Landmark ancient Egypt exhibition welcomed 600 thousand visitors in Hong Kong

Hong Kong’s enthusiastic public bid adieu to the awe-inspiring exhibition, 'Ancient Egypt Unveils Its Secrets: Treasures from Egyptian Museums', which concluded a remarkable nine-month run at the Hong Kong Palace Museum. The exhibition, open from November 18, 2025, to August 31, 2026, attracted over 600,000 visitors, underscoring humanity's enduring curiosity for the land of the Pharaohs.

As the grand finale of the exhibition and the beginning of the artifacts' return journey to Egypt, Hisham al-Leithy, Secretary-General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, representing Tourism and Antiquities Minister Sherif Fathy, joined museum officials at a joint press conference alongside Dr. Ahmed Hameeda, Head of the Museums Sector.

The display offered a comprehensive portrayal of ancient Egyptian life, featuring 250 masterpieces from eight Egyptian museums and crucial archaeological sites. Among the exhibition highlights were a massive quartzite statue of King Tutankhamun, weighing almost 2.7 tons from the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir, a substantial granite likeness of King Merneptah, and a radiant gilded mummy mask on loan from the Hurghada Museum.

In addition to these grand artifacts, visitors were captivated by intimate insights into daily life, such as delicate papyrus scrolls, exquisite gold jewelry, stone carvings, and even preserved fragments of ancient Egyptian bread. Al-Leithy emphasized that international exhibitions serve as a potent catalyst for cultural exchange and a vital platform for Egypt's cultural tourism.

With logistics, packing, and high-security transportation now in motion, the priceless collection is due to return home to Egypt, concluding a successful joint endeavor between museum, restoration, and diplomatic teams from both areas.