Tutankhamun's 3rd shrine arrives at the Grand Egyptian Museum

CAIRO – 20 April 2021: A month after receiving and placing the fourth shrine of King Tutankhamun in its display case in the hall dedicated to the Golden King’s treasures in the Grand Egyptian Museum, the museum received Tutankhamun’s third shrine. 

The Shrine arrived from the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir, in preparation for displaying it within the museum’s display scenario in Tutankhamun’s halls.

General Supervisor of the Grand Egyptian Museum and the surrounding area Atef Miftah explained that the transfer was carried out amid tight security measures by the Tourism and Antiquities Police, under the supervision of the restorers and museum curators.

Assistant Minister of Tourism and Antiquities for Archaeological Affairs at the Grand Egyptian Museum Al-Tayeb Abbas, said that this shrine will undergo extensive restoration work inside the museum. 

He added that it is made of gilded wood, and was discovered among the treasures of king Tutankhamun in his tomb in Luxor’s West Bank in November 1922. 

Abbas explained that it was transferred with the rest of the artifacts to the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir, where they were displayed.

Furthermore, Abbas added that the remaining shrines will be transferred successively, to be displayed according to the set display scenario in the halls dedicated to the king's treasures.

He said that the halls have an area of ​​about 7200 square meters and are equipped with the state of the art museum displays, with environmental control of temperature, humidity, and lighting, in addition to labels with graphics and explanatory cards for each piece.

Head of the Museums Sector Moamen Othman confirmed that the transfer of the cabin was carried out according to the principles and accurate scientific standards. He added that the shrine was dismantled into ten parts with the same manufacturing technique that the ancient Egyptian used, then each part was individually wrapped inside an inner box and another external box using acidic free materials.

Moreover, Othman pointed out that the team from the Grand Egyptian Museum and the Tahrir Museum will assemble the shrine again within the next few days inside the vanity allocated for it inside the halls housing Tutankhamun’s treasures.

For his part, Director General of Executive Affairs for Restoration and Transfer of Antiquities at the Grand Egyptian Museum Issa Zidan said that prior to the transfer, the shrine was examined and a detailed report was made to document its preservation status in an accurate manner, and the restorers team carried out scientific and archaeological documentation of it using the latest types of photographic and video cameras.

IR imaging, as well as XRF scanning and X -Ray Radiography were performed to identify the locations of the metal and wood tongues and the docks of the shrine. Zidan said that this helps the working team to accurately develop a plan to dismantle the shrine safely and scientifically.

Sabah Abdel Razek, Director General of the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir, explained that the length of the third shrine is 3.40 m, the width is 1.92 m, and the height is 2.15 m. It weighs about 1142 kg. The walls end at the top with a frieze. It has a double door closed with a royal seal.

The shrine consists of a ceiling decorated with a winged sun disk and eight birds with the titles of the king placed under it, and on the inside there are inscriptions.

In addition to that, the shrine contains a gate with inscriptions and texts from the Book of the Dead and decorated on the inside. At the top of the door is a winged sun disk surrounded on the right and left side by a group of signs.

The shrine also includes sides decorated with inscriptions from the Book of the Emmy Duat, and the back contains engraved scenes from the Book of the Dead.