These gilded animal figures decorate the furniture of one of the most famous boy-kings of the ancient world, King Tutankhamun, who ruled Egypt about 3,000 years ago.
Discovered in 1922, King Tut’s tomb is one of the best-preserved of any Egyptian Pharaoh.
King Tut’s artifacts traveled the world for display in museums. But many of the relics are now being restored here, at the conservation center of Egypt’s new showcase for its historical treasures, the Grand Egyptian Museum.
READ: Egyptian archaeologists discover 3,000-year-old tomb of goldsmith
This technician uses diagnostic instruments to refurbish an ancient toy called 'a swan laying on eggs.' Another injects a chemical into a mummy’s casket.
Egypt hopes the new museum will draw tourists, a crucial pillar of its struggling economy. Since 2011, a series of political crises drove away visitors who once flocked to the country’s famous archaeological sites.
With the Giza Pyramids visible in the distance, the Grand Egyptian Museum sits on the outskirts of Cairo. Many of the artifacts were transported here from the old Egyptian Museum in central Cairo, some 14 miles away. One of those artifacts, the statue of King Ramses II, overlooks the effort to get the museum ready for its partial opening at the end of 2018.