Egypt revives ancient road connecting Luxor and Karnak

Fireworks explode during the opening ceremony for the restored Avenue of the Sphinxes or Road of the Rams, a 3,000-year-old avenue that connects Luxor Temple with Karnak Temple, in Luxor, Egypt, November 25, 2021. REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany

LUXOR, Egypt (Reuters) - A restored road connecting two ancient Egyptian temple complexes in Karnak and Luxor was unveiled on Thursday in a lavish ceremony aimed at raising the profile of one of Egypt's top tourist spots.

The procession to reopen the 2.7 km (1.7 mile) road included a reenactment of the ancient Opet festival, where statues of Theban deities were paraded annually during the New Kingdom era in celebration of fertility and the flooding of the Nile.