Tourism minister heads for France to take part in sunken antiquities exhibition

Minister of Tourism Khaled Rami left here on Sunday for Paris to take part in an exhibition for Egypt's sunken antiquities.

The exhibition titled "Osiris. Egypt's Sunken Mysteries" presents artifacts drawn largely from the last seven years of underwater excavations at the ancient cities of Thonis-Heracleion and Canopus off the coast of Egypt by the European Institute for Underwater Archaeology (IEASM), directed by Franck Goddio in cooperation with the Egyptian Ministry for Antiquities and supported by the Hilti Foundation. The selection is supplemented by 40 artifacts from museums in Cairo and Alexandria.

French President Francois Hollande is expected to inaugurate the exhibition on Monday in the presence of Egypt's tourism minister at the premises of the Arab World Institute in Paris. It will open for the public on Tuesday and run till January 31 with the aim of promoting for tourism in Egypt.

The exhibition will illustrate the “legend of Osiris”, the Egyptian god of the afterlife. Osiris, so the legend says, was killed and cut into pieces by his brother Seth. Osiris’ sister-wife Isis reassembled the pieces which led to his resurrection in order to conceive their son Horus. Osiris was therefore worshiped for bringing new life to death, including the circle of vegetation and the flooding of the Nile. The “legend of Osiris” is one of the great founding myths of ancient Egypt. It was remembered, perpetuated and renewed in the annual celebration of the “Mysteries of Osiris”, one of the great religious ceremonies of ancient Egypt. According to the Decree of Canopus, a stele of 238 B.C., in the Canopic region this ceremony culminated in an annual water procession along the canals between Thonis-Heracleion and the city of Canopus.

“Osiris. Egypt’s Sunken Mysteries” reveals some of the latest discoveries of Franck Goddio and his team from these sites. Celebrations and rituals that were carried out in the utmost secrecy of the temples of Thonis-Heracleion and Canopus are presented to the visitors. They are guided through 1,100 square meters to the submerged sites of the two cities and can follow the water procession along the canals.