King Tut’s bed moves to new digs near the Giza Pyramids in Egypt

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Egyptian workers transport a wooden crate with King Tutankhamun's funerary bed upon its arrival at the restoration laboratory of the Grand Egyptian Museum in Giza, Egypt, 23 May 2017. Photo: EPA

Published: 4:50am, 24 May 2017Updated: 4:50am, 24 May 2017

The first of the many wondrous artefacts found in Egyptian boy king Tutankhamun’s tomb were transported carefully through Cairo’s streets on Tuesday to their new home near the Giza Pyramids.

The still unfinished new Grand Egyptian Museum at the foot of the pyramids will eventually house the collections of the current brimming museum in the city’s Tahrir Square.

A gilded bed and a funeral chariot from Tutankhamun’s tomb -- discovered by British archaeologist Howard Carter in 1922 -- were transferred on Tuesday, well packed in wooden containers complete with materials to protect them from both heat and vibration.

Two trucks bearing the ancient treasures pulled up at the new Grand Egyptian Museum, escorted by police vehicles. In one of the galleries of the new complex, technicians wearing white gloves gingerly unwrapped the precious objects.

Tarek Tawfik, director of the Grand Egyptian Museum, speaks to reporters in front of king Tutankhamun's funerary bed upon its arrival at the Grand Egyptian Museum in Cairo, Egypt. Photo: AP

Relocating the two pieces forms part of a joint programme with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) to restore, pack and transport 71 items from the existing museum to the new facility, an antiquities ministry statement said.