A Look Inside the Egyptian Museum in Cairo
For history fans, getting inside the Egyptian Museum in Cairo is a dream. It is filled with intriguing and exciting collections that would blow your mind away. The artifacts aren’t just there to give us a glimpse of the ancient Egyptian civilization;; they’re there to remind us of the vast wealth of Pharaohs and their cohorts.
The Egyptian Museum in Cairo is the largest in the country. It is home to 120,000 items collected from numerous archaeological sites across the country. If you’re a keen historian or archaeologist, a day spent here wouldn’t be enough to see all of these items. But, if you’re here for a visit, it’s better to get in with a guide so you will be shown with more interesting artifacts. If you go alone, you’ll be overwhelmed with the relics around you. Many of these relics don’t even have descriptions, and you’ll be lost in the middle of this massive museum. If you’ve got more time and money to spare, get one of those audio guides and explore it alone.
The Egyptian Museum in Cairo is also known as the Museum of Egyptian Antiquities.
It has the most extensive collection of pharaonic artifacts in the world.
And this is the only museum I’ve been to where there’s no replica of any antiquity.
Once you pass the human scanner in the lobby, you’ll be in dilemma on where to start.
The ground floor houses the heavy statues, papyrus, and coin collections.
There are solid coffins (sarcophagi) of pharaohs and other royals, too.
On the first floor, you’ll find small statues.
You’ll find mummies, too.
And some hieroglyphs were painted inside the tombs.
This one intrigued me.
You’ll find treasures discovered inside Tutankhamen’s tomb on the first floor, too.
This huge box was carefully designed and plated in gold.
And there’s this bed plated in gold.
There’s a special room (and additional fee) for all things Tutankhamen, where you can see THAT shiny, gold-plated bust you see in the pages of history books.
Unfortunately, I couldn’t enter the room because, by the time we finished, the museum doors were closing. Once you enter the museum, walk to your right and go to the first floor. It’s on your right, adjacent to the stairs, and you you can’t miss it.
The builder of the oldest and largest of the three Pyramids (Khufu) is reduced to this tiny figurine.
Statues of the Royal Family.
She’s broken but she still looks beautiful. Her smile could rival that of Mona Lisa’s.
(Left) Queen Nefertiti.
Note for Improvement
The artifacts aren’t presented well enough to make it more interesting. They are placed close to each other and it looks like the museum is hoarding a lot of things inside.
After walking around for 10 minutes, I felt like I was in a warehouse rather than a museum. And there are so many things that remained unlabelled, making it boring.
The Good News
They’re building a multi-million dollar museum that is in the Pyramids area. It could have been opened some time ago if it had not been for the Egyptian Revolution that happened in 2011. Hopefully, they won’t stick to their tedious organization of artifacts. It has to be arranged like a visitor is on a journey of discovery or history.
How to Save Time and Money in Cairo
Cairo is still cheap, and Egypt is the second cheapest country I’ve ever been to. However, taking public transport is a challenge – crowded and hot. If you’re a solo traveler and up for it, I recommend you do it. Taxi? Good luck! Either the driver will pretend to take the shorter route or fool you with the meter. Both happened to me. And not to mention lousy driving skills. 😂
On the other hand, if you have little time in Cairo and want so much to explore – join a tour! It’s more informative and hassle-free from harassment in public transport and avoids the scorching heat.
Where to stay in Giza with Views of the Pyramids
If you are on a budget, I recommend three guest
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