Art

First major cultural exhibition between Chinese, Egyptian governments opens in Shanghai 2024/7/26 source: International Daily Print

A grand exhibition on ancient Egyptian civilization, the largest of its kind held outside Egypt over the past 20 years, officially opened to the public on Friday in Shanghai, enhancing people-to-people and cultural exchanges between China and Egypt.

As two of the world's most important ancient civilizations, exchanges between China and Egypt first began via the ancient Silk Road.

The exhibition, "On Top of the Pyramid: The Civilization of Ancient Egypt," is co-hosted by the Shanghai Museum and the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA) of Egypt.

Visitors can embark on a journey through three sections: "The Land of the Pharaohs," "The Secrets of Saqqara," and "The Age of Tutankhamun." A total of 788 artifacts, with over 95 percent of them being exhibited in Asia for the first time, were chosen from seven Egyptian museums, including the Egyptian Museum, Luxor Museum, and others.

Statues of pharaohs, a complete set of mummy coffins, newly discovered painted coffins and animal mummies are among the new discoveries from one of the top 10 archaeological sites in the world.

"This is the first time to display the artifacts from Saqqara, the new discoveries of the Chinese-Egyptian mission at Saqqara. And it is a good idea from the general secretary of antiquities in Egypt to show the world what the Egyptians and Chinese together discovered," said Ali Abdel Halim Ali, general director of the Egyptian Museum.

Li Feng, deputy director of the Shanghai Museum, expressed his elation during the opening of the exhibition after overcoming a variety of obstacles.

"I'm really moved to see the exhibition successfully open today. Director Chu and I have two words: excited and touched. In fact, the process has been very difficult. One challenge was the early negotiations. We went through many twists and turns to reach a plan that both countries were satisfied with and recognized. The second was the selection of the cultural artifacts," said Li.

Li added that a third challenge was the delivery. Relevant personnel had to finish checking nearly 800 pieces of cultural relics in about 20 days amid temperatures from 40 to 50 degrees Celsius with no air conditioning.

Early bird tickets sold out as soon as they were released. A series of activities and special events are also being held, including "Meow of the Museum Nights," where visitors are able to bring pets to see the exhibition.

The exhibition will run until August 2025.


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