0 national Museum of Alexandria

In the beautiful city of Alexandria, there were lots of great civilizations flourished and then disappeared leaving behind a lot of antiquities to stand as a remarkable memory of the art of these periods.
National Museum of Alexandria is located in the Horeya Street and. The building of the museum was the residence of a former wood trading business man, Asa'ad Basily, who constructed his villa which was built over an area of 3480 meters in the Italian style. The palace was a popular gathering place for many of the high level people in the 30s and 40s of the last century.


Basily lived in this house until 1953 and then he sold it to the American embassy for 53 thousand pounds. Until the supreme council of antiquities bought it for 13 million pounds in 1996 and then it was transmitted into a museum by the beginning of the third millennium.
The museum was first open to public in September 2002 and the museum displays more than 1800 items from different eras: Pharonic, Ptolemaic which flourished greatly in Alexandria, Roman, Byzantine, and Islamic.
The first floor of the museum contains the Pharonic items including a lot of statues of different ancient Egyptian rulers and gods and very interesting portraits of Menkaure, Ikhnaton, and Hatshepsut.


There are also some replicates of the tombs that were discovered in the Valley of the Kings. These tombs include Canoptic jars and many other interesting items.


The middle floor of the museum contains the antiquities of the Greco Roman period which includes statues of Greek ladies and an amazing statue of the god Serapis, granite statue of Caracala. There are also some scientific studies that were made in the Greco Roman period concerning the human body.



The last floor of the museum displays the items that belong to the Coptic and Islamic civilizations which reflects how prosperous were these two periods. The collection includes 162 Islamic coins, candle holders, and many other stuff.
The Coptic section includes a lot of everyday life items made out of bronze, copper, and silver. There is also some interesting icons that demonstrates religious scenes of the Christ and the last super. This is beside a lot of cotton and textiles products that have fascinating with plan and animals ornaments.
Among the most important items of the National Museum of Alexandria, there is the famous statue of the ancient Egyptian writer, some pots that were found around the pyramid of Djoser in Saqqara
There are also some displays from the intermediate Pharonic period that reflects how the arts of this period became more realistic.
Afterwards, there is the section of the family of Mohamed Ali that includes a lot of jewelries made out of silver and gold that belonged to the royal family.
The most interesting section in the Alexandria National Museum is the section that displays antiquities that were found under the sea in Alexandria. The museum also displays live pictures of how these items were pulled out of the sea. This section includes a black bronze statue of Isis, some portraits and statues of Greek gods which includes an interesting statue of the head of Alexander the Great and another for Venus, the goddess of love.

The museum gives a total comprehensive illustration of not only the Alexandrian history but the history of Egypt. A visit to the National Museum of Alexandria is a must for anyone who is interested in the Egyptian antiquities and history
The museum is open from 9 in the morning till 5 in the afternoon daily and cameras are not allowed inside!

0 the Nubian Museum

The area of Nubia is located between Aswan to the North and the city of Debba in Sudan to the South. It is strange that the name "Nubia" was never mentioned in the ancient Egyptian language and it was first mentioned in the book called "Geographica" that was written by the Greek historian, Strapon, who visited Nubia in the first century AD. The word Nubia is said to be derived from the word "Nebo', or the mines of gold which Nubia was famous for in ancient times.


The lands of Nubia remained for thousands of years as the Egyptian gate to Africa. Nubia is mainly divided into two parts: lower Nubia which is located in Egypt and higher Nubia which is located inside the Sudanese borders.
Nubian Monuments and the threat of the High Dam:
This historical location of Nubia faced a sever challenge when the High Dam was built. All the lands of Nubia were drowned with the river Nile water. However, there were serious efforts exerted by the UNESCO and the Egyptian government to save the treasures of Nubia that included a number of Pharonic temples.
Although the building of the High Dam is considered to be the most difficult challenge that faced the area of Nubia, the lands of Nubia were drowned three times before the High Dam. The first time was when the Aswan Dam was built in 1902 that resulted in an increase in the level of the river Nile water which consequently threatened the monuments located in Nubia. The second time was in 1912 while the third time was in 1932. In all of these incidents the monuments of Nubia were listed, recorded, and maps of the exact location of these monuments were scratched.
The real challenge occurred when the Egyptian government, headed by the former Egyptian president Gamal Abdel Nasser, decided to build the High Dam in order to provide Egypt with cultivating water and electricity. However, the High Dam caused a constant increase of the level of river Nile water. Therefore, it became vital to exert huge efforts to protect the Nubia monuments from this threat.
The efforts of the UNESCO:
After an Egyptian initiative, the UNESCO placed an international appeal for the largest operation of relocating monuments in history with more than 40 countries participating in the process through funding or through sending workers to assist the Egyptians in preserving their monuments. The project was named "Nubian Rescue Campaign"
The executive committee of the UNESCO has studied a report that was prepared by international experts. The report mainly discussed the feasibility and importance of saving the monuments in Nubia. As a result, the UNESCO placed its historical international appeal in the 8th of March 1960 to save the monuments of Nubia.

The work of this mission went on for more than 20 years and the workers and professionals of this international mission faced a lot of challenges but it was able at the end to achieve its goals. The mission was able to prepare scientific studies of the monuments in Nubia and then it was able to relocate 22 monuments that were reconstructed in new locations far away from the threat of the high level of water.
The monuments which were relocated included: the two remarkable temples of Abu Simble that were transferred to a unique spot to the South of Aswan, the astonishing Philae Temples, the Temple of Dabod, the Temple of Calabsha, the Temple of Dandara, the Temple of Beit Al Waly, and the Temple of Amada.
The building of the Nubian Museum:
The museum was designed by Mahmoud Al Hakim who succeeded to create the building of the museum in harmony with the surrounding setting that consisted of huge rocks, small mountains, and the shining sun of Aswan.
The new Nubian Museum was opened in 1997 and the beautiful lines of its architecture alone is worth seeing. Nestled into the hillside, it covers 50,000 square metres of landscaped gardens and buildings which are divided up into different sections

The museum is considered to be a gateway in the history of Nubia that enables the visitors to understand the complex history of this unique area, especially with each exhibit having a description note underneath it written in the Arabic and as well in the English languages.

The first place that attracts the attention of the visitor is the garden of the museum which hosts more than eighty historical statues and historical rocks, some of them belong to the gods of ancient Nubia. There are also some artificial lakes and waterfalls that serve as a demo of the river Nile and its flow to the lands of Nubia.

A lot of wild plants are cultivated in this area which space is thirty four thousand meters. This section also has a theatre that hosts regular Nubian dances for visitors to view this unique folklore. There is a cave as well that contains ancient drawings.
The museum consists of two floors: the ground floor contains the main gates of the museum, exhibition halls, and visitors reception hall, while the first floor contains an information center, culture activities center, and another exhibition hall.
When the visitor first enters the building of the museum, he has to walk in a circle to the left to go to the starting point of his tour which starts with the antiquities found in Nubia 3500 BC. The most important exhibits in this section includes a bone comb with two giraffes carved on the handle, Vessel made out of an ostrich egg and decorated with incisions, and a Paleolithic hand axe.

Afterwards we move to the area the museum calls "Group A" which demonstrates the relation between the people in Southern Egypt and the people in Nubia which was built mainly on trading of raw materials, wood, and ivory. It is clear that there was a trading center in the Elephant Island. The most important displays of this section are polished quartz cosmetic palette, used for crushing galena powder, used for eye make up and a vessel decorated with a rowing boat with multiple oars, ostriches and undulating lines symbolizing water.
We then go to the section "Group C" that tells the story of the new civilization that started in Nubia after the decline of the Sixth Pharonic Dynasty, or the decline of the period of pyramids building. There isn't accurate evidence that would tell us the origin of the tribes that started this civilization but they came most probably from the Western desert. Exhibits of this section include Female figurine typical of the C group style, (dated c.a. 1900 - 1550 BC) and Incised "Basket" pottery.
The Egyptian control over Nubia has declined gradually starting with the end of the 21 dynasty nearly around the year 1050 BC. In the year 900 BC, a new power controlled a huge part of Nubia and remained there for more than 1000 years.
This new civilization was called Kosh which is the name the Egyptians gave to Nubia at this point in time. This era is divided into two sections: the Napata which continued until the year 270 BC and the Merow that continued until the fall of this kingdom in the year 320 AD. The most significant characteristic of this era is that Nubia went away from the Egyptian domination and the area started having its own culture, habits, and even language that was transformed to be the language of the Meroitic.
The most important exhibits of this section are tulip pots from the Kerma Culture and an ancient pot with a handle, a Meroitic offering table, on which can be seen Meroitic writing, a crouching baby lion fashioned in clay, a statue of Harawa, who was the Great Steward of Amenardis, the divine wife of Amun, a post of considerable importance, a Statue of King Taharqa, younger brother of Shabatka, wearing the Kushite cap crown, and a statue of Amenardis who was the first Nubian princess to hold the important title of Divine wife of Amun.
The next section demonstrates Nubia during the Ptolemaic and Roman era who ruled in the same time as the Meroitic civilization and both kingdoms held good relations together until the Ptolemies were able to take control of a part of lower Nubia where they constructed a number of popular monuments like the temples of Philae, Kalabsha, and Dekka.
After the decline of the Meroitic civilization, the people of Nubia moved to the north looking for more secured means of life and this was where they established the Ballana civilization that is considered the richest culture ever created in Nubia. Maybe this was because the Ballana culture was a combination of many different thoughts from a variety of places.

The displays of the Ballana section in the Nubia Musuem contain a Pair of silver bracelets. The ends of each represent stylized lion heads, an Oil lamp in the shape of a pigeon, silver diadems, a gaming board from the 3rd century which was a sort of backgammon with 15 ivory and 15 ebony pieces, and Incense burner in the form of a stylized lion.
When the Christian religion was introduced in Nubia, a huge number of its inhabitants transformed to be Christians which affected every aspect of the lives of the Nubians. The Nubians started building Churches and Monasteries where they can practice the rituals of their new religion. Christianity also affected the type and style of art of the period.

The most important Christian displays in the Nubia Museum include a wooden Coptic cross, a Coptic prayer book that contains Coptic inscriptions, Byzantine-style fresco from the church of Abdalla Nirqi, 10th century, and a Fragment of a linen shroud depicting a human face.
When the Moslems opened Egypt in 641 AD, Islam became the official religion in Egypt. However in Nubia Islam took some time to replace the dominant Christian beliefs. It wasn't until the 16th century when most of the Nubian people changed their religion to become Moslems. This Islamic section includes a child's tunic from the Fatimid period, a Tombstone from the Fatimid period, 968-1070 AD, a water vessel from the Mamluk period.

The last and maybe most interesting section of the Nubia Museum is the modern Nubia section with demonstrates the lives of Nubian people today and a few decades ago. Many tourists from around the world are fascinated with Nubia, maybe because of its unique rich culture. This section includes Silver pendant and anklets, a lot of Nubian handcrafts, a rassan chain worn on the forehead, and a pectoral, named the Bey necklace.
The Nubian Museum is considered to be among the most distinctive museums of Egypt with more than 500 thousand displays that tells the story of Nubia since prehistoric ears until today.
HOURS OF OPERATION:
Daily 9AM-1PM, 5PM-9PM
TICKET COST:
General Admission:
Egyptian: LE 20 (LE 10, students)
Foreign: LE 50 (LE 20, students)
Student rates available to bearers of a valid student ID from an Egyptian university or an International Student ID Card (ISIC)
LOCATION:
El Fenadek Street, Aswan (opposite Basma Hotel)
DIRECTIONS:
By Taxi: ask for "met-haf al-nuba"
FACILITIES:
Lecture hall, library, gift shop, laboratory, cafeteria, school, VIP lounge, fine arts exhibition hall, workshops, amphitheater, garden, reconstructed Nubian home, outdoor theater, Fatimid tombs
The Nubia Museum is wheelchair accessible.
CONTACT INFO:
Phone: (097) 319333
Fax: (097) 317998

0 national Museum of Alexandria

In the beautiful city of Alexandria, there were lots of great civilizations flourished and then disappeared leaving behind a lot of antiquities to stand as a remarkable memory of the art of these periods.
National Museum of Alexandria is located in the Horeya Street and. The building of the museum was the residence of a former wood trading business man, Asa'ad Basily, who constructed his villa which was built over an area of 3480 meters in the Italian style. The palace was a popular gathering place for many of the high level people in the 30s and 40s of the last century.


Basily lived in this house until 1953 and then he sold it to the American embassy for 53 thousand pounds. Until the supreme council of antiquities bought it for 13 million pounds in 1996 and then it was transmitted into a museum by the beginning of the third millennium.
The museum was first open to public in September 2002 and the museum displays more than 1800 items from different eras: Pharonic, Ptolemaic which flourished greatly in Alexandria, Roman, Byzantine, and Islamic.
The first floor of the museum contains the Pharonic items including a lot of statues of different ancient Egyptian rulers and gods and very interesting portraits of Menkaure, Ikhnaton, and Hatshepsut.


There are also some replicates of the tombs that were discovered in the Valley of the Kings. These tombs include Canoptic jars and many other interesting items.


The middle floor of the museum contains the antiquities of the Greco Roman period which includes statues of Greek ladies and an amazing statue of the god Serapis, granite statue of Caracala. There are also some scientific studies that were made in the Greco Roman period concerning the human body.



The last floor of the museum displays the items that belong to the Coptic and Islamic civilizations which reflects how prosperous were these two periods. The collection includes 162 Islamic coins, candle holders, and many other stuff.
The Coptic section includes a lot of everyday life items made out of bronze, copper, and silver. There is also some interesting icons that demonstrates religious scenes of the Christ and the last super. This is beside a lot of cotton and textiles products that have fascinating with plan and animals ornaments.
Among the most important items of the National Museum of Alexandria, there is the famous statue of the ancient Egyptian writer, some pots that were found around the pyramid of Djoser in Saqqara
There are also some displays from the intermediate Pharonic period that reflects how the arts of this period became more realistic.
Afterwards, there is the section of the family of Mohamed Ali that includes a lot of jewelries made out of silver and gold that belonged to the royal family.
The most interesting section in the Alexandria National Museum is the section that displays antiquities that were found under the sea in Alexandria. The museum also displays live pictures of how these items were pulled out of the sea. This section includes a black bronze statue of Isis, some portraits and statues of Greek gods which includes an interesting statue of the head of Alexander the Great and another for Venus, the goddess of love.

The museum gives a total comprehensive illustration of not only the Alexandrian history but the history of Egypt. A visit to the National Museum of Alexandria is a must for anyone who is interested in the Egyptian antiquities and history
The museum is open from 9 in the morning till 5 in the afternoon daily and cameras are not allowed inside!

0 The Coptic Museum

The Coptic Museum in Cairo is located inside the ruins of the Roman Babylon Fort in Maser El Qadema in Coptic Cairo Center, an area which is full of Coptic Churches and chapels like the famous hanging Church and the Church of St Barbra.

Nobody would ever believe that the foundation of the Coptic Museum goes back to the era of the Persians and a lot of items were added afterwards by the Roman emperors August and Trajan. The famous French scientist Maspero played a major role in the establishment of the modern museum as he spent a long time collecting Coptic monuments from all around Egypt and preserving it.


The founder of the Museum in modern times is Smeka Pasha who requested that the items in the museum to be added to the Egyptian Committee for preserving antiquities and art. This man exerted huge efforts to found the building of the museum that is present right now and which was opened to the public in 1901 with Smeka as the first head of the Coptic Museum in Cairo.

The Coptic Museum today consists mainly of two major sections: the old section established by Smeka Pasha and the new the section that consists of two floors which was opened for the public in 2006 after a huge renovation and restoration period that its cost reached more than 30 million pounds because the museum was affected badly by the earth quake that struck Egypt in 1992. The museum now displays around 1600 items collected from various regions around Egypt and go back to different century in the Coptic history of Egypt and the Coptic Museum is considered to be a complete illustration of the Coptic history in Egypt
The first section of the old museum the visitor goes to is the Ahnasya section, Alnasya is a town that is near Beni Sweif to the South of Cairo and some Coptic Items were discovered in the area that go back to the third and forth century AD.
The second section is the Saqqara section where the ruins of the Monastery of St Armeia is located with a lot of rock structures and a lot of other items gathered from Monasteries from the Fayoum and Upper Egypt.
The new two stories museum consists of eight sections:
The Stone and portraits section:
Afterwards, There are is the stones collection which contains a lot of Tempra style stone drawings. The second part of this section contains a huge collection of beautifully decorated stone capitals that were collected from monasteries and churches from all over Egypt. These stone capitals were brought from the Copts from different regions around Egypt and then it was reused in building Coptic structures.

There are also a lot of portraits that are gathered from ancient monasteries.

A portrait of the Christ with his face inside a circle of light carried by angels found in the monastery of Apollo



The cross found on the walls of the Jeremiah Monastery

This section includes:
1- Patriarchal Throne made of bronze and copper from the 10 century
2- Portrait of a young man enclosed in a double medallion 5-6 section
3- A collection of stone capitals from the monastery of Saint Jeremias
4- A ceiling portrait of Adam and Eve in the Tempra style found in Fyoum in the 11th century 2

The metals section:
It contains a large collection of silver and golden Coptic coins. Most of these coins were brought from the White Monastery in Sohag. There are also a lot of drawings that were carved on silver and other precious metals like


1- A silver piece of the Virgin holding Jesus.
2- Patriarchal Throne made of bronze and copper from the 10 century

Other items included:
1- Bronze dish with Coptic inscriptions from the 10 century
2- Censer, Ethiopian, with perforated base and dome made of bronze 18 century
3- Crosses from the Byzantine period
4- Different keys from the 13 century
5- The Cross made of Bronze


The wood section:
The lack of good wood was always the biggest obstacle that faced wooden crafting in Egypt. However, the Egyptian imported wood since the days of the Pharos and the Copt artists used different kinds of woods like tamarisk, acacia, sycamore, and lebbakh to produce their art.

The museum hosts a big collection of these wooden items that includes:
1- A wooden box with ivory or inbone inlays that was originally intended to store clerical vestments 17-19 century
2- A wooden door that has many different decoration brought from Marcus church in Rosetta
3- A wooden piece showing people playing music 5-6 century
4- Door decorated with geometric designs and bone inlays from the Mamluk period


5- Wooden chair from the 18th century made out of Arabisc
6- Broken Pediment of the two nude erodes and the cross 4rth century 2

The ivory section:
during the Greek period of the Egyptian history, Alexandria was a major trade point of ivory in the whole world. However, by the times of the Roman rule in Egypt Persia became the most important trade focal point for ivory.

The Coptic writings section:
One of the most interesting sections of the Coptic Museum as it contains bibles that were written in the 11th and the 13th century on Deer skin in the Coptic and Arabic languages. There is also a very interesting Wooden sickle cell which was used to hold the bible and which goes back to the 14th and the 15th century.
1- A manuscript by St. Mark, St. Mathew, and St. John from 11th century
2- Lectionary of the Gospels according to the Greek rite with titles and simple colors decorations 13 Century


3- Papyrus paper with Christian writings 6-8 century
4- The book of the Psalms as it still has its wooden cover found in Beni Sweif 4-5 century
5- The four Ashier written in Arabic with golden writings
The pottery and glass section:
The Copts, just like any other culture that took place in the Egyptian history took advantage of the good quality of the pottery and glass in Egypt to produce their art. The museum has a lot of pottery items that goes back to the six century AD like :
1- a flask of St. Minas standing between two camels 6-7 century
2- Jar decorated with birds and saints in different posture wearing varied clothes
3- Painted bowel with a flat scalloped rim of alluvial clay with some human decorations 8 century
4- Storage jar painted in columns representing the bust of human figure and animals and birds and floral designs inside vaults 7 century
The cloth and textile section:
Includes a lot of monks clothes that are decorated with crosses, drawings of the Virgin, and the drawings of the Christ.


1- A fragment woven with woolen thread in tapestry representing a cross decorating with stylized human figures

2- A Kettan robe with ornaments in two columns one is horizontal and the other is diagonal 5-6 century


3- A part of the Coptic wool with two parallel columns of decorations 4-5 century
4- A piece of cloth showing the Virgin and Jesus 7 century
5- A textile of a cross found in Kellia
6- Christian decorations from Michael monastery in Maser el Qadeema 17 century
7- Fragment of a curtain or a tunic with tapestry decorations 6-7 century

The Icons section:
The most remarkable and interesting section of the museum. It contains A wide collection of Coptic icons from different ears and with different theme and decorations. One of the styles of these icons is called Frisk which the Coptic artists were affected by the drawings of the walls of the Pharonic temples and they started drawing on the walls of Churches and monasteries. However, because of the persecution of the Romans to the Copts, they started drawing on wood and plaster which can be easily held while escaping an attack on a church or a monastery. The word "Icon" is a Greek word that means a picture and it may contain a drawing of saints or other religious scenes.

1- Icon of St. Andrews the Apostle holding the Holy Bible and a cross 17-18 century


2- Icon of the crowned Virgin holding the Infant Jesus They are between two Saints having halos around their heads. The Virgin's crown is carried by two angles and the Holy Spirit is descending from heaven in the form of dove
3- Icon representing St .Nicolas 19 century
4- Icon representing St. Menas on horse –back holding the bridle with his left hand and piercing a dragon with a long spear with a cross fixed at the top .His crowned head is surrounded by a halo


5- Icon representing St. Victor the martyr wearing a crown on horseback. He holds a cross with his right hand. and the bridle with the left .Under the horse is a dragon representing the devil


6- Icon representing the Virgin and the Infant holding a golden roll in His hand 18 century
7- Icon representing two persons. Ahrakas and Oghani. They wear masks shaped like dog head. They look right towards a bearing fruits tree


8- This famous icon represents the visit of Saint Antony (on the left) to Saint Paul (3rd - 4th century), who lived in retreat in the Eastern Desert near the Red Sea

The last and maybe most fascinating item of the museum is the a hawdage" or a cart" made out of Abanos wood inlaid with ivory and mother of pearl and it was used to transfer rich ladies to Jerusalem in the Roman period.

HOURS OF OPERATION:
Open daily 9AM-9PM
TICKET COST:
Egyptian: LE 2 (LE 1, students)
Foreign: LE 40 (LE 20, students)
Student rates available to bearers of a valid student ID from an Egyptian university or an International Student ID Card (ISIC)
LOCATION:
Mar Girgis St., Old Cairo
DIRECTIONS:
BY METRO: Helwan Line, Mar Girgis station. The museum gate is directly in front of the station.
BY CAR OR TAXI: Ask for "al-met-haf al-qib-tee." Taxi drivers may not be familiar with "al-met-haf al-qib-tee"; it would be very helpful to add that it is close to the mosque of Amr Ibn el-Ass.
BY BUS: Direction Maadi, get off at Old Cairo Police Station. The museum is located on the opposite side of the street, facing Mar Girgis metro station.
FACILITIES:
Cafeteria (coming soon), gift shop, school, luggage office, library (not open to the public)
Guides are not provided. A catalogue of the museum collection is available for purchase at the bookstore.
The museum is wheelchair-accessible.
CONTACT INFO:
Phone: (02) 2362-8766/ (02) 2363-9742
MUSEUM WEBSITE:
http://www.copticmuseum.gov.eg/
NO PHOTOGRAPHY ALLOWED. Cameras must be checked at the museum compound entrance. For special permission, go to the SCA Rules and Regulations page.

0 The Egyptian Museum of Antiquities

 A historical back ground

The Egyptian Museum of Antiquities is considerd to be one of the oldest, most famous, and largest museums in the world.  The Egyptian Museum of Antiquties has a long history that dates back to the year 1825 when Mohamed Ali Pasha, the ruler of Egypt at the time, issued a decree to establish a museum for the antiquities of Egypt and the first location of the museum was in front of the Azabakeya Lake, between the squares of Opera and Atabba today.

The Ruler of Egypt at this period didn’t really realize the real value of the antiquities and ancient historical finds of Egypt and they started giving them to the European tourists who visited Egypt at this period of time in the middle of the 19th century.

At the end, the rest of the antiquities that were kept near the Azabakeya Lake were taken to an abandoned room in the citadel. When the Austrian Archduke, Maximilian, visited the citadel and was fond of the belongings of this room.

This was because Khedive Abbas, the ruler of Egypt at the time, gave the Archduke all the items that were kept in the room. Afterwards, Maximilian took theses antiqutieis with him to Austria and they are still there until today.

After a number of attempts and a lot of efforts that were exerted by the great Egyptologist, Auguste Mariette, the recent Egyptian Museum of Antiquities that is located in the famous Tahrir Square was opened for public in the 15th of November of the year 1902.

About the Egyptian Museum of Antiquities

Situated in front of the main entrance of the Egyptian Museum of Antiquities, there is a small artificial lake that has some of the lotus and the papyrus plants, the most important plants for the ancient Egyptians.

The papyrus is that green long plant that was used by the ancient Egyptians to produce papers. Moreover, the words “paper” in English and the word “Papier” in French are both derived from the word Papyrus.

The sections of the Egyptian Museum of Antiquities

The Egyptian Museum of Antiquties located in the Tahrir Square in Cairo is considered to be the largest museum in the whole world. With so many exhibits put on display in the Egyptian museum, and even double the number of exhibits kept in storage rooms, the guests would take days to view everything in the Egyptian Museum of Antiquities.

The Egyptian Museum of Antiquties consists o two floors; the ground floor that hosts the heavier displays like coffins, huge statues, and stone carvings.

The displays of this floor were organized according to the historical periods which are the Old Kingdom, the Intermediate Period, the New Kingdom, the Late Period, the Greco Roman Period, and the antiquities of the Nubia.

The upper floor of the Egyptian Museum of Antiquities hosts the lighter displays that include gadgets and tools, funerary objects, smaller statues, papyrus papers, wooden coffins, jewelry, and most importantly, the displays of the Tut Ankh Amun tomb. 

The Narmer Plate

Among the most important displays that the guests of the Egyptian Museum should view during their visit is the Narmer Plate or the Plate of the King Menes.

The Narmer Plate is a large plate made out stone and it is the only remaining evidence that King Narmer or Menes was able to unify the two regions of Egypt, Upper Egypt and Lower Egypt in one unified kingdom, beginning the dynastic era of the Egyptian history.

The name of the King Menes is inscribed at the two sides of the plate. The King Menes is portrayed on one side of the plate wearing the long white crown and he is about to beat a war prisoner with his hands

On the other side of the Narmer Plate, the king is portrayed wearing the two crowns and walking with his followers to supervise the process of prosecuting the war prisoner.

The Displays of the Old Kingdom

The displays of the Old Kingdom in the Egyptian Museum of Antiquities are located to the left hand side of the entrance door and they are among the most remarkable among the whole displays of the museum.

The Old Kingdom, or the Pyramids builders period, is a section of the ancient Egyptian history that starts with dfdgd and ends with sdfretet. The most important ahcievments of this period is the Pyramids of Giza, the step Pyramid of Saqqara, the Pyramids of Dahshur, and the Pyramids of Abu Sir.

The first capital of a unified Egypt was founded by King Menes in the 32nd century BC and it was called Memphis, located nowadays to the South of Giza. The most important Egyptian kings that ruled over the country from Memphis are King Menes or Narmer of course, King Zoser, King Senefru, King Chespos, and King Khafre.

There is a wonderful statue of King Khafre made out of alabaster and it is put on display in the second hall of the ground floor of the museum. There are also four heads of some of the relatives of the king and they were made out of limestone.

Moving forward in the Egyptian Museum of Antiquities, the guests will find a collection of attractive smaller statues of servants carrying out their everyday duties and responsibilities.

There is a statue of a woman grinding the grains and beside her there is a statue of a man getting the dough ready to produce beer. On the other side there is am man grilling a goose and beside him, there is another man holding a large bag on his shoulder.

These statues were found in some of the tombs of the Nobles who included these servants with them in their burial chambers to serve them in the afterlife as they have served them during their lives.      

Afterwards, moving on with exploring the ground floor of the Egyptian Museum of Antiquities, the guests will find a large collection of coffins that were made from different types of rocks and stones with its notable decorations and carvings.

There is also the walls of the funerary chamber that was reconstructed after being brought from one of the tombs of Saqqara. This piece is the best example of the magnificent art of the 6th dynasty of the Old Kingdom. The guests will view on the walls of the chamber a list of items showing what the deceased might need in the after life.

The Old Kingdom is considered to be among the most powerful periods of the ancient Egyptians. This is why the guests will find huge statues that are featured with the accuracy in its design and beauty.  An example of this is the wonderful statue of king Khafre that was made out of the strong diorite stone.

Another example of the wonderful statues of the old kingdom would be the sycamore wooden made statue of the “Sheikh of the town”, one of the most important figures that date back to the ancient Egyptian and which is still practiced until today. 

The Displays of the Middle Kingdom

The Egyptian Museum of Antiquities hosts ten notable statues that date back to the Middle Kingdom. The ten statues portray the king Senosert I, a king that belongs to the 12th dynasty and they are all made out of limestone.

There are also three other statues of Senosert portrayed as a the god Osiris and they were found near the El Lisht, an area near El Fayoum and the Pyramid of Meidum  to the South of Cairo.

The Middle Kingdom period started in Egypt with the fall of the Old Kingdom and it was, according to historical records and researches, a relatively negative period of the ancient Egyptian history.

However, with the beginning of the rule of the 12th dynasty, the living conditions of the Egyptians were improved and the arts and industries have greatly flourished.

Another transition took place in Egypt once again with the nobles fighting among each others, and the living conditions getting worse once more, all these facts paved the way for the Hyksos to invade the country.

When the 17th dynasty came to rule over Egypt, from Thebes, they started to fight these forigen invaders until the King Ahmose was able to defeat the Hyksos and expel them out of Egypt. Ahmose founded the 18th dynasty, which is the first dynasty of the New Kingdom of Egypt.

The Displays of the New Kingdom

The 18th dynasty which is the first dynasty of the New Kingdom is considered among the greatest dynasties that ruled over Egypt and the most important rulers of this period are Queen Hatshepsut, King Amenhotep, Ikhnaton, and King Tut Ankh Amun.

There are so many displays in the Egyptian Museum of Antiquities that date back to the New Kingdom. Among these there are several statues of the Goddess Hathour and the god Amun, the most famous god of ancient Egypt.

The displays of the New Kingdom also include a large collection of mummification tools, chairs, wooden objects, crowns, and a large collection of statues of gods, kings, and queens that date back to many different periods of the New Kingdom.

There are a number of remarkable statues of Queen Hatshepsut with some of them portraying her in the shape of the sphinx while the other shows her in the disguise of a man.

There are some notable statues of King Tuthmosis III, the successor of Hatshepsut, who is one of the most skilful military leaders of ancient Egypt to the extent that he was called, the Napoleon of Egypt

realted aricles :

The Treasures of Tut Ankh Amun

HOURS OF OPERATION:
Open daily, 9:00 AM-7:00 PM
9:00 AM-5:00 PM during Ramadan
TICKET COST:
General Admission:
Egyptian: LE 4 (LE 2, students)
Foreign: LE 60 (LE 30, students)

Royal Mummies Room:
Egyptian: LE 10 (LE 5, students)
Foreign: LE 100 (LE 50, students)

Centennial Gallery:
Egyptian: LE 2 (LE 1, students)
Foreign: LE 10 (LE 5, students)
Student rates available to bearers of a valid student ID from an Egyptian university or an International Student ID Card (ISIC)
LOCATION:
Midan al-Tahrir, Downtown Cairo
DIRECTIONS:
By metro: Sadat Station, follow signs to Egyptian Museum exit and walk straight along the street.
By car or taxi: Ask for "al-met-haf al-masri"
By bus: Ask for "abdel minem-ryad"
FACILITIES:
Cafeteria, bank, post office, gift shop, library, children's museum, school
Taped audio guides are available in English, French, and Arabic for LE 20. Go to the kiosk in the front foyer to purchase.
Membership in the Friends of the Egyptian Museum organization is available. Call for details (+20-(0)2-2579-4596).
SERVICES FOR PATRONS WITH SPECIAL NEEDS:
An elevator, located to the right of Gallery R43 (Pre- and Early Dynastic) is available for those unable to use the stairs--ask the engineers in the office next to the elevator to activate it [pop-up map with location marked with a dot].
Guided tours for blind and low-vision patrons are available upon request (please phone in advance).
CONTACT INFO:
Phone: (02) 5794596
Fax: (02) 5794596
Email: egyptianmuseum@hotmail.com
MUSEUM WEBSITE:
UNDER CONSTRUCTION
NO PHOTOGRAPHY ALLOWED. Cameras must be checked at building entrance.