As part of the King of Belgium's current official visit to Egypt to attend the celebration of the official opening of the Grand Egyptian Museum on Saturday, November 1, he yesterday visited the archaeological sites of Saqqara and Abusir, accompanied by Ambassador Bart de Groof, Belgium's Ambassador in Cairo, to get a close look at some of the most important unique archaeological landmarks in which Egypt abounds.
The visit began at the Saqqara archaeological site, where Dr. Mohamed Ismail Khaled, Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, accompanied him on a tour of the area that included the tombs of "Mereruka" and "Kagemni" in the Saqqara necropolis. The King of Belgium expressed great admiration for the remarkably well-preserved colored inscriptions depicting details of the daily life, customs and traditions of the ancient Egyptians, stressing his admiration for the high artistic craftsmanship and documentary precision that distinguished ancient Egyptian art.
The King of Belgium then headed to the Abusir archaeological site to visit the pyramids of the Fifth Dynasty kings, known as the pyramids of the Sun Kings, where he listened to a detailed explanation from Dr. Mohamed Ismail Khaled on the philosophy behind the construction of these pyramids and the most prominent recent archaeological discoveries at the site, foremost among them the discovery for the first time of a series of storerooms inside the pyramid of King Sahure, which helps reveal the most important features of the funerary architecture of this king, the second king of the Fifth Dynasty (2400 BC) and the first to choose Abusir as the site of his funerary complex.
The King of Belgium expressed his deep appreciation for the grandeur and creativity of Egypt's antiquities that he had seen, saying that this visit had deepened his connection to Egyptian civilization. He also expressed his great delight at the experience and promised to make another visit to Egypt soon to complete his tour of Saqqara and Abusir and see more of their unique landmarks that he was unable to visit during this short visit.
