Egypt Thursday unveiled a sacred road lined with thousands of statues that was used as a procession route for deities 3,000 years ago.
Called the Avenue of the Sphinx, this 1.7-mile stretch of sphinx and more than 1,050 statues of rams has been rebuilt with the hope of attracting tourists from around the world.
The Ancient Walkway, also known as the Path of Rama and the Path of the Gods, connects the famous Karnak and Luxor temples to the city of Thebes, which was the capital of Egypt in ancient times.
Mohamed Abd al-Badei, a top Egyptian archeology official, said the oldest ruins along the route are six structures built by Queen Hatshepsut, Egypt’s only female pharaoh, dating back to 1400 BC.
The paved path, covered in sandstone blocks, was used every year for a festival called ‘Opet’ which was held in the second month of the Nile flood season.
The hieroglyphs on the walls of one of the temples say that the holiday was marked by parades and dancers, in celebration of the flood that brought the fields.
The priests carried three divine boats on their shoulders, carrying the idols of the Theban Triad – the god of Amun-Re, his wife Mut and their son Khonsu from one end to the other.
The grand ceremony began at 12:30 pm, with President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi reciting an ancient holiday with other senior officials.
Hundreds of singers and dancers dressed in traditional ancient Egyptian clothes leave the temple of Karnak in a spectacular procession, with some taking part in giant golden boats on their shoulders as priests did thousands of years ago.
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Egypt on Thursday reopened a sacred street lined with thousands of statues that was used as a procession of gods 3,000 years ago.
The Sphinx’s avenues were later used by the Romans and are believed to have been rebuilt by Cleopatra, the Ptolemaic queen who left her cartouche—an inscribed hieroglyph in the Temple of Luxor that bears her name.
With the passage of time this tradition began to fade, until the road was completely empty and eventually buried under sand.
The statues of the Sphinx were not seen again by the human eye until 1949, when eight were discovered by the Egyptian archaeologist Dr. Zakaria Ghonim. ABC News Report.
From 1958 to 1961, 17 more sculptures were opened and then from 1961 to 1964 55 more.
Called the Avenue of the Sphinx, this 1.7-mile stretch has more than 1,050 sphinx and ram statues that connect the temples of Karnak in the north to Luxor in the south.
Hundreds of singers and dancers dressed in traditional ancient Egyptian clothes leave the temple of Karnak in a spectacular procession, with some taking part in giant golden boats on their shoulders, as priests did thousands of years ago.
Most of the original sculptures have been recovered and are depicted in three different figures, one of which includes the head of a Rama.
The entire path was identified from 1984 to 2000, which led to a major excavation of the site.
However, this meant that hundreds of houses, mosques and the 115-year-old Evangelical Church had to be demolished to restore the Avenue of the Sphinx.
Most of the original sculptures have been recovered and are depicted in three different figures, the first of which is the body of a lion with the head of a Rama, built about 1,000 feet between the boundary of the Karnak temple and the monastery. was done in the area. The reign of Tutankhamun, the ruler of the new empire, who ruled about 3,300 years ago.
The second is a complete Rama statue erected in a remote area during the reign of Amenhotep III of the 18th dynasty from 1391–1353 BC, which was later moved to the temple of Khonsu in the Karnak complex.
The hieroglyphs on the walls of one of the temples state that the holiday was marked by parades and dancers to commemorate the flood of bounties brought to the fields.
The paved path, covered in sandstone blocks, was used every year for a festival called ‘Opet’ which was held in the second month of the Nile flood season. The temple of Karnaki is in the picture
Thursday’s festivities were started by the Pharaoh’s Golden Parade (pictured) on 3 April that a procession of 22 ancient tombs travels 40 miles through the streets of Cairo. A total of 18 kings and four queens, all of whom died more than 3,000 years ago, were moved to a new museum in the southern area of the capital.
NS The third shape is the iconic Sphinx which was constructed during the reign of Nectanebo I (380-362 BC).
The Karnak Temple was built around 2,000 to 4,000 years ago and is dedicated to Amun-Ra, an ancient sun god. It covers an area of more than 250 acres.
The Temple of Luxor was built by Amenhotep III some 3,400 years ago and has been used as a site of continued religious worship from the ancient Egyptians to Christian Copts and later Muslims.
Thursday’s celebration was sparked by the Pharaoh’s Golden Parade on 3 April that a procession of 22 ancient tombs travels 40 miles through the streets of Cairo.
A total of 18 kings and four queens, all of whom died more than 3,000 years ago, were moved to a new museum in the southern area of the capital.
Each mummy was placed inside their own golden carriage with the royal’s name on the outside.
The trains were designed with shock absorbers to ensure the pristine remains of the journey.
The ceremony appeared at the newly opened National Museum of Egyptian Civilization in Fustat overlooking Tahrir Square along the Nile Corniche from the Egyptian Museum.
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