The massive statue of Ramses II is being prepared for transportation from Ramses square in Cairo, 22 August 2006. Tens of thousands of people gathered along the streets of Cairo to bid farewell to one of Cairo's landmarks as the colossal statue of Ramses II began its journey from the polluted city to a spot near the Pyramids and closer to its original site.(AFP/Khaled Desouki)
AFP got a little more carried away..
Giant Ramses statue flees central Cairo pollution
Alain Navarro
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20060824/wl_mideast_afp/egyptarchaeologyramses_060824171831
CAIRO (AFP) - Defeated by pollution in Africa's largest metropolis, the colossal statue of Ramses II -- the greatest warrior king in ancient Egypt -- is to be moved from a congested central Cairo square to a spot near the Pyramids and closer to its original site.
After years of controversy and logistical headaches, the 100-ton pink granite statue will be tranferred in one piece during a high-risk overnight operation through the streets of the capital on a 90-foot motorised convoy.
The monumental statue of the most prolific builder in pharaonic history has all but vanished behind a sarcophagus of protective plastic and scaffoldings, as Cairenes trickle to Ramses square to pay their last respects to what had become one of the capital's most recognisable landmarks.
The transfer was practiced last month with a fake statue.
The pharaonic convoy was to begin moving at a snail's pace at 1:00 am Friday (2200 GMT Thursday) on a 35-kilometre (21 miles) journey to its new home at the Grand Egyptian Museum, which is to open soon near the Giza Pyramids.
The transfer will be broadcast live on Egyptian public television but a planned ceremony was cancelled because of the violence in Lebanon, the authorities announced recently.
"Ramses will be happy now," said Zahi Hawass, the head of Egypt's antiquities. "He would have been unhappy in his tomb knowing that the statue was staying in such a mess where nobody can see him anymore."
Some Egyptian archeologists, politicians and intellectuals have opposed the transfer, alleging it was decided under US pressure because Ramses -- believed to be the pharaoh who oppressed the Jews and forced Moses to take his people out of Egypt -- was perceived as an anti-Israeli symbol.
In an interview with AFP, Hawass dismissed that view -- relayed by one of his predecessors in the Egyptian press -- as "totally stupid, cheap demagogy".
Discovered in 1883 near Memphis, the ancient pharaonic capital, the 11-metre (36 feet) statue was moved to Cairo in 1954.
Two years earlier, a group of young officers led by Gamal Abdel Nasser had overthrown British-backed King Farouk and abolished a monarchy which had become too closely associated with foreign powers.
Nasser wanted to use Ramses to symbolise the authentically Egyptian roots of the new republic.
"It was chopped up in eight pieces and reassembled. Not a single archeologist was present. It was the decision of a military dictatorship," Hawass said.
In its early days, the statue and the fountain at its feet were visible from afar, but they were gradually hemmed in by a mass of overpasses and pedestrian bridges that were meant to ease the flow of people and motor traffic around and across the square but which in fact aggravated it.
The square, which lies outside the city's main train station, is reputed the most polluted spot in Egypt.
Ramses II, from the 19th dynasty of pharaohs, reigned over Egypt for 68 years, from 1304 to 1236 BC, and is believed to have lived to the age of 90.
He covered the country with monuments to his exploits and his mummy, on display in the National Museum in Cairo, is one of the country's biggest tourist attractions.