Sphinx Avenue Restored After 2,500 Years as Egypt Boosts Tourism

Lavish performance marks opening of ancient processional route
Tourists returning in significant numbers after pandemic dip

Fireworks light the sky during the official ceremony opening the “Rams Road” at the entrance of the Temple of Luxor in Egypt’s southern city of the same name on Nov. 25.Photographer: Khaled Desouki/AFP/Getty Images

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By Mirette Magdy

November 25, 2021 at 8:17 PM UTC

Egypt unveiled a restored 2,500-year-old processional way that’s flanked by ram-headed statues and sphinxes at a glittering ceremony Thursday, its latest step in reviving a tourism industry recovering from the pandemic.

Hundreds of performers clad in ancient Egyptian garb took part in the tightly choreographed evening performance, parading and dancing on the 2,700-meter (2,950-yard) sandstone Avenue of Sphinxes, which links the famed temples of Luxor and Karnak in the historic settlement of Thebes on the Nile River’s eastern bank.