A restored road connecting two ancient Egyptian temple complexes in Karnak and Luxor has been unveiled in a lavish ceremony aimed at raising the profile of one of Egypt’s top tourist spots.

The procession on Thursday to reopen the 1.7-mile (2.7km) road included a reenactment of the ancient Opet festival, in which statues of Theban deities were paraded annually during the New Kingdom era in celebration of fertility and the flooding of the Nile.

The Egyptian president, Abdel Fatah al-Sisi, marched along the road at the start of the ceremony. Pharaonic chariots and more than 400 young performers dressed in pharaonic costumes paraded along the avenue1. The road has undergone several restoration efforts since being discovered in 1949, and the latest began in 2017.

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  • 1. The 3,400-year-old road linking the ancient centres of Karnak and Luxor, also known as Road of the Rams or Avenue of the Sphinxes, is lined with hundreds of ram- and human-headed sphinxes, though over the years many have been eroded or destroyed.
Fireworks light the sky at the Temple of Luxor during the official ceremony for the reopening of ancient road.
Fireworks light the sky at the Temple of Luxor during the official ceremony for the reopening of ancient road. © Khaled Desouki/AFP/Getty Images