Egyptian Pharaoh Tutankhamun’s mummy will soon be transferred to the new Grand Egyptian Museum from his tomb in Luxor, the museum’s director of archaeological affairs, Dr Eltayeb Abbas, confirmed to The Sun.
"We are going to bring the mummy in May this year from the Valley of the Kings”, Abbas revealed, as the Giza Museum is expected to open this October. “All the collections of the king are here in the Grand Egyptian Museum. They’re all under one roof. I think Tutankhamun himself would be happy to have his mummy here”.
However, many have expressed concern over the plans, including Egyptologist and experienced tour guide Ahmed Rabie Mohamed.
“Since they discovered the tomb in 1922, he never ever left his tomb”, Rabie Mohamed commented to The Sun. “Even when the mummy is examined that is done here in the Valley of the Kings”.
The expert claimed moving King Tut’s body would be dangerous to the local economy, as many of the tomb’s relics, including the pharaoh’s chariots, have already been relocated to the museum. But he expressed hope that the plan won’t be followed through on.
“If Tutankhamun leaves Luxor everyone will be sad because he’s our only royal mummy that you can see in the Valley of the Kings”, Rabie Mohamed insisted. “If they take the mummy out no one will want to go in as they can go to the new museum”.
“Don’t disturb him”, he warned.
The remarks come amid concerns that the disturbance of Tutankhamun’s resting place could trigger the “curse of the pharaohs” – a legend that has earlier been used to explain deaths and bad luck befalling those involved in the discovery of King Tut’s mummy.
Tutankhamun remains one of the most well-known Egyptian pharaohs, taking the throne at the age of nine and ruling the kingdom for around nine more years, from 1332 to 1323 BC, until his death, which still remains a topic of debate.