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Egypt sends antiquities abroad on tourism-boosting tours

As Egypt finds new ways to promote tourism in the time of the coronavirus crisis, the Czech Republic is hosting an exhibition of Egyptian antiquities found by a Czech archaeological mission.

A picture taken on September 9, 2017 shows small funerary statues carved in wood, clay and limestone recovered at the site of a newly-uncovered ancient tomb for a goldsmith dedicated to the ancient Egyptian god Amun, in the Draa Abul Naga necropolis on the west bank of the ancient city of Luxor, which boasts ancient Egyptian temples and burial grounds.
The finds at the tomb of "Amun's Goldsmith, Amenemhat", which dates back to the New Kingdom (16th to 11th centuries BC), also contained a sculpture carved in
A picture taken on Sept. 9, 2017, shows small funerary statues carved in wood, clay and limestone found at the site of a newly uncovered ancient tomb for a goldsmith dedicated to the ancient Egyptian god Amun, in the Draa Abul Naga necropolis on the west bank of the ancient city of Luxor. — KHALED DESOUKI/AFP via Getty Images

As Egypt works to revive its tourism sector amid the coronavirus crisis, the government is promoting Egyptian antiquities abroad with an archaeological exhibition called “Kings of the Sun” in Prague, Czech Republic.

The exhibition, which will run from Aug. 30 until Feb. 7, 2021, will display 90 artifacts unearthed by the Czech archaeological mission working on the site of Abu Sir in Giza governorate. Chief among these treasures is the head of a statue of King Ra-Nefer-F.

The Czech archaeological mission has made many discoveries in Egypt since it began work in 2012, especially in the Abu Sir area, where it uncovered an enormous tomb in 2018 and the remains of a temple of King Ramses II of the New Kingdom in October 2017.

In May 2020, Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities Mostafa Waziri discussed with Czech Ambassador to Egypt Jan Folik the possibility of holding an exhibition of Egyptian antiquities at the National Museum in Prague. In June 2020, Assistant Foreign Minister for European Affairs Badr Abdel Ati met with the Czech deputy foreign minister for non-European affairs to discuss strengthening cooperation between the two countries, especially in the field of tourism. They agreed that the Prague exhibition will greatly benefit the relations between Egypt and the Czech Republic.

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