The Grand Egyptian Museum has been organizing the international Tutankhamun conference since 2015, each year with a different theme. This year, the 5th conference was held on the 4th and 5th of May 2019, to present the latest research results on King Tutankhamen artifacts, featuring iconography as its theme.
Egyptian Minister of Antiquities Dr. Khaled El-Enany has inaugurated the Conference, entitled “Iconography” giving the welcome word, with Dr. Fayza Heikal, professor of Egyptology at the American University in Cairo, representing the organizing committee.
Some of the main figures who attended the conference included the famed Egyptian archaeologist Dr. Zahi Hawass, former Minister of Antiquities, and the Japanese Ambassador Masaki Noke.
The first day started with a visit to the Grand Egyptian Museum Conservation Center with Dr. Tarek tawfik, former General director of GEM, to witness the conservation process of King Tutankhamun collection, which will be the center of the exhibition of the Grand Egyptian Museum.
The conference had a number of lectures delivered by international scholars and researchers discussing some of the latest research results that was done on King Tutankhamun’s artifacts.
The researchers, included the Japanese Professor of Egyptology at Kanazawa University, Dr. Kawai Nozomu, who is also one of GEM-JC project’s experts, presented new research results under the title of “Reading the decoration and iconography of Tutankhamun’s state chariots”.
Professor Kawai added that he hopes to use 3D technology to enhance displays by showing the virtual reconstruction of this artifact.
In the end, a brief was given to the audience about what was discussed throughout the conference, looking forward to further research next year.