Egypt’s tourism & antiquities min. officially inaugurates 'Kings of The Sun' exhibition in Prague on Aug. 30

CAIRO – 31 August 2020: Egypt’s Minister of Tourism and Antiquities Khaled el-Anani, Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš and Czech Minister of Culture Lubomír Zaorálek inaugurated on August 30 the “Kings of the Sun” exhibition held in the National Museum in the Czech capital Prague.

The opening coincided with the celebration of the 60th anniversary of the archaeological work of the Czech mission in Egypt.

The opening was attended by nearly 500 of the most important figures of the Czech society, businessmen and senior Czech statesmen, including the deputy prime minister, minister of finance, minister of health, minister of education, and a number of members of Parliament in the Czech Republic, in addition to Egyptian Ambassador in Prague Said Hendam, Egyptian Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs for European Affairs Badr Abdel-Ati, archaeologist Zahi Hawass and members of the Egyptian delegation.

During his speech, Andrej Babiš referred to the depth of the relations between Egypt and the Czech Republic in all fields, including the fields of tourism and archaeological work.

He thanked the Egyptian government for cooperating to hold this exhibition in light of the current circumstances amid the coronavirus pandemic, stressing the importance of this exhibition as it is the first exhibition of Egyptian antiquities in Prague and the largest exhibition in the ancient country.

Egypt’s Minister of Tourism & Antiquities Khaled el-Anani spoke during his speech about the preparations for this exhibition, which began about 5 years ago, pointing to the great efforts made by the Egyptian and Czech sides to hold this exhibition in light of the current circumstances.

Anani explained that this exhibition provides its visitors with a small glimpse of the Egyptian civilization, which encourages them to visit Egypt. The minister further pointed out that the pieces displayed in this exhibition had not left Egypt before and will be displayed in the Grand Egyptian Museum after the exhibition.

Furthermore, Anani spoke about the important archaeological and tourism projects that Egypt is undertaking, including the Grand Egyptian Museum project scheduled to open in 2021; the project of the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization; and the majestic procession that will be organized by the ministry to transport royal mummies from the Tahrir Museum to the Museum of Civilization in Fustat.

After the opening, a tour was organized for the attendees inside the museum in the form of groups that included about 50 people per group.

It is worth noting that this exhibition presents 90 artifacts unearthed by the excavations of the Czech mission in the archaeological area of Abu Sir. The exhibition is scheduled to last for six months, until February 2021, and the organizers of the exhibition expect 30,000 visitors to visit the exhibition during its stay in Prague.