APRIL FOOL: Tutankhamen’s Mummy to be Shown in Romania in October

Balkan Travellers

Updated: Thanks to everyone who let me know that this was an April Fool - and a rather good one too (I was suspicious of it but I posted it anyway!):

The mummy of the Egyptian pharaoh Tutankhamen will arrive to be displayed in the city of Iaşi in north-eastern Romania this October, after many years’ worth of efforts, head of the Iaşi County Council told national media today.

The deal, according to the Ziare.com news portal, was sealed yesterday in The Hague after a meeting between Romanian Foreign Minister Cristian Diaconescu and his Egyptian counterpart Ahmed Aboul Gheit.

“We are taking about an undertaking which started 15 years ago, when I was Iaşi’s mayor. We held the last talks during the autumn of last year with Mrs. Sanaa Ismail Atallah, the Republic of Egypt’s ambassador to Romania, and after that things were underway,” Constantin Simirad, head of the Iaşi County Council told the publication.

According to Simirad, the mummy’s arrival in Iaşi will be of great importance to the region and the whole country. The pharaoh’s sarcophagus will only stay in Romania for a week, due to issues connected with the mummy’s security, the portal noted.