Travel Video: The Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities Dr Zahi Hawwas said that the Council has launched a massive upgrading project at the Egyptian Museum in downtown Cairo.
"The museum will be one of the most unique museums all over the world," he told reporters at a press conference that was attended also by the Italian ambassador in Cairo.
He said the upgrading would cost 1.3 million euros in cooperation with the Italian government.
The Egyptian Museum of Antiquities contains many important pieces of history. Not only does it house the world's largest collection of Pharaonic antiquities, it also houses the many treasures of King Tutankhamen, and many interesting statues that moved with the museums many relocations.
The Egyptian government established the museum, built in 1835 near the Asbakiya Gardens. The museum soon moved to Boulaq in 1858 because the original building was too small to hold all of the artifacts.
In 1855, shortly after the artifacts were moved, Duke Maximilian of Austria was given all of the artifacts. He hired a French architect to design and construct a new museum for the antiquities.
The new building was to be constructed on the bank of the Nile River in Boulaq. In 1878, after the museum was completed for some time, it suffered irreversible damage; a flood of the Nile River caused the antiquities to be relocated to another museum, in Giza. The artifacts remained there until 1902 when they were moved, for the last time to the current museum in Tahrir Square.
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