Community
22 March, 2025
Walking like an Egyptian
THE countdown to an exciting new exhibition that showcases the magic and mystery of Egypt – the Tomb of the Pharaohs – is underway.
Seven 12m-long containers have been packed and left Cairo on March 12 for a mid-May arrival at the Cairns Aquarium.
The aim of the display, which includes some world-firsts, will add another bow to the tourism offerings of the Far North and attract tens of thousands of visitors. It opens on June 28.
The Australian Ambassador to Egypt Dr Axel Wabenhorst I joined the Tomb of the Pharaohs founder and chief executive officer Daniel Leipnik and officials from the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities in Cairo to inspect the 453 ancient Egyptian museum display items being prepared for shipment to Cairns.
The Tomb of the Pharaohs collection provides illustrative examples of the burial treasures from some of the most well- known rulers of ancient Egypt including King Tut, Seti I and Ramses IV. Other items presented included lesser known, but archaeologically significant tomb items, such as a collection of Tanis Treasures from the ‘Silver Pharaohs: Psusennes I andShonshenq II’.
World-first pieces, such as a never seen before display of gold items from Queen Nefertari’s burial chamber, showcase the wealth of these rulers and demonstrate the artistic flair and capability of the New Kingdom period.
Mr Leipnik said it was great to showcase the display items to the ambassador and provide details about “this exciting world-first project for Australia”.
He said the project involved over 18 months of careful design, detailed construction and then coordination of display items through Cairo-based supplier of museum grade display items, Konouz.
“The project has been made possible through careful planning between the Cairns-based team and Egyptian counterparts,” Mr Leipnik said.
“We are so excited to create a new attraction for Cairns that showcases the most elaborate and famous tombs of the Pharaohs and lets people see them as if they were the first to enter the tombs – in their original, untouched state.”
The Tomb of the Pharaohs experience follows on from the highly successful Ramses and the Gold of the Pharaohs exhibition at the Australian Museum in Sydney which concluded in May 2024 after welcoming over 500,000 visitors in its six month exhibition period and the blockbuster Pharaohs exhibit at NGV Melbourne and Discovering Ancient Egypt in Canberra. Previous ancient Egyptian exhibitions such as the King Tut exhibition at the Melbourne Museum saw a record breaking 796,000 visitors, with almost half of all attendees travelling from either interstate or overseas.
The exhibition is a 3D, immersive and interactive experience of ancient Egypt.
It is the brain child of the aquarium owners and operators Mr Leipnik and Andrew Preston.
The new attraction has been designed to enable visitors to explore the recreated tombs of ancient Egypt’s most famous Pharaohs such as Ramses IV, Seti I, King Tutankhamun as well as Queen Nefertari, King Psusennes I and King Shoshenq II.
Each of 11 tomb rooms are filled with museum grade display items that provide illustrative examples of some of the most incredible antiquities to have ever been found.
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