|
The ancient colossus was taken on its 400-metre
(437.45-yard) journey inside a cage mounted on a truck and
suspended like a pendulum from a steel beam to help offset any
jolts from the ground during transport.
The road surfaces were treated with special materials to ensure
they could adequately bear Ramses's huge weight. The transfer
operation cost 13.6 million Egyptian pounds ($770,000).
Speaking at a ceremony to mark the move, former antiquities
minister Zahi Hawass underlined the importance of the museum
project to Egypt's tourism sector, which has been damaged in
recent years by political violence.
"It will tell people that Egypt is safe and you can come and
visit us because we need the tourism for the preservation of the
Egyptian antiquities."
At its new location the statue will be the first thing visitors
see as they enter the museum, part of which will open later this
year ahead of its expected official launch in 2022.
The colossus was unearthed at the Mit Rahina archaeological site
in 1820 by the Italian adventurer Giovanni Caviglia. Thursday's
move was the fourth it has seen over its several millennia of
existence.
It was first moved from the quarry where it was made to Mit
Rahina before being shifted in 1955 to Ramses Square in Cairo.
Increasing pollution and congestion at the square prompted its
next move in 2006 to safekeeping in a storage area where it was
kept of public view until now.
Egypt's tourism sector is one of the country's main sources of
foreign currency but it has struggled since a 2011 uprising that
led to years of violent instability including a spate of
Islamist militant attacks.
The sector saw an improvement in 2017, with revenues jumping
123.5 percent year-on-year to $7.6 billion and the number of
tourists visiting rising 54 percent to 8.3 million.
The number of visitors in 2017, however, was still well below
the 14.7 million who came in 2010 before the uprising.
($1 = 17.6400 Egyptian pounds)
(Writing by Mark Hanrahan in London; editing by Mark Heinrich)
[© 2017 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2017 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.
 |
|
