The Egyptian Museum in Cairo

• 16 / 5 / 2023

 The Egyptian Museum is a Historical Treasure Trove

The Egyptian Museum in Cairo, Egypt, houses the world's most valuable collection of antiquities from ancient Egypt. It holds almost 150,000 things. These contain several artifacts from Tutankhamun's tomb. The museum is one of Egypt's most renowned tourist attractions. In addition to Tutankhamun's tomb, the Egyptian Museum has the contents of several more tombs. Queen Hetepheres' carrying a chair and gold-covered furniture are on display, as with mummies, sarcophagi (stone coffins), ancient papyrus writings, and jewelry.

 The museum also exhibits a remarkable collection of pharaoh and queen sculptures, like as Queen Nefertiti's incomplete head and Queen Hatshepsut's granite sphinx. The Egyptian Museum was created in 1858. It had previously occupied two places before settling in its current edifice in Tahrir Square in 1902. The museum's collection is unusual in that it encompasses all of Egyptian history. However, the majority of the collection dates from the reign of the pharaohs. Muhammad Ali Pasha, Egypt's viceroy from 1805 until 1848, is credited with the concept of establishing an Egyptian antiquities museum. In an attempt to put an end to the export of antiquities, he issued a decree on August 15, 1835, resulting in the establishment of Cairo's first Egyptian antiquities museum.

 The Egyptian Museum’s treasures include the treasures of the Golden Mask of the young Pharaoh Tutankhamun and the Treasures of the King. The Golden Funerary Mask, also known as the mummy mask, is an exquisite handcrafted artistic artifact that captures everywhere elegance.

One of the other notable artistic works in the museum is the Menkaure Triads, which was found at the valley temple close to the Giza pyramids. It is carved in a single piece of stone depicting a king in the crown of upper Egypt.  The museum has numerous collections from the various Egyptian civilizations and different periods, and it is one of the activities that are carried out in Cairo day tours from the airport, which is incomparably enjoyable to see pieces that are many centuries old.

The museum suffered significant damage as a result of the disastrous Nile floods in 1878, and it was closed to the public for repairs until it reopened in 1881. The threat of future floods, combined with the 1881 discovery of a trove of royal mummies in Deir el-Bahari, demonstrated that the museum required additional quarters. The new museum occupied 15,000 square meters and cost approximately 240,000 Egyptian pounds at the time. On November 15, 1902, the Egyptian daily newspaper Al Ahram announced the official opening of the Egyptian Museum.