Egyptian Museum in Tahrir shines spotlight on ancient pharaonic capital of Pi-Ramesses

Nevine El-Aref , Monday 17 Jul 2023

The Egyptian Museum in Tahrir is hosting a temporary exhibition that sheds light on the archaeological excavations of the ancient city of Pi-Ramesses, which served as the capital during the reign of King Ramses II, in the eastern Nile Delta.

The exhibition was inaugurated by Mostafa Waziri, secretary-general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA), and Frank Hartmann, German ambassador in Cairo, as part of the cooperation between the Egyptian Museum in Cairo and Roemer Museum in Hildesheim, Germany.

The exhibition, titled "Qantir – Pi-Ramesses: A Century of Excavations & Research in the Ramesside Residence," will run through mid-October.

It features a collection of artefacts discovered over the past century around what is now the modern village of Qantir. They include those unearthed by renowned early Egyptian archaeologists Mahmoud Hamza and Labib Habachi. In 1980, German archaeologists from the Roemer Museum continued excavations in the same area in collaboration with the SCA.

A collection of artefacts that were stored in San Al-Haggar archaeological site in Sharqiya governorate are also on display. "This collection will be exhibited permanently at the Egyptian Museum in a special display after the completion of the temporary exhibition," Waziri pointed out.

Among the most distinguished objects on display are statues and inscriptions for the early kings during the 19^th Dynasty (1292-1189 BC), such as kings Seti I and Ramses II. Also on display are architectural elements and the items that represent the ancient Egyptians' daily life during this period.