King Tut gets new home to help welcome Chinese tourists

One hundred and one years since being discovered by British archaeologist Howard Carter, the golden mask of Pharaoh Tutankhamen is displayed in Room 2 of the Egyptian Museum in Cairo's Tahrir Square.

But not for long.

Sabah Abdel Razek, general director of the museum, told Nikkei Asia that once an official date is set for the opening of the new Grand Egyptian Museum, located near the pyramids of Giza, the mask and the artifacts found in Tutankhamen's tomb will be transferred to its new resting place.

"Within a week of the announcement, the Ministry of Tourism will transfer these famous pieces" she said, "in a parade befitting the status of this important event."

The parade will be similar to, or perhaps grander than, the procession of 22 mummies in April 2021. Amid cannons firing, the 18 kings and four queen were transferred to a different new museum, National Museum of Egyptian Civilization.

Billed as the world's largest museum devoted to a single civilization, the Grand Egyptian Museum, or GEM, will be a place where all 5,400 artifacts entombed in Tutankhamen's tomb more than 3,300 years ago -- thrones, chairs, necklaces, bracelets, and earrings, made from gold, silver and precious stones -- are displayed together in full for the first time.