An archaeological committee started on Sunday the process of transporting a number of artefacts from the Tutankhamun collection from the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir to the Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM) overlooking the Giza Plateau.

This move, according to Tarek Tawfik, supervisor general of the GEM, is a step in the ministry's preparation for the soft opening of the GEM at the end of 2017.

The soft opening will include two sections of the museum; the Grand Staircase Hall and the halls of the boy king's funerary collection, now on display at the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir.

Tawfik asserted that the transportation process would not affect the Tutankhamun exhibit at the Tahrir Museum, as the transportation plan was drawn up by a scientific archaeological team led by archaeologist Osama Abul Kheir.

Zidan during packing

Eissa Zidan, director-general of preliminary restoration at the GEM, told Ahram Online that the objects transported from the collection are those in dire need of restoration, and that the rest of the collection would be transported gradually until the GEM’s soft opening.

He added that all security and safeguarding techniques are being utilised in packing and transportation the artefacts.

Tutankhamun collection during packing