CAIRO: Egypt moved the sixth and last chariot of famed pharaoh Tutankhamun on Saturday to the boy king’s vast collection of items in an under-construction museum near the pyramids in Giza.
The unique artifact, a major feature of the military museum for over 30 years, paraded through Cairo with a military police escort to its final resting place at the Grand Egyptian Museum, home to thousands of artifacts spanning different dynasties of ancient Egypt. King Tut’s items, including the six chariots, are to be put on display in halls covering 7,000 square meters of the museum.
The Antiquities Ministry has been gradually moving King Tut’s belongings to the new museum to undergo restoration before they are put on display. The transfer of King Tut’s belongings has become a particularly sensitive issue; In 2014 the beard attached to the ancient Egyptian monarch’s priceless golden mask was accidentally knocked off and hastily reattached with an epoxy glue compound, sparking uproar among archaeologists.
Saturday’s relocation of King Tut’s sixth chariot was preceded by the fourth International Tutankhamun Conference which was attended by a wide range of Egyptologists and archaeologists from the world over.
During the conference, Antiquities Minister Khaled Al-Anani said that the first phase of the museum, including King Tut’s halls, will be completed by the end of this year but the date for the museum’s soft opening has yet to be decided. The museum currently hosts more than 43,200 artifacts of which over 4,500 belong to King Tut alone. The museum’s grand opening is planned for 2022.
Archaeologist Zahi Hawass told reporters that excavation work on the tomb of King Tut’s wife, Ankhesenamun, is currently underway and he expects it to bear fruit soon.
“Maybe soon a tomb will be revealed in the Valley of the Monkeys or the western Valley of the Kings,” he said.
The nearly intact tomb of King Tut, who ruled Egypt more than 3,000 years ago, was discovered in 1922 by Howard Carter in the Valley of the Kings, located on the west bank of the Nile river in Luxor. For many, King Tut embodies ancient Egypt’s glory, because his tomb was packed with the glittering wealth of the rich 18th Dynasty, from 1569 to 1315 B.C. He became pharaoh at the age of 10 in 1333 B.C., but ruled for just nine years at a pivotal time in ancient Egypt’s history.
Egypt moves last chariot of King Tut to new museum
Egypt moves last chariot of King Tut to new museum
- The chariot was a major feature of the military museum for over 30 years
- The nearly intact tomb of the 18th Dynasty king was discovered in 1922
Berlinale responds to backlash over Gaza-related comments
The Berlin International Film Festival has issued a statement after what organisers described as a growing “media storm” linked to comments about the war in Gaza and the broader role of politics in cinema.
Festival director Tricia Tuttle released a lengthy note late Saturday following criticism directed at several high-profile guests. The controversy began during the opening day press conference when jury president Wim Wenders was asked about the conflict in Gaza. He responded: “We have to stay out of politics because if we make movies that are dedicatedly political, we enter the field of politics,” a remark that sparked swift backlash online.
Indian author Arundhati Roy later withdrew from the festival, reportedly angered by the remarks.
Other prominent figures, including Michelle Yeoh and Neil Patrick Harris, also faced online criticism after responding cautiously to questions about politics. Harris stated that he was interested in “doing things that were ‘apolitical,’” a comment that further fuelled debate.
In her statement, Tuttle defended the festival and its participants, stressing the importance of artistic freedom. “People have called for free speech at the Berlinale. Free speech is happening at the Berlinale. But increasingly, filmmakers are expected to answer any question put to them. They are criticised if they do not answer. They are criticised if they answer and we do not like what they say. They are criticised if they cannot compress complex thoughts into a brief sound bite when a microphone is placed in front of them when they thought they were speaking about something else,” she said.
She added: “It is hard to see the Berlinale and so many hundreds of filmmakers and people who work on this festival distilled into something we do not always recognise in the online and media discourse… It is a large, complex festival.”
“Artists are free to exercise their right of free speech in whatever way they choose… nor should they be expected to speak on every political issue raised to them unless they want to,” Tuttle said.
