hole covered with almost 40 limestone blocks in the south of the pyramid of Khufu. He found it preserved and disassembled for 1224 individual pieces. Besides this boat, he found oars and ropes. Now, this boat is displayed in the Solar Boat Museum built where this boat was discovered.

What does this boat look like? The boat was made from cedar which was imported from Lebanon. It is about 44 meters long and 6 meters wide. The bow of this boat takes the shape of a bundle of papyrus. This bow is about 6 meters high, while its stern is 7 meters high.

This boat contains a main cabin divided into two parts. This cabin is surrounded by 36 columns. The boat has 10 oars, 5 on each side. These oars take the shape of a spear, referring to the tool used by the god Horus to kill the god Set.

In the manufacture of that boat, the ancient Egyptians did not use metal nails but relied on interlocking and tying with ropes.

Why this boat was called the Solar Boat? In the past, some researchers thought that this boat was the boat used by the king in the other world for sailing during his day and night trips with the god Ra (Sun God), so they called it a solar boat.

But Ahmed Youssef, the restorer of this boat, proved that this boat had been used before, which showed that it was the boat responsible for transferring the king’s corpse from the east bank to the west.

As well, we know the shape of solar boats from several depictions in tombs, and this boat does not have the same shape despite the completion of its parts.

The transferring to the Grand Egyptian Museum The Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities announced that the King Khufu Ship will be transferred from its current location in the Solar Boat Museum in Giza Plateau, where the ship was discovered, to a new location in the Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM) for its permanent display in June 2021.

Solar Boat Museum was not equipped to house the biggest, oldest, and most valuable organic monument, which began to decay, so the transportation of the boat to a new venue was imperative. In addition, this museum will be demolished as a part of the development of Giza Plateau, as this building cause visually distorts Giza Plateau, lacks the new methods of display, and is not qualified to be accessed to special needs.

Atef Moftah, the general supervisor of the GEM and the surrounding area, examined with the First Khufu Transport Committee how to safely move the ship from Giza Plateau to the Grand Egyptian Museum.

After several studies, the committee decided to transfer the boat as one piece, like the transfer of King Ramses II colossus, as the boat was packed with special scientific foams and put inside an iron cage to protect it during the transfer. This transfer can be considered one of the most challenging engineering and archaeological projects, as they must preserve the most valuable organic monument in the world.

The halls of the Grand Egyptian Museum will house the first and second ships of King Khufu in a special hall called Khufu Boats Museum Hall. The restoration team is working on conserving the second ship, as the team succeeded in extracting approximately 1272 pieces of wood from the second ship.

As Egypt grabbed the attention of the whole world to Cairo during the royal Mummies parade when they were transferred from the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir Square to their final destination to the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization. Egypt will grab the attention of the whole world again, but this time will be in Luxor, especially in the east bank of Luxor city. Luxor city is preparing for a celebration for reviving of the grand avenue of sphinxes at the end of June after its development and restoration.

The correct name of this road is the road of the great parades or the road of the religious celebrations and parades.

The history of the grand avenue of sphinxes The excavations in this avenue started on the 18th of March 1949 by the archaeologist Zakaria Ghoneim. The work continued till it stopped in 2011 due to the revolution of the 25th of January 2011, and it has been resumed again in 2017.

We knew about this avenue from a depiction in the red chamber of Queen Hatshepsut at Karnak Complex, as Hatshepsut said that she constructed a road for her father the god Amun-Ra to pass through it during his feasts as Opet feast from Luxor Temple to Karnak Complex, vice versa.

Also, she mentioned that she decorated this road with statues and 6 chambers for a break to the Holy boats of the triad of Thebes (Amun, Mut, and Khonsu).

Throughout ancient Egyptian history, several kings added statues to this road either headed with human head or ram head. It is thought that the construction of the avenue started during the New Kingdom and was completed in the 30th Dynasty during the rule of King Nectanebo I.

This avenue is divided into two parts. The first part is in front of Luxor Temple containing sphinxes statues with a human head and lion body, while the second part is in front of Karnak Complex headed with rams. All these statues were made from one block of sandstone.

This avenue connects Karnak Complex with Luxor Temple, passing by the domain of Mut. The statues are about 1200 statues on both sides. They look like that they guard those who using this avenue between the two temples.

The celebration of reviving of the avenue of sphinxes The avenue of sphinxes is an archaeological site belonging to Thebes as World Heritage Site and considered as one of the most important attractions in the east bank of Luxor city.

The reviving of this avenue will turn the east bank of Luxor into an open-air museum, as the tourist will be able to visit Luxor Temple from Karnak Complex via walking through the avenue of sphinxes, which makes this site considered the world’s largest ancient site.

In this event, the grand avenue of sphinxes will be completely opened. It is about 2,700 meters long and about 7 meters wide, with 1200 statue on both sides.

How can you visit the avenue of sphinxes? You will be able to visit it from Karnak Complex, or Luxor Temple, or through three side entrances. On the side of the avenue, there is a museum that will be existed to display the collection discovered during the excavations in the avenue of sphinxes. Additionally, you will see some wine presses, baths, and Nilometer.

The avenue of sphinxes will be lighted at night for visiting for more enjoyment with the ancient Egyptian magic.

The Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities is preparing for the Parade of transferring the royal collection of King Tutankhamun, as it will be moved from the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir Square to The Grand Egyptian Museum (the GEM) to be fully exhibited in one place for the first time since its discovery in the Valley of Kings in Luxor.

King Tutankhamun King Tutankhamun or King Tut was one of the kings who ruled during the 18th dynasty in the New Kingdom. King Tut ruled ancient Egypt after the death of his father (King Akhenaten) at the age of eight or nine till his death at age 19, which means that he ruled for approximately 10 years.

• He changed his name to be Akhenaten, meaning effective for the god Aten.
• He transferred the ancient Egyptian capital from Thebes to a new place, where no god was worshiped before to establish his new town, Akhetaten, meaning the horizon of Aten.
• He announced the god Aten, the main god of ancient Egypt, eliminated other gods, and closed temples.

But after a while, Tut returned the cult of the god Amun, moved back to the capital of ancient Egypt from Akhetaten to Thebes, and changed his name to be Tutankhamun meaning (the living image of the god Amun).

It is thought that King Tut was suffering from an illness or a disability that caused his death at a young age. The evidence is the many numbers walking sticks found in his tomb and some royal scenes depicting Tut is sitting or leaning on a stick.

The discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb One of the reasons for the fame of king Tut is that his tomb was discovered nearly intact and the precision and precision in his royal collection.

On 26 November 1922, the British archaeologist Howard Carter discovered the tomb of the young king (Tutankhamun) in the Valley of King on the west bank of Luxor city. This tomb was nearly intact.

When Howard Carter entered the burial chamber, he found the mummy was placed in a golden coffin, two gilded wooden coffins, a granite sarcophagus, and four gilded wooden shrines. It looks like a Matryoshka doll in Russia.

The size, uncompleted inscriptions, and the placement of objects in the tomb made specialists thought that the death of King Tut was unexpected.

After the discovery of this tomb, the world became to believe in the curse of the pharaohs because of the death of a number of its discoverers in mysterious circumstances as Lord Carnarvon and Howard Carter.

• The golden mask that weighing approx. 10 kilograms.
• The solid gold coffin that weighing approx. 110 kilograms.
• Additionally thrones and the funeral furniture made of gilded wood, as well as several walking sticks.

Before the collection is moved to the Grand Egyptian Museum, it is displayed in several temporary exhibitions in many museums, such as the Hurghada Museum and Sharm El-Shaikh Museum. Additionally, a group of objects is moved to conservation labs in the Grand Egyptian Museum to be restored before the display.

The Parade of Tutankhamun’s collection to the GEM

After the success of Egypt in transferring the Royal Mummies from the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir Square to the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization (NMEC) in a majestic parade that impressed the whole world, the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities is preparing for the Parade of transferring the royal collection of King Tutankhamun, as it will be moved from the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir Square to the Grand Egyptian Museum (the GEM) to be fully exhibited in one place for the first time since its discovery in the Valley of Kings in Luxor.

The royal parade of Tutankhamun will be led by his royal mummy and his golden collection to be reached to the Grand Egyptian Museum (the GEM).

It is planned for the Grand Egyptian Museum to be opened at the end of 2021. It will be a partial opening with Tutankhamun’s collection.

On April 3^rd, Pharaohs will be in a New Museum. Egypt waits for a great historical event (Royal Mummies Parade). The Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities is preparing to transfer the royal mummies from the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir Square to a new home, to the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization (NMEC).

For getting ready for the Royal Mummies Parade, the Egyptian government and the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities develop and decorate Tahrir Square by adding an ancient Egyptian obelisk and four ram-headed sphinxes.

Twenty-Two Pharaonic mummies of Kings and queens will be moved in a royal procession using vintage cars, horses, chariots, and musical shows. This parade will start from Tahrir Square, passing beside the Nile corniche, and reach its final destination in the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization in Fustat.

These Twenty-Two Pharaonic mummies of Kings and queens are eighteen mummies for kings and four mummies for queens. Those kings and queens are Seqnen Ra, Thutmose I, Thutmose II, Hatshepsut, Thutmose III, Thutmose IV, Amenhotep I, Amenhotep II, Amenhotep III, Seti I, Ramses II, Seti II, Ramses III, Ramses IV, Ramses V, Ramses VI, Ramses IX, Ahmose Nefertari, Merit Amon, Siptah, Merenptah, and Queen Tiye.

• The first cache was found south of Dier El-Bahri Luxor in 1881 in tomb 320. In 1871 a member of the Abdul Rassul family found a corridor. He entered it to find a treasure of gold and coffins. The family kept their discovery secret, but the discoverer of the tomb asked for more money; this started a fight, and the entire story came out what led to that the Egyptian government began to move all forty royal and non-royal mummies to Cairo in 1881 and entered the Egyptian Museum.
• The second cache was found by Victor Loret in 1898 behind a decorated wall in the Amenhotep II tomb.  The number of royal mummies is 9 mummies.
• The third cache was found in Deir El-Bahri, also by the Abdul Rassul family near the tomb of Queen Neferu.  This cache had mummies that were dated to the 21st Dynasty and belonged to the priests of Amon.

These mummies, coffins, and sarcophagus were moved to the Egyptian Museum in 1892, and their number was one hundred and fifty-three coffins.

Our team is glad to present this article discussing the Sun Festival of Abu Simbel Temple for its agents.

Egypt, especially Aswan waits a unique phenomenon happening in Abu Simbel city twice yearly. It is the illumination of the sun on the Holy of Holies of the great Abu Simbel Temple.

Let me explain this phenomenon to you Nowadays, the sun illuminates the Holy of Holies of the great Abu Simbel Temple on February 22nd and October 22nd, but before the project of UNESCO for rescuing the Nubian monuments, the sun illuminated the temple on February 21nd and October 21nd. 

What improving the ancient Egyptians genius is that the chamber of the Holy of Holies contains four statues, but the sun illuminates only three statues (Amun, Re-Harakty, and Ramesses II statue) except the statue of Ptah, the god of darkness in ancient Egyptian myths. Additionally, this phenomenon occurs on the same date every year. 

This phenomenon takes 20 minutes during the sunrise. 

Says about this phenomenon   There are opinions say that the ancient Egyptians chose the days of the phenomenon, occurring precisely and on purpose:

• There is an opinion says that this date refers to the beginning of the sowing and harvest seasons.
• But another opinion says that this date refers to the birth and coronation days of king Ramesses II

Whatever the case, this phenomenon refers to the ingenuity and mastery of the ancient Egyptians in both engineering and astronomy fields. 

The Egyptian monuments illuminate for the world. The Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities and the Egyptian government launched the initiative that is the illumination of the Egyptian sightseeing as the great pyramid of Cheops in Giza plateau and Cairo Tower to send a message for the whole world. This message contains (Stay Home – Stay Save). This message aims to urge people to stay at their homes to reduce the spread of Coronavirus COVID-19 and protect themselves from it.

Also, the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities did not forget to thank doctors and nurses in this message to express their appreciation to them. The message was (Thank you to those keeping safe) what referring that they are working hard for day and night in hospitals to treat patients and sacrifice their lives for us.

It is a pleasure for Our team to join in this initiative (Egyptian monuments illuminate for the world) by providing several articles about Egypt’s historical sites and sightseeing. We hope to be safe.

Additionally, we are launching another initiative under the slogan (Experience Egypt from Home. Stay Home. Stay Safe). In this initiative, the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities collaborated with scientific and archaeological institutes to create virtual reality tours for several attractions in Egypt.

1 – The Tomb of Menna

2 – The tomb of Queen Meresankh III

3 – The Red Monastery

4 – the Mosque, Madrassa (School) and Khanqa of Sultan Barquq

5 – Ben Ezra Synagogue

6 – Beni Hasan Necropolis

7 – The Catacombs of Alexandria

8 – The tomb of Ramses VI

9 – The Coptic Museum

10 – The Zoological Museum 

Agriculture is a vital aspect in any community, and in the ancient Egyptian community, it was the main source of life and economy.  The ancient Egyptian community knew that agriculture in predynastic times enabled them to transform an expanse of semiarid land into rich fields. The ancient Egyptians are credited with being pioneers in practicing agriculture on a large scale.

The ancient Egyptian kings wanted to develop agriculture, so they built dams and dug canals.

The seasons of agriculture in ancient Egypt: The ancient Egyptians divided their year according to the seasons of agriculture:

1 – Flood Season: The ancient Egyptians called this season Akht. The annual flood of the Nile River was one of the main factors that helped the ancient Egyptians succeed in agriculture. It leads to creating fertile soil, allowing for the planting of crops. They worshiped it as a god, called it with (Hapi), and gave it offerings.

2 – Sowing Season: The ancient Egyptians called this season Beret. After the receding of the flood, the ancient Egyptian farmers started to sow the seeds in the fertile soil left by the flood.

3 – Harvest Season: The ancient Egyptians called this season Shomu. After the growing of the crops, the ancient Egyptian farmers started to collect them in huge celebrations.

The main crops in ancient Egyptian civilization: The ancient Egyptians were used to grow Wheat, barley, flax, and papyrus.