GEM Receives 249 Artifacts

By Ali Abu Dashish and Salma Yassin

CAIRO, March 1 (SEE)- The Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM) received 249 artifacts from the Egyptian Museum located in Tahrir square and Tal Basta area in Zagazig.

One of the artifacts is a triangular statue made of granite, colored in pink and King Ramses II is in its middle and on its both sides pharaonic Gods Ptah and Hathor are placed.

This statue was uncovered by an excavation work carried out by an Egyptian-German joint delegation at Tal Basta area.

On his part, Issa Zeidan, the director of restoration department at the GEM, said this statue is very heavy, weighing 4 tons and its dimensions are 198×155×58.

Zeidan added that the statue was examined and restored before being displayed in GEM.

Moreover, he confirmed that other marvelous collection of colored limestone statues depicting the great statesmen and writers in ancient kingdom besides group of imaginary doors made of limestone and decorated with inscriptions of King Bebe were examined and restored.

“After that, specific committees received all artifacts and carried out all restoration needed then wrote status reports before wrapping them and transferring them to the GEM,” the director stressed.

Zeidan pointed out that transfer process took place amid tight security of tourism and antiquities police.