Culture

Cairo displays previously unseen King Tut treasures

05 Dec, 2017

Ancient artefacts on display at Egyptian Museum in Cairo.

Previously unseen treasures from King Tutankhamun's tomb have been put on display at the Egyptian Museum in Cairo following analysis by a team of Egyptian and German archaeologists.

The 55 pieces of fabric embossed with gold were among an extensive trawl of artefacts discovered by British archeologists in Tutankhamun's tomb in 1922.

The pieces have remained in storage for almost a century and have gone on public display to mark the 115th anniversary of Cairo's Egyptian Museum. The delicate artefacts, which are more than 3,000 years old, relate to the chariots of Tutankhamun and depict traditional motifs from Egypt as well as influences from Mesopotamia.

Earlier this year Egypt began the gradual transfer of Tutankhamun relics from the Egyptian Museum in Cairo to the new Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM) located 23 km southwest of the capital, near the Giza Pyramids. With a scheduled opening date in May 2018, the state-of-the-art museum will have a 93,000-sqm exhibition area housing 100,000 ancient Egyptian artefacts.