Egypt built a new museum to house some of its most famous mummies and royal treasures. The remains of Ramses II and Queen Hatshepsut, the female Pharaoh, among many others, now have a beautiful new home. To celebrate and, let’s be honest, to draw tourists back to Egypt, the government put on a spectacular parade. They displayed the treasures as they made their way through the city.
They decorated the trucks carrying the great leaders of Egypt’s past with gold. However much it looks overdone, I suspect the ancient rulers would approve of the hoopla. Moreover, performers dressed in costume accompanied the parade. Marching bands provided the sound backdrop. In addition, Tahir Square lit up with a giant light show.
Ramses II, as I portray him in my Tesha series (he’s renamed Gerose in my books), is an arrogant young man towards the beginning of his reign. He’d enjoy these fancy honors immensely. The pharaohs certainly employed an iconography of grandeur to portray their accomplishments during their lives. I have a school talk about pharaonic propaganda that is very fun to give and show students how our outbreak of “fake news” isn’t exactly a new phenomenon.
Here for a post about an ancient Egyptian pet cemetery.
Dear Ms. Starkston:
You brought up some very accurate reasons, but there is also one other, that should be pointed out, The old Museum in Cairo, was as secure as a sieve. Well, within the last couple of years, perhaps five I believe, a minister in charge of Egyptian antiquities, was convicted to trafficing said antiquities. Having been there, but before the great islamic cultural revolution, of the seventies, and beyond, The Cairo museum left a lot to be desired.
I agree! A new museum was much needed for many reasons. The parade, however, had more pr related motivations–which are also good.
Comments are closed.