The Egyptian Museum, Cairo|#BlogChatterA2Z

The Egyptian Museum, Cairo

The Egyptian Museum of Antiquities is an absolute must-see even for non-museum lovers. The museum exhibits artefacts depicting ancient Egypt’s glorious reign; sarcophagi, mummies, pottery, jewellery and of course King Tutankhamen’s treasures. I have many pictures and hope you enjoy them. It was very difficult to get good pictures as all the exhibits were in glass cases and the reflection flashed back.

It is better to take your guide in with you to tell tales of every exhibit. A piece of well-meaning advice; do not carry a camera inside with if you are not buying a ticket or else you will be charged if you are caught with it.
Separate tickets for cameras were issued at most of the major sites as well as the museum in Egypt.

Inside The Museum

The Museum Of Egyptian Antiquities comprises of two floors; the ground floor that hosts the bigger displays such as coffins, huge statues, and stone carvings. The upper floor of the Museum Of Egyptian Antiquities hosts the smaller displays that include tools, funerary objects, smaller statues, papyrus papers, wooden coffins, jewellery, and most significantly, the displays of the Tutankhamen tomb. It was a memorable experience which should not be missed.

Mummies and consecrated animals are on display. The Ornaments and furnishings were highlighted as well as the life of both people and Pharaohs. We think Indians are obsessed with gold; but you should see the jewellery and embellished chairs, sarcophagus and embalmed bodies are, all covered with glistening gold in Egypt

The Grand Egyptian Museum

The museum was packed like a jar of sardines. They have so many treasures here they don’t know what to do with them. The massive 100-year-old building and grounds are overflowing with artefacts and they’re all fascinating. All these were being shifted to The Grand Egyptian Museum which is expected to be one of the largest archaeological museums in the world. The site is innovative as it is situated in Giza and is pyramid .shaped.  A visitor in the galleries in the museum will be looking through glass facades directly towards the pyramids. Isn’t that ingenious! The museum proposes to showcase about 100,000 artefacts in total and should be open by 2020.

Tutankhamen

Sculptures were held in high esteem in Ancient Egypt, and they served several purposes. As a result, sculptures of every shape, form and size were recovered from Egypt’s archaeological sites. Some have come from the pyramids, some from ancient temples and monasteries, and some recovered from the desert sands. The highlight of the museum are without doubt the items from the tomb of Tutankhamen. The boy king died a teenager at 19 and was buried with unconceivable amounts of treasure, some of which are on display.

His solid gold mask, ornamented with turquoise, lapis lazuli and coral, also his gold mummy belt, cases and jewellery. These invaluable items are displayed in a separate room of the museum and no photography is allowed. I took a couple of clicks before I was stopped by a guard. Believe me, they took my breath away. I am not too fond of gold or jewellery yet I was staring agape.

King Tut’s gold sandals, were buried with the boy king for 3,000 years yet they looked as good as new even now.

Mr & Ms Rahoteps in the Museum

A couple from ancient Egypt: Mr and Ms Rahoteps. Prince and commander of army Rahotep and his beautiful wife, Nofret’s statues are a flawless piece of art from Ancient Egypt. The old statues look like living human beings. According to a legend when the statues of this couple were found in his tomb in Giza many decades ago, the modern Egyptian workers freaked out and thought that they were alive.

Mummies

Strangely, there are just a couple of mummies on display are outside The Royal Mummies exhibit which is separate and carries an additional admission charge.

Love for Animals

The Egyptians seemed to have a deep love for animals and there are many statues highlighting them.

Stone statues and others in the Museum

The museum is choc a block with various statues some from floor to the 15 foot ceiling others tiny.

This is my final post on Egypt and I feel a bit emotional saying goodbye.

Do check out my other posts on Egypt……The Pyramids of Giza , Egypt Tourist Attractions, Egypt, Nile River Cruise, Tips for visiting Egypt

Admission Price Adults: 80LE Approx $4.50

100LE for the Royal Mummies exhibition

We spent around 4 hours in the museum but I would have loved to spend a couple of days.