CAIRO.- A replica of the statue of Ramses II, weighing 83 tons, went through its last “rehearsal” to substitute the original before it is moved to the new egyptian museum. The gigantic replica, 11.5 meters high, was transported from the centric plaza of Tahir to the new Great Egyptian Museum, near tje pyramids, in a nightly voyage that took eight hours.

With this rehearsal, the Supreme Council of Antiquities of Egypt wants to be sure that no unexpected risks are taken when they move the original piece next August 25.

Archaeologists expect that the transportation of the statue of Ramses II will preserve it since it has been severely deteriorated by acoustic and environmental contamination that it has suffered since it was installed in 1954 ib front of the main railway station in El Cairo

At 02:00 local time (00.00 GMT) the replica of the statue started its journey of 30 kilometers, the same that the original Hill cover, sculpted 3,000 years ago with granite blocks from Asuan situated 950 kilometers to the south of El Cairo.

A forklift lifted the colossal replica an placed in a vertical position in a metallic box before putting it in a platform, specially designed, that with the truck´s cabin measures 52 meters.

Four flags of Egypt decorated the vehicle that completed its 5 kilometer per hour journey and even reduced its speed on bridges and near trees to guarantee the security of the statue.

A police escort and several buses filled with engineers from Arab Contractors, responsible for the Project and archaeologists accompanied the truck to study the possible risks which may be found when the original statue is moved.

Even though it was a Friday, a festive day for Muslims and that the streets where practically empty, the journey obliged the closing of streets so as not to disturb the journey of the colossal statue and the truck, which together weighed 240 tons.

Some trees had to be cut along the way to facilitate the passing of Ramses II, one of the most important pharaohs that ruled ancient Egypt.