The Egyptian Museum of antiquities – Cairo Museum
The Egyptian Museum located in Cairo, and it’s called the Museum of Cairo, the museum located in El tahrir square and considered to be the largest museum in Africa Built on an area of 13,600 sq. meters, and it houses the largest collection of all the ancient Egyptians periods.
On November 15, 1902, AD, Khedive Abbas Hilmi II officially opened the Egyptian Museum, which now includes the greatest archaeological collection in the world that expresses all stages of ancient Egyptian history from the prehistoric era until the Greco-Roman era.
It consists of two main floors, the first containing the heavy relics of sarcophagi. Paintings and statues are displayed according to the historical sequence, while the upper one includes various archaeological collections, the most important of which are the collection of Yuya and Tuya, the treasures of Tanis, and a large number of mummies of animals and birds, in addition to artifacts that express daily life, writing, and religion in ancient Egypt.
Its inception dates back to the year 1835, but it moved between several locations, from Azbakeya Park, to the second exhibition hall in Salah al-Din Citadel. Then the French Egyptologist Auguste Mariette, who was working at the Louvre Museum, thought of opening a museum in which a group of antiquities would be displayed on the shore of the Nile near Boulak.
When these antiquities were exposed to the danger of flooding, they were moved to a special annex in the Khedive Ismail Palace in Giza. Then the Egyptologist Gaston Maspero came and inaugurated the building in 1902 during the reign of Khedive Abbas Helmy II.
The museum of Egyptian antiquities Cairo (the Egyptian museum) contains more than 120 thousand pieces cover more than 5000 years of history, starts from the prehistory and displays the golden treasure of king Tutankhamun includes the priceless golden mask of the king.
You need a long full day to explore the archeological items in Cairo museum, so will give you an idea about the extra exceptional rooms you can focus on.
On the ground floor of the museum of Egyptian antiquities Cairo (the museum of Cairo), you can find the double-sided palette of king Narmer in a great condition, dates back to the archaic period around 3100 BC. The Palette of Narmer depicts the king on one side of the palette wears the white crown of upper Egypt and the red crown of lower Egypt on the other side of it, present to us the first unifier of the two lands in Egypt. That was a starting point to a lot of historians when they started classifying the ancient Egyptian history into dynasties. king Narmer become the first ruler during the first dynasty and the history was divided to the dynastic period and the pre historic periods.
The statue of king Djoser from the 3rd dynasty, this statue discovered in 1924 in aserdab or underground chamber on the northeastern part of the step pyramid, the statue is the oldest piece of a kind in the museum. A life-sized statue suffered some damage. but is still impressive in a tight robe and striped headcloth over a huge wig.
Very special chambers display the unique piece of king Menkaure (Mycerinus) the builder of the third and the smallest pyramid of the great three Giza pyramids, this black shist statue flanked at the two sides with two female figures one of them is the lovely lady Hathor and the other one is one of the district goddesses, we know each from the emblem on top of the head. This triad was found in the valley temple east of the kings’ pyramids at Giza.
The statue of Chaphren (Cheops) is an iconic old kingdom masterpiece, a smooth dark diorite from the builder of the second pyramid at Giza sits on a Lion throne protected on the top by the wings of the falcon God Horus. The stone used is the second hardest stone after diamond. This masterpiece is a survived one out of 23 pieces found in the Giza plateau.
In front of Chaphren to the left the stunning wooden statue of Ka-aper no 37, another masterpiece made out of sycamore the sacred tree of Goddess Hathor, arms are ancient additions, and the legs were added after the restoration. Ka-aper belly show the prosperous life he lived. Eyes set in copper lids with whites of opaque quartz and corneas of rock crystal, drilled and filled with black paste to form the pupil. Discovered at Saqqara 1860, this statue named by a workman as sheikh El balad.
The third one is the seated scribe which is a wonderful painted limestone he poses as if someone is dictating him. His inlaid eyes, set in a symmetrical face, give him a strikingly lifelike appearance.
King Mentuhotep was the first ruler during the middle kingdom period, the king is depicted in a dark skin symbol of fertility in the ancient time, he wears the red crown of lower Egypt. The statue was discovered by Haward carter under the forecourt of the temple of El Deir El Bahari Thebes west bank next to the temple of Queen Hatshepsut 1900 AD when the ground gave way under his horse.
A beautiful royal piece depicts a noble couple from the time of king Snefru the builder of the red and the Bent pyramid at Dahshur cemetery, life-sized with well-preserved painted limestone sculptures’ simple lines make them seem almost Avant grade dates back to 4600 BC.
Another masterpiece to the left of the cabinet for the famous dwarf Seneb the chief of the wardrobe and his family, Seneb sits cross legged, hid children placed where his legs should be, his wife depicted full size sentimentally and passionately around his shoulder. Seneb piece was discovered in his tomb at Giza in 1926 AD, the happy family used recently in family planning campaigns.
Don’t miss medium Geese which is part of a mud brick mastaba at medium Fyoum oasis, this painting dates back to the old kingdom 2600 BC. The colors are still vibrant, and the level of realism is remarkable, allowing ornithologist to easily identify the species
Hathor chapel is a sandstone piece found near by the temple of El Deir El Bahari in Luxor governorate, its walls is painted with reliefs of king Tutmosis III, his wife and two other princesses are making offerings to Goddess Hathor, the life-sized statue of Hathor suckles the pharaoh the son and successor of king Amenhotep II how is depicted standing next to her chin.
Hatshepsut statue is standing in a red granite statue next to the chapel of Hathor, her statue gives more a feminie look with a royal false beard and a headdress, another limestone head outside the room for Queen Hatshepsut taken from her temple at El Deir El Bahari painted in a reddish color.
King Akhenaten (1352- 1336) BC ruled Egypt in a timing where the priests wielded significant authority, the rise of the power of monotheism over polytheism since the new pharaoh had a strong belief in God Aten and he ordered to build a new capital city in middle Egypt and the artisans liven a new artistic period.
A remarkable portrait for Queen Nefertiti is in the same room show how beautiful the wife of king Akhenaten was. But still have a similar style of art related to some defection of her husband, the finished beautiful bust of Nefertiti is displayed in Berlin Museum.
You will experience the artifacts in nearly the same sequence as they were originally placed in the tomb as depicted by a poster outside room 45 showing the tomb and the treasures as they were discovered. the royal mummies chamber was at this area before it was moved to the civilization museum in fustat. Most of these mummies discovered in 1881 in the cachets court at El Deir El Bahari temple, Thebes west bank. Then proceed to the maste piece of the museum King Tutankhamon gallery
The golden treasure of king Tut-ankh-Amun the most famous king ruled during the 18th dynasty, show the fine art and perfection during the new kingdom period. The tomb of the young pharaoh discovered by Hawrd Carter in 1922 AD, the one tomb found intact in the valley of the kings became the most famous tomb with 5000 artifacts found in one of the side chambers in the tomb most of them are out of precious metals, mainly gold.
Here are some high lights of the pharaoh’s objects give you an idea of the life of that king.
As you pass the entrance, two life size statues of Tutankhamun guarding the entrance, crafted in wood and coated in bitumen, their dark skin represents a connection to Osiris, symbolizing the fertile black silt of the Nile and the promise of rebirth.
Tutankhamun wig box made out of dark wood with blue and orange strips the wooden, mushroom-shaped stand that once supported the pharaoh’s tightly curled wig.
A very special room in the Egyptian museum contains the pharaohs lion throne covered with sheet gold inlaid with lapis and other semi- precious stones.
The wooden throne is decorated with lion legs. The chair back depicts Tutankhamun wife while she applies perfume to the king. Some evidence on the chair is a hangover to Amarna style of art probably belongs to king Tutankhamun predecessors.
Many other golden Wesheb (Ushabti) statues made out of different materials, wood, stone, bronze, those are the answering statues who are helping the king on the afterlife, so we found hundreds of pieces inside the tomb of king Tut.
Contains alabaster vessels, jars, boxes carved into the shape of boats and animals.
An alabaster chest contains 4 Canopic jars have king Tutankhamun head on each, these canopic jars contain the kings’ organs, they were taken during the embalming process.
Most visitors overlook Tutankhamun’s extraordinary wardrobe. The pharaoh was interred with a collection of lavish tunics adorned with gold discs and beads, even socks intended for flip-flop-style sandals—47 pairs of which were buried with him. Analysis by the Tutankhamun Textile Project reveals that his measurements were a 79 cm (31 in) chest, 74 cm (29 in) waist, and 109 cm (43 in) hips
Four massive gilded wooden shrines fitted one inside the other at their core encasing the sarcophagi of the young pharaoh.
This room contains the iconic masterpieces of king Tutankhamun include the golden Sarcophagus of king Tut and the golden mask of the king which is a solid 11 kg of gold used to cover the head of the mummy. The eyes are crafted of obsidian and quartz, while the eyes and the eyebrows are lined with lapislazuli.
A stunning collection of royal jewelry from different periods from the old kingdoms to the Greco roman time includes belts, inlaid beadwork, necklaces, semiprecious stones and bracelets. Also of note is Pharaoh Ahmose’s gold dagger and Seti II’s considerable g old earrings.
This room is especially captivating for anyone fascinated by ancient portraits and art popularly known as the Fayoum Portraits. These faces were painted onto wooden panels and placed over the mummies’ embalmed faces. These portraits express the elegance of the ancient Egyptian art since they are the link between ancient art and the Western portrait tradition.
Another section for pyramid models, animal mummies, weapons such as Nubian archers and some statues for soldiers and mercenaries and finally some portraits from the middle kingdom period express daily life scenes 4000 years old.
The last part of the museum is on the ground floor where you can explore the Greek and Roman periods begins 4 hundred BC. Egypt was dominated by many foreign cultures and they all melt in our Egyptian culture, son on this section you can find more portraits and panels written in hieroglyphics the slang language used by the Egyptian and the Greek language.
On April 3, 2021, twenty-two mummies were transferred to the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization in a grand parade dubbed The Pharaohs’ Golden Parade.
Collections are also being transferred to the not-yet-open GEM in Giza, including all the artifacts found inside Tutankhamun’s tomb. “Among the reasons that the GEM itself was conceived, the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir has been criticized for being overcrowded, displaying pieces in a way that is said to make the experience cumbersome for visitors. Among all the priceless pieces for the kings you will find special artifacts for high officials, viziers, scribes.
Royal figures, mayors, female workers and many fantastic artifacts reveal how great that civilization is.
