One of the Egyptian artifacts to be displayed in the On Top of the Pyramid: The Civilization of Ancient Egypt exhibition at the Shanghai Museum Photo: Courtesy of the Shanghai Museum

Over 780 precious artifacts from Egypt are set to be displayed at the Shanghai Museum from July 18 to promote cultural exchanges and mutual learning between China and Egypt. 

On Sunday night, escorted by police vehicles, a convoy half a kilometer long transported nearly 800 Egyptian antiquities from the airport to the Shanghai Museum in a grand procession. 

Both parties were filled with excitement and anticipation for this collaborative exhibition. The director of Shanghai ­Museum Chu Xiaobo said, "This is a great honor."  

Monday afternoon, staff from the Shanghai Museum and curators who traveled from Egypt were preparing for the unveiling ceremony of two major artifacts - a statue of Akhenaten and a painted anthropoid coffin. 

In May, the Shanghai Museum and the Supreme Council of Antiquities under the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities jointly announced that they would hold the grand exhibition, On Top of the Pyramid: The Civilization of Ancient Egypt, from July 18, 2024 until August of 2025. 

The exhibition will feature 492 sets of over 780 precious artifacts from various periods of ancient Egypt. These include statues of pharaohs Tutankhamun, Amenemhat III and Ramses II, a complete set of mummy coffins, gold jewelry belonging to a queen as well as newly discovered painted wooden coffins, animal mummies, and statues from the Saqqara region. 

According to media reports, these artifacts have been carefully selected from seven key Egyptian museums and the latest archaeological discoveries in the Saqqara region, with over 95 percent of them making their debut in Asia. 

They will provide a comprehensive display of ancient Egyptian civilization and the country's latest archaeological findings.

"This is an important exchange between Chinese and Egyptian cultural institutions and the largest special exhibition held by the Shanghai ­Museum since its establishment," Chu told the Global Times.

He revealed that the exhibition will be concentrated in three exhibition halls on the first floor of the museum, covering an area of over 3,000 square meters. 

One of the Egyptian artifacts to be displayed in the On Top of the Pyramid: The Civilization of Ancient Egypt exhibition at the Shanghai Museum Photo: Courtesy of the Shanghai Museum

In addition, the scale of this exhibition not only has the ­largest display area but also breaks the record for the number of borrowed artifacts in the history of the Shanghai Museum. 

In the past, the number of loan artifacts from Egypt at one time didn't exceed 300 items, while this time the number of artifacts is close to 800. 

The Shanghai Museum carefully selected the artifacts on loan, with more than 400 of them coming from the latest archaeological findings of the Saqqara site in Egypt, which have been kept in storage and never publicly exhibited before.

The Egyptian artifacts to be exhibited this time include large statues, whose volume and weight are extraordinary, so safely transporting these precious artifacts to Shanghai posed a challenge. Chu said that after multiple investigations and discussions, it was finally decided to abandon the plan to use the cargo hold of a passenger aircraft and instead use a chartered cargo plane to transport the Egyptian artifacts to Shanghai.

During the 13-month exhibition period, these precious artifacts from Egypt will take visitors through time and space to appreciate the country's splendid ancient civilization.

It is revealed that along with the over 780 Egyptian artifacts, Chinese artifacts from the collection of the Shanghai Museum will also be displayed. 

"There will be a dialogue between the two ancient civilizations," said Chu. Ancient Egypt is known as one of the four great ancient civilizations of mankind along with China, ancient Babylon, and ancient India. This exhibition will fully reveal ancient Egyptian civilization and Egypt's latest archaeological discoveries.

During the exhibition, one of the highlights is that the Shanghai Museum will try to invite "cat guests" to enter the exhibition. Special activities called "Museum Cat Night" will be held regularly, welcoming visitors to bring their pet cats to the venue. 

Chu explained that in ancient Egypt, cats, like many other animals seen as divine, enjoyed a sacred and lofty status. Many cat-related artifacts have been unearthed at the Saqqara ancient site, and it is hoped that this exhibition will create a "pet-friendly" atmosphere.