Egypt is set to display 22 royal mummies starting Sunday, two weeks after they were moved to the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization (NMEC) in Old Cairo.
The mummies, 18 of kings and four of queens, were moved from their decade-old residence in the Egyptian Museum in downtown Cairo's Tahrir Square to their final residence in the NMEC in Al-Fustat, Old Cairo in a parade that grabbed the world's attention.
They have been placed into showcases at an NMEC hall so as to be displayed for museumgoers.
The opening of the mummies' hall marks the World Heritage Day, which falls on 18 April every year.
The mummies were discovered in two cachettes. The first was unearthed in 1881 at Deir El-Bahari in Luxor’s West Bank in tomb TT320.
The royal mummies found in the first cachette included those of kings Seqenenre Taa, Ahmose I, Amenhotep I, Thutmose I, Thutmose II, Thutmose III, Seti I, Ramses II, Ramses III and Ramses IX, and Queen Ahmose-Nefertari.
The second cachette was found in a chamber in the tomb of King Amenhotep II (KV 35) by French Egyptologist Victor Loret in 1898, at the Valley of the Kings in Luxor.
Among the royal mummies found in this cachette were those of kings Amenhotep II, Thutmose IV, Amenhotep III, Merenptah, Ramses IV, Ramses V, Ramses VI and Seti II.
Queens Tiye, Meritamun, and Hatshepsut are also among the royal mummies.
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