Ancient Egyptian artefacts on India tour soon

Relics from Tutankhamun's tomb are among a magnificent array of objects that will travel to India from Egypt for a mega archaeological exhibition, which would provide a peek into the rich history and culture of the African nation known for its spectacular pyramids.

"We have the approval to bring artefacts from the National Museum in Cairo to India. In the coming weeks, we will work on selection of articles and finalisation of dates and places for the exhibition," Egypt's ambassador to India Khaled El Bakly said.

"We are working on a big exhibition of artefacts. The National Museum has over 50,000 artefacts...Indians may get a chance to see some of them next year," he said.

On the pieces which will be brought to India, he said, "We will identify them together" and "promised" to bring one from the collection of the Egyptian pharaoh Tutankhamun (1341 BC-1323 BC).

However, Bakly was non-committal on bringing the mask of Tutankhamun's mummy, a popular icon for ancient Egypt, in the wake of the Egyptian government declaring the precious article as "too fragile to withstand travel".

Relics from Tutankhamun's tomb are among the most travelled artifacts in the world. The 'Treasures of Tutankhamun' tour ran from 1972 to 1979 across the world.

On the dwindling number of tourists in Egypt in the wake of the recent unrest there, Bakly said, "We are asking tourists to visit the nation. It (the movement that ousted President Hosni Mubarak) was a domestic issue. It was not targeted against foreigners. We wanted to change the regime and we have done so."

"We have added Tahrir Square (the spot in Cairo where thousands of Egyptians had demonstrated, demanding an end to Mubarak's 30-year-old rule) in the list of tourist sites," the Egyptian envoy said.

"Egypt's tourist attractions will never change. They are historical and heritage sites. They are the same," he said, adding over 1.14 lakh Indians visited Egypt last year.

"People have started cleaning the places where they staged demonstrations. Now there is a campaign to boost the economy, stock market and foreign reserves," Bakly said.