Since 2018, a passport picture has spread that its publishers said on social media that it was issued in 1974 to the Egyptian Pharaoh Ramses II so that he (they mean his mummy !!) is allowed to travel to France for treatment from a type of fungus that appeared on the mummy and its treatment was not available in Egypt!
The subject was renewed last year, when the same passport photo and the same claim were published, justifying the passport issuance to the Egyptian Pharaoh, that French law does not allow any person "alive or dead" to enter French territory without having a valid passport!!
Emirati website publishes the news with a different novel!
Not only was the issue on social media ... but some (reliable) sites spread the news as a fact that did happen.
For example, the UAE news site, Al Ain, published a report entitled: "A passport for the mummy of Ramses ... 44 years have passed since the strangest event."
The report said the following:
"The story of the mummy passport issuance goes back to 1974 when Egyptologists working in the museum found that the mummy was deteriorating at an alarming rate, and decided to send it to France for an examination, so they issued a passport for the mummy so that they could send it abroad".
The site-based its report, published on November 7, 2018, on another report published by the British site “Ancient Origins”, which is interested in research on past eras, on November 3, 2018.
But the British site reported another story about the reason for issuing the passport, as it claimed that this was in implementation of provisions in the Egyptian law that force the relatives of the deceased to obtain the necessary documents before allowing the bodies to leave the country!!!
Egyptian sites repeat the news in 2020!
If an Emirati website publishes a report citing a British website... Perhaps the matter will pass...
But for the news to be published by Egyptian sites, this gives the story credibility!
The Egyptian “Al-Youm Al Sabeh” website published an article on December 6, 2020, its author questions the fact that a passport was issued to Pharaoh Ramses II, and where is this passport, "which is a historical document that must be displayed in the Grand Museum"!
However, the Egyptian “Sada Al Balad” site dealt with the matter differently. On December 20, 2020, published an interview with an Egyptian archaeological researcher named Ahmed Amer, who talked about King Ramses II, his achievements, and his reign that extended to 68 years (the period from 1279 BC to 1213 BC) then he said:
"The Egyptian authorities decided to obtain an official passport for the mummy, in a unique event, in the name of Ramses II, and he wrote in the passport in front of the profession: a former king!!"
The Egyptian archaeological researcher added:
“The reason behind obtaining a passport for the mummy is due to the Egyptian law that requires anyone who wants to leave the country, whether he is alive or dead, to hold a recognized passport and obtain the necessary papers, while other reports stated that the reason behind obtaining the passport It was at the request of the French government, which was refusing entry to any person who did not carry a passport, even if he was dead“!!
Has the Egyptian government issued a passport to Pharaoh Ramses II?
Did you believe the above?
Let us now ask the question that should occupy your mind: Did the Egyptian government really issue a passport to Pharaoh Ramses II in 1974 in order to travel to France on a royal trip that the world witnessed and France celebrated his presence as if he was still sitting on the throne of Egypt?!
The answer is categorical: No. This is misleading!
Why?
Firstly:
from the first glance at the alleged passport, you will know immediately - if you are an Egyptian or even know what the old Egyptian passport looks like - that this photo is fabricated and not real .. because the model on which Ramses II’s photo was placed as his 1974 passport was not used in Egypt only in 2008!!
Secondly:
The shape of the ancient Egyptian passport was completely different during the seventies
(see, for example, the passport photo of the late Egyptian President Anwar Sadat, who allowed the travel of the mummy of Pharaoh Ramses II to France in 1976 after a direct request from then-French President Valerie Giscard d'Estaing).
France Press denies the news, but the lie is still going on?
Agence France-Presse was alone in denying the misleading news... and it confirmed the lie of what was rumored about the Egyptian government in 1974 issuing a passport to Pharaoh Ramses II...
But it is strange that some Egyptian websites and newspapers questioned the AFP report.. while the rest of the sites and newspapers did not publish anything about the report is as if it wants to believe the lie and continue misleading its readers, as she left what she published as it is without deleting or denying it to clarify the facts.
But the Lebanese newspaper An-Nahar took care to deny this misleading news, as it published a lengthy report, quoting Agence France-Presse, in which it stated the following:
"Social media users circulate a post confirming that the mummy of Ramses II received a "passport" in order to travel from Egypt to France for treatment. The claim is false, and the passport photo "was designed to accompany an article published on the Heritage Daily website in 2018."
Regarding the misleading passport shape, An-Nahar newspaper said:
"Through simplified internet searches, it can be seen that the passports used in the 1970s do not conform to the passport model in misleading publications".
The newspaper added:
"As for the possession of a mummy a passport, Professor of Law Matteo Touzel Divina said in an interview with Agence France-Presse on October 13, 2020: The French law does not impose the possession of the dead on a passport, and the transfer of a mummy is part of the transfer of assets, not persons".
- This, then, is the truth of the fake passport photo... I hope that this misleading trick will end and that we try to scrutinize and search the news that we read even if it is attributed to parties that seem reliable and honest!