EGYPT DRAWS FURY WITH ARTIFACTS MORE TO TAHRIC SQ.

Egypt's recent decision to transport ancient Pharaonic artifacts to Tahriri Square, the epicenter of Egypt's so-called Arab Spring uprising in 2011, has fueled fresh controversy over the government's handling of its archaeological heritage.

Cairo has some of the worst air pollution in the world, according to recent studies. Archaeologists and heritage experts fear vehicle exhaust will damage the four ram-headed sphinxes and an obelisk, currently en route to their new home in Tahrir Square.

"The sphinxes are made of sandstone, they are part of the dry environment in Luxor, when they would be moved to Tahrir Square with all the pollution, they will deteriorate as a result of the reactions with the carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide in the air," Hanna told The Associated Press.

Tahrir Square was the epicenter of Egypt's so-called Arab Spring uprising in 2011. The square also contains the Egyptian Museum.

A centerpiece of the new museum is a towering statue of Ramses II. It once stood in a busy square near Cairo's main railway station, but was removed in the 1990s due to preservation concerns. The obelisk was recently moved to Cairo from the San el-Haggar archaeological site in the Nile Delta, the ministry said.