by Ahmed Shafiq

CAIRO, April 5 (Xinhua) -- Pride swelled among Egyptians as they watched 22 mummies of pharaonic kings and queens being moved Saturday evening from the Egyptian Museum in downtown Cairo to the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization (NMEC) in a magical parade.

The procession started with a 21-gun salute, with 22 ancient-like vehicles specially designed for the event, each carrying the name of the mummy of the king or queen inside, moving from Tahrir Square and escorted by parades of chariots, motorcycles, and men and women dressed in ancient Egyptian outfits.

A live musical performance was shown during the parade, with world-famous musician Nader Abbasy leading the orchestra.

The royal mummies belong to 18 kings and four queens that ruled ancient Egypt over 3,000 years ago, including famous ancient Egyptian King Ramses II and Queen Hatshepsut.

Omar Samy, a 23-year-old college student, gathered with his friends at a cafe shop in Cairo's upscale Maadi district to watch the exciting parade that was widely covered by foreign media.

"This is a source of pride for every Egyptian," the young man told Xinhua, adding that he posted many videos of the parade on his social media accounts so that his non-Egyptian friends can watch the show.

He said that such events will promote Egyptian tourism, "because most of the tourists visiting Egypt come to watch its antiquities and ancient monuments."

As the parade of the mummies reached the NMEC, Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi was the first to welcome them at the entrance of the newly-opened pyramid-shaped museum that overlooks a natural lake.

About an hour before the parade set off, Sisi inaugurated the main hall and the mummies hall in the NMEC, accompanied by Egyptian Minister of Tourism and Antiquities Khaled al-Anani, Director-General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization Audrey Azoulay, and Secretary-General of the World Tourism Organization Zurab Pololikashvili.

"It's the only one of its kind in Egypt and the Middle East," the minister told Sisi while taking him on a tour inside the museum.

The minister said that the main hall of the NMEC contains about 1,500 artifacts and the mummies hall will be opened for visitors on April 18, which coincides with the International Day for Monuments and Sites, also known as World Heritage Day.

"I will visit the museum in order to see the mummies' new home," Ahmed Momtaz, an Egyptian engineer, told Xinhua as he was reading a commentary about the ceremony on a non-Egyptian Facebook page focusing on heritage and antiquities.

Momtaz, who is a fan of Egyptian antiquities, said the parade has reached hundreds of millions of people, adding that the show is the best publicity for Egyptian tourism.

"I have seen history happening with my own eyes," Randa Ahmed, a graduate of a civilization and history college, told Xinhua.

The middle-aged woman said she watched the whole performance on a local TV station, noting that she also observed comments from non-Egyptians on social media applications about the festive show.

"People from all over the world highly admired the parade which made me very proud of my country and the civilization I belong to," she added. Enditem

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