CAIRO, Aug 25: A massive statue of one of Egypt’s greatest pharaohs, Ramses II, rolled through the streets of Cairo to a new home near the Pyramids on Friday to escape the corrosive pollution of its former spot in a crowded transit hub.

Tens of thousands of people lined the streets to bid farewell to the 3,200-year-old red granite statue, which weighs 83 tons and was wrapped in plastic and thick padding for the painstakingly slow 35-km journey, which took 10 hours.

Only the face was visible.

“We are going to miss you. Cairo will never be the same again,” shouted 23-year-old Ahmed Sami as the statue started moving.

Ramses II was a powerful imperial ruler and prolific temple builder who ruled Egypt from about 1304 to 1237 BC.

Cairo residents waved from their windows and balconies. Some were in tears. Others climbed buses, cars and mosques to get a view of the statue, which had stood in a square outside Cairo’s main railway station for over half a century.

Thousands of policemen deployed along the route. The statue was mounted upright atop a purpose-built vehicle and secured inside a gyroscopically-mounted iron cage.

“It was a very successful journey and we did not stop for a second,” said Ahmed al-Gharabawi, the main vehicle driver.

“The 10-hour journey was the best time of my life. I have never seen thousands of people singing all night and walking for miles just to say goodbye to a statue,” he told Reuters.

Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities took the decision to move the statue following a decade of discussions after the statue had deteriorated, mainly due to exposure to exhaust fumes and the vibrations caused by rail and vehicle traffic.

“I’m quite sure that if you look at the statue now, you will see it is smiling,” Zahi Hawass, head of the council, said after the statue reached its new home at the site of a planned museum.

The museum, near the ancient pyramids in Giza, will hold some of Egypt’s most treasured antiquities, including the mummy of King Tutankhamun.

The pharaoh Ramses II presided over an era of great military expansion in Egypt. He is a popular feature on postcards and his statue is a famous backdrop for scenes in some Egyptian films. Ramses II is also traditionally believed to be the pharaoh mentioned in the biblical story of Moses.—Reuters