80 artifacts restored to be displayed at Grand Museum

The restoration center of the Grand Egyptian Museum restored 80 artifacts, the museum project general supervisor said.

The restored pieces will be displayed during the partial inauguration of the museum in 2018, Tarek Tawfiq, said on Wednesday.

On Monday, the museum received 27 wooden beams of the main compartment of the second Khufu (King Cheops) Ship, which dates back to the Old Kingdom of Egypt, after their renovation.

An Egyptian-Japanese team had dismantled 586 wooden beams and a number of oars from the ship and completed the renovation of 500 pieces.

The second boat was found along with the first one in 1954 by late Egyptian archaeologist Kamal el Malak.

The second boat remained largely buried in sand until 1992 until a Japanese archaeological team from Waseda University offered a $10 million grant to unearth, restore and display it to the public.

The first phase of the restoration project, started in 2009, assessed the area surrounding the second boat pit with the use of topographical radar surveys. A laser scanning survey documented the area, particularly the wall between the Great Pyramid and the boat pit.

The first phase had also included the raising of 41 stone blocks that had covered the pit containing Khufu's second solar boat.

Nearly 3,000 artifacts, including 600 pieces of the belongings of Egypt's most famous Pharaoh Tutankhamon that have never been on display before, are scheduled to be transferred from storehouses to the Grand Egyptian Museum, located in the Giza Pyramids' area.

The collection is quite unique as it includes the "boy king's" belongings that have never been displayed to the public since his tomb's discovery in 1922, Damaty said.

The Golden King's items include a set of boxes, sandals and heavy objects, such as a double statue of pink granite for King Amenhotep III and colored coffins.

The site chosen for the Grand Egyptian Museum is only 2 km from the legendary Pyramids. The Giza plateau Memphis and its Necropolis nominated by UNESCO among the world Cultural Heritage Sites, contains irreplaceable monuments from across time. The museum complex will be built on a plot of land approximately 117 feddans, about 480,000 square meters.