Londoners welcomed a 25ft Egyptian god to the capital today. Passers-by watched the extraordinary sight of the enormous, five-tonne golden Anubis statue travelling up the Thames on the back of a cargo ship.
Tower Bridge was raised to make way for the ancient Egyptian jackal-headed God of the Dead as it was transported to its new position in Trafalgar Square.
The statue travelled from the US, where a three-year touring exhibition of Tutankhamun’s treasures has recently closed. The Anubis installation in central London marks the forthcoming opening of Tutankhamun And The Golden Age Of The Pharaohs at the O2 Bubble, the first exhibition to be held at the venue.
Some 265,000 tickets have already been sold or reserved. The exhibition, which will include more than 130 treasures that are all between 3,000 and 5,000 years old, opens on November 15 and continues until August 30, 2008.