The Egyptian Museum

The Egyptian Museum in Cairo

The Egyptian Museum

The second crucial pharaonic destination in Cairo after the Pyramids of Giza is The Egyptian Museum. In also known as The Cairo Museum. It is the largest Museum dedicated to Egyptian antiquities. At the time of the construction of the Egyptian Museum, there were 12 thousand ancient Egyptian objects. Still, due to the recovery of Egyptian artifacts, they reach 120 thousand.

Now they get more than 150 thousand monuments, which is why the New Museum of Giza is being built (a great project expected in 2021) to exhibit all the monuments on display and deposits due to lack of space.

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The History of the Egyptian Museum

In 1835, the first Museum was built to protect ancient treasures and monuments from local and foreign greed. This Museum was from Esbakeya park and was small.
In 1848, Muhammad Ali ordered the Museum’s monuments from Esbakya to be moved to the Citadel of Saladin.
In 1855, the Austrian Emperor Maximilian visited Egypt, and the Egyptian Governor Abbas Pacha gave him a collection in the Museum.
In 1858, a new one was built by Augusto Mariette in the Bolaq neighborhood, but a great flood destroyed it in 1878.
In 1889, it was moved to the palace of Ismael Pacha until 1902 due to the increase in discoveries and old works.
In 1897, Marcel Dourgon designed the current Museum ”Egyptian Museum of Cairo”.
In April 1897, the laying of the first stone in the dynasty of Abbas Helmi II was celebrated.
In 1902, the palace monuments of Ismael Pacha were moved to the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir Square in downtown Cairo.
In 1951, the mausoleum of Auguste Mariette was transferred to the garden of the Egyptian Museum because it included many Egyptian monuments.
In 2006, the Museum was restored as a cultural and historical destination.
In 2016, it was restored to its original structure found in the 267 paintings in the Museum.

The Construction of the Egyptian Museum in Cairo

Seventy-three of the Egyptian Museum’s designs were entered into the international competition, but Frenchman Marcel Dourgon’s design was chosen. It was the first Museum in the world built as a museum (no building was converted to a museum). The exterior design was neoclassical, unlike the Ancient Egyptian structure, but the interior rooms of the Museum were in the shape of Egyptian temples. The Museum has two floors with 50 rooms that are arranged chronologically.

Downstairs;

Papyrus sheets of various languages such as Greek, Latin, Arabic, and hieroglyphics (ancient Egyptian) are found from the last two millennia; some of these papyri are from the Book of the Dead. Gold, bronze, and silver coins are from various Greek, Roman, and Islamic periods. Many objects are from the new, middle, and old empires (found in the tombs of pharaohs).

The Second Floor;

There is a room of Tutankhamun’s objects and his gold mask with more than 5 thousand artifacts found in his tomb. The Museum also contains a children’s Museum that was built in 2010 and a library that was created with the construction of the Museum.

The Most Important in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo

The Treasure of Pharaoh Tutankhamun: It is a great discovery in his tomb in the necropolis of Luxor. He has an extensive collection of 5000 works, the most important among them are his gold, glass, and precious stone mask, and his coffin is solid gold.
The Statues of Amenhotep II and his wife Tie: They are from the XVII dynasty and are 36 m high. They are in the center of the first room, accompanied by three small statues representing his daughters.
The Narmer Palette is a small plate with many symbols representing the unification between Upper Egypt and Lower Egypt.
The Statue of Djoser: a limestone statue found in the serdab of his Step Pyramid at Saqqara.
The Statue of Prince Rahotep and his wife Nofret: Seated painted limestone statues. His eyes are made of opaque quartz and rock crystal.
The Statue of Pharaoh Jasejemuy: he was the last pharaoh of the second dynasty of the unified empire of Egypt.
The Statuette of King Cheops: dates back to the IV dynasty. The ivory statue on a throne and the back of his head symbolize the god Horus.
The Triad of Mycerinus: Statue of Mycerinus carries the white crown of Upper Egypt, on his right side the goddess Hathor and on his left side the goddess of the nome of Cinópolis.
The Bust of Amenhotep IV (Akhenaten): The upper part of a sandstone colossus of Amenhotep IV with 1.53 meters.
Objects from the Royal Tombs: such as the tombs of Tutmosis III, Tutmosis IV, Amenhotep III, Horemheb, Hetepheres I (mother of Cheops)
The mysterious Bird of Saqqara: a carved wooden statue of a bird found in the tomb of Pa-di-Amun, whose purpose is unknown.