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The highly anticipated exhibition “On Top of the Pyramid: The Civilization of Ancient Egypt” is now open at the Shanghai National Museum in China, drawing an unprecedented number of visitors.

The exhibition, inaugurated by Mohamed Ismail Khaled, Secretary-General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, has already sold out tickets for its first day, attracting 12,000 visitors and selling a total of 250,000 tickets to date.

Attendees of the grand opening were Zhao Jiaming, member of the Standing Committee and head of the Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China's Shanghai Municipal Committee; Liu Duo, Vice Mayor of the Shanghai Municipal Government; Ambassador Assem Hanafi, Egypt's ambassador to China; Ambassador Mohamed Raslan, Consul General in Shanghai, along with Luo Wenli, Deputy Head of the National Cultural Heritage Administration, and several representatives from cultural institutions in China and abroad.

“Despite not being the first of its kind in the country, this exhibition is the largest since 2003 and is expected to greatly enhance the promotion of Egyptian tourism, particularly cultural tourism, in the Chinese market, which is a key target for Egypt,” Khaled said highlighting the significant public interest the exhibition has aroused in China.

Featuring 787 meticulously selected artefacts from various esteemed Egyptian museums, the exhibition showcases the grandeur of ancient Egyptian civilization from its early days during the Naqada period and the Early Dynastic Period up to the New Kingdom. The artefacts illustrate the ancient Egyptians' concepts of kingship, daily life, adornment and jewellery, writing, religious beliefs, and the afterlife.

Highlights include statues of renowned pharaohs, such as Ramses II, Akhenaten, Tutankhamun, Amenemhat III, and Meneptah, and statues of Egyptian deities, like Osiris, Isis, Bastet, Hathor, the Apis bull, and Thoth. The exhibition also features a collection of gold bracelets encrusted with stones, royal crowns, cartouches, and items representing the ancient Egyptians' concept of the afterlife, including colored wooden coffins and canopic jars.

To further enrich the exhibition, the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities has included artefacts discovered by the Egyptian mission in the Saqqara archaeological area, Egypt's oldest and largest necropolis. These include several colored coffins, mummified animal remains, a faience ushabti statue, and a collection of Old Kingdom statues made of colored limestone.

The exhibition is organized into three main halls: "The Land of Pharaohs," "Secrets of Saqqara," and "The Era of Tutankhamun." It will remain open until August 2025.

Source: State Information Service