Egyptian Museum

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The Museum of Egyptian Antiquities, commonly known as the Egyptian Museum (Template:Langx, Egyptian Arabic: Template:Transliteration Template:IPA) (also called the Cairo Museum), located in Cairo, Egypt, houses the largest collection of Egyptian antiquities in the world.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> It houses over 120,000 items, with a representative amount on display. Located in Tahrir Square in a building built in 1901, it is one of the largest art museums in Africa.

History

Early museums and relocations

Aerial balloon photograph showing the Egyptian Museum and surrounding Cairo cityscape from 1904
Aerial view 1904 from a balloon where the Egyptian Museum appears to the right side.
Black and white photograph of the Egyptian Museum's exterior in the 1950s showing the neoclassical facade
The Egyptian Museum in the 1950s

The Egyptian government established a museum in 1835 near the Ezbekieh Garden.

Youssef Diaa Effendi, the Director of the Antiquities Department, began inspecting the antiquities of Middle Egypt shortly after assuming his position, focusing on those discovered by farmers. In 1848, Muhammad Ali Pasha assigned Linan Bek, the Minister of Education, to compile a comprehensive report on archaeological sites and send artifacts to the Egyptian Museum. However, this effort was not successful due to the death of Muhammad Ali Pasha in 1849, followed by a period of instability. The trade in antiquities resurfaced, and the collection housed in the museum established in Azbakeya began to shrink until it was transferred to a single hall in the Cairo Citadel. The situation worsened when Khedive Abbas I donated the entire contents of this hall to Archduke Maximilian of Austria during his visit to the citadel in 1855; these are now in the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna.

Following the foundation of the new Antiquities Department under the direction of Auguste Mariette, a new museum was established in 1858 at Boulaq in a former warehouse on the riverbank. Mariette considered the Boulaq Museum a temporary location, and after the significant damage the building suffered when the Nile flooded in 1878, he saw an opportunity to advocate for the establishment of a permanent museum with greater capacity to accommodate a larger collection of artifacts, while also being situated away from the flood path. After Mariette's death, he was succeeded by Gaston Maspero, who attempted to move the museum from Boulaq but was unsuccessful. By 1889, the building housing the collections reached its peak of overcrowding, with no available rooms for more artifacts, either in the exhibition halls or storage areas. Artifacts discovered during excavations were often left for long periods in boats in Upper Egypt. This dire situation led Khedive Ismail to offer one of his palaces in Giza, the location of the present-day zoo, to serve as the new museum. Between the summer and the end of 1889, all the artifacts were moved from the Boulaq Museum to Giza,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and the artifacts were reorganized in the new museum by the scholar De Morgan, who served as the museum's director. From 1897 to 1899, Loret succeeded De Morgan, but Maspero returned to manage the museum from 1899 to 1914.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

The artifacts remained there until 1902 when they were moved again to the current museum in Tahrir Square, built by the Italian company of Giuseppe Garozzo and Francesco Zaffrani to a design by the French architect Marcel Dourgnon.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Construction and opening

The architectural design of the museum was created by the French architect Marcel Dournon in 1897, to be located in the northern area of Tahrir Square (formerly Ismailia Square), along the British Army barracks in Cairo near Qasr El-Nil. The foundation stone was laid on 1 April 1897, in the presence of Khedive Abbas Hilmi II, the Prime Minister, and all his cabinet members.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The project was completed by the German architect Hermann Grabe. In November 1903, the Antiquities Department appointed the Italian architect Alessandro Parazenti, who had received the keys to the museum on 9 March 1902, and began the process of transferring the archaeological collections from Khedive Ismail's palace in Giza to the new museum. This operation involved the use of five thousand wooden carts, while large artifacts were transported by two trains, making about nineteen round trips between Giza and Qasr El-Nil. The first shipment carried approximately forty-eight stone coffins, weighing over a thousand tons in total. However, the transportation process was chaotic at times. The transfer was completed by 13 July 1902, and Mariette's tomb was moved to the museum garden in accordance with his wish to be buried among the artifacts he had spent much of his life collecting.

The Egyptian Museum was officially opened on 15 November 1902. The new museum adopted an exhibition style based on a gradual arrangement of halls, without allocating rooms for periods of turmoil, as they were considered historically insignificant. The artifacts in the museum were categorized by their themes, though for architectural reasons, large statues were placed on the ground floor, while funerary items were displayed on the first floor in chronological order. Each day, new artifacts were arranged and displayed according to their themes in various rooms. The museum became the only one in the world so filled with artifacts that it resembled a storage facility. When asked about this, Maspero replied that the Egyptian Museum was a reflection of a pharaonic tomb or temple, where every part of the space was used to display paintings or hieroglyphic inscriptions. Even the modern Egyptian home of that time used every part of the walls for paintings and images, making the museum a representation of both ancient and modern Egypt.<ref name=":0" />

20th and 21st centuries

The museum's gardens used to reach the banks of the Nile; however, in 1954, the majority of the property was seized to build the Cairo Municipality Building.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In 2004, the museum appointed Wafaa El Saddik as the first female director general.<ref name=Zeit>Template:Cite news</ref>

In the Egyptian Revolution of 2011, the museum was broken into, and reportedly was used as a torture site, with protestors forcibly and unlawfully detained and allegedly abused, according to reports, videos, and eyewitness accounts.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Activists state that "men were being tortured with electric shocks, whips and wires," and "women were tied to fences and trees." Singer and activist Ramy Essam was among those detained and tortured.<ref>Template:Cite AV media</ref>

During this time, two mummies were destroyed,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> several artifacts were damaged, and 54 objects were stolen.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Twenty-five of the missing objects were found soon after on the grounds of the museum. Among these were six of seven Ushabtis of Yuya, and a statuette recovered in 2014; one shabti remains missing.<ref name=":12">Template:Cite journal</ref> The restored artifacts were displayed in September 2013 in an exhibition titled "Damaged and Restored". Among these artifacts were two statues of King Tutankhamun made of cedar wood and covered with gold, a statue of King Akhenaten, Ushabti statues that belonged to the Nubian kings, a mummy of a child that was unwrapped due to its bandages being burned, and a small polychrome glass vase.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Museum development

Exterior view of the museum showing its distinctive pinkish-beige colored neoclassical facade
The distinctive color of the museum's exterior

In 1983, the museum building was registered as a heritage site due to its unique architectural value. In August 2006, the largest development operation was carried out on the museum, aiming to make it a scientific and cultural destination.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> This included the establishment of a cultural center and an administrative-commercial annex on the western side of the museum, where informal settlements were removed.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Due to various architectural distortions the building had suffered over the years, which hid much of its original aesthetic charm due to external factors like pollution and heavy traffic, the Ministry of Antiquities launched an initiative in May 2012 to create a comprehensive rehabilitation plan for the museum. The German Foreign Ministry funded the necessary studies and scientific research, and the International Environmental Quality Association participated in the implementation of the initiative to restore the museum to its original condition. The project included architectural and engineering restoration work, as well as the development of the surrounding area of Tahrir Square. The project was completed by 2016, after restoring the eastern and northern wings, addressing lighting issues, and reorganizing the display of valuable artifacts.

Interior view of the museum's main hall showing large stone artifacts and statues under modern lighting
Lighting in the main hall

The first phase of the initiative involved sampling the original color of the museum building and restoring the walls to their original color. It also included wall surface restoration, the restoration of decorations on the walls and columns, the replacement of window glass with UV-protective glass to safeguard the artifacts, and the restoration of the original ventilation system after thorough cleaning. Restoration work relied on 257 preserved panels within the museum's library, which displayed the building's original designs.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In July 2016, the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities (Egypt) upgraded the museum's internal and external lighting systems, allowing the museum to be open for nighttime visits. In November 2018, the final phase of the museum's development was inaugurated, which included a new exhibition scenario, the display of the collections of Yuya and Thuya on the upper floor, as well as the display of King Tutankhamun's artifacts, until the rest of his collection is moved to the Grand Egyptian Museum. The works also involved repainting the walls, upgrading the outlets, updating the lighting system, and restoring the display cases. These tasks were overseen by a committee that included directors of the world's largest museums, who contributed to the scientific perspective on redistributing the artifacts after the transfer of the items related to the Grand Egyptian Museum and the Museum of Civilization. The committee included directors from the museums of Turin, the Louvre, United Museums, and Berlin.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Museum library

Ancient Egyptian painted wooden panel showing Tutankhamun in a chariot attacking enemies
A painting on wood depicting Tutankhamun defeating his enemies

The museum library was established at the time of the museum's opening, with funds allocated since 1899 for the purchase of books. The Egyptologist Maspero advocated for a permanent budget for acquiring books and appointed Dacros as the first librarian from 1903 to 1906. He was succeeded by several librarians, including Monier, who compiled a comprehensive catalog of the library's holdings until 1926. A significant turning point for the library occurred when Abdel Mohsen El-Khashab assumed its management. He was assisted by Diaa El-Din Abu Ghazi, who later became the head librarian in 1950. Abu Ghazi played a crucial role in preparing catalogues, increasing international exchanges, and expanding the library, which eventually grew to its current two-story size with two reading rooms and a storage area for publications.

The library houses over 50,000 books and volumes, including rare works on ancient Egyptian, Greek, Roman, and Near Eastern archaeology, along with other specialized fields. Some of its most significant books include Description de l'Égypte, Antiquités de l'Égypte et de la Nubie, and Lepsius' works. The library also contains a rare collection of maps, paintings, and photographs.<ref>"Egyptian Museum's library contains more than 50,000 volumes on Egyptian antiquities". Al-Sharq Al-Awsat. 15 August 2004. Archived from the original on 7 August 2018. Accessed on 6 September 2016.</ref>

Collections

  • Prehistoric Period: This collection includes various types of pottery, jewellery, hunting tools, and everyday life items that represent the products of the ancient Egyptians before the advent of writing. These artifacts reflect the life of early Egyptians who settled in various regions of Egypt, including the north, central, and southern parts of the country.<ref name=":1">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=":2">Template:Cite web</ref>
  • The Early Dynastic Period: This collection includes artifacts from the First and Second Dynasties, such as the Narmer Palette, the statue of Khasekhemwy, and various vessels and tools.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":1" />
  • Old Kingdom Period: This collection includes a range of significant artifacts- the statues of Djoser, Khafre, Menkaure, Sheikh El-Balad, the dwarf Seneb, King Pepi I, his son Merenre, as well as numerous coffins, statues, wall paintings, and the collection of Queen Hetepheres I.
  • Middle Kingdom Period: This collection includes many significant artifacts, such as the statue of King Montuhotep II, a series of statues of several rulers from the 12th Dynasty, including Senusret I and Amenemhat III, among others and the treasures of Ancient Egyptian Princesses such as Mereret, Sithathoriunet and Khenmet. It also features numerous statue, coffins, jewellery, daily life tools, and fragments of pyramids from the Faiyum region.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":1" />
Ornate golden throne chair with intricate Egyptian decorative elements
Tutankhamun's throne chair
  • New Kingdom Period: This is the most famous collection in the museum, highlighted by the treasures of the young pharaoh Tutankhamun, along with statues of Hatshepsut, Thutmose III, and Ramesses II. It also includes chariots, papyri, jewelry, Akhenaten's collection, the Israel Stele, statues of Amenhotep III and his wife Ti, a variety of amulets, writing tools, and agricultural instruments. Additionally, the Royal Mummy Collection, displayed in a dedicated hall opened in 1994, was a significant feature until the royal mummies were transferred to the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization in Fustat during the Royal Mummy Parade in 2021.
  • Late Period: This collection features a variety of artifacts, including the treasures of Tanis made from gold, silver, and precious stones, discovered in the tombs of some kings and queens of the 21st and 22nd dynasties at Tanis. It also includes important statues such as the funerary masks of king Psusennes I, Amenemope and Shoshenq II, statue of Amun, the statue of Mentuhotep, and the statue of the goddess Tauret, as well as the Canopus Jar Lid (Abu Qir), the stela of Baiankh, and a selection of Nubian artifacts, some of which have been transferred to the Nubian Museum in Aswan.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" />
  • Roman Period: This collection features a variety of artifacts including the Dush Treasure which was only discovered in 1989.

Theft of museum artefacts

Military vehicles and soldiers positioned around the Egyptian Museum during the 2011 revolution
Army forces around the museum

In August 2004, it was announced that 38 artifacts had disappeared from the museum and could not be located. The incident was referred to the public prosecution for investigation.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

During the security turmoil following the 25 January Revolution, the museum was broken into on 28 January 2011, by unidentified individuals, and 54 artifacts were stolen. Zahi Hawass, the then director of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, stated "My heart is broken and my blood is boiling".<ref name="Lawler">Template:Cite magazine</ref> Hawass later told The New York Times that thieves looking for gold broke 70 objects, including two sculptures of the pharaoh Tutankhamun and took two skulls from a research lab, before being stopped as they left the museum.<ref name="Taylor">Template:Cite news</ref> In response, the military cordoned off the museum to secure it against looting and theft.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In September 2025, authorities announced the theft of a 3,000-year-old gold bracelet dating from the reign of King Amenemope from the museum. Four people, including a restoration specialist, were subsequently arrested. The specialist confessed to stealing the artefact from a museum safe before selling it to a succession of jewelers who then sold it to a gold foundry worker who melted it down.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Access to the museum and entry

Tourist photographing Tutankhamun's golden burial mask display
A photographer of Tutankhamun's golden mask

The museum is located in the heart of Cairo, on the northern side of Tahrir Square (Downtown). It is accessible by public transportation, private cars with parking available at the multi-story Tahrir parking lot, or the easier option of using the metro, exiting at Sadat Station, which directly overlooks Tahrir Square.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The museum is open daily from 9:00 AM to 7:00 PM, with special hours on Fridays from 9:00 AM to 11:00 AM and from 1:30 PM to 7:00 PM.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Photography is not allowed inside the museum due to the negative effects of camera flashes on the small artifacts' colors. However, personal photography is permitted for a fee of 50 EGP for both Egyptians and foreigners, except in the Hall of the Golden Mask and the Royal Mummy Halls.<ref>Moataz Shams El-Din (7 January 2016). "Why was photography banned inside the Egyptian Museum?". Huffington Post Arabic. Archived from the original on 5 October 2017. Accessed on 4 September 2016.</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Occasionally, free photography is allowed on specific days to encourage tourism and increase visitors to the museum. Visitors can also rent an audio guide inside the museum for 25 EGP, providing detailed information about the displayed artifacts.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Sale room for antiquities

The Department of Antiquities (Service d'Antiquités Egyptien) operated a sale room (Salle de ventes) in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo from 1902 in room 56 on the ground floor, where original ancient Egyptian artworks and other original artefacts were sold. In addition, until the 1970s, dealers or collectors could bring antiquities to the Cairo Museum for inspection on Thursdays, and if museum officials had no objections, they could pack them in ready-made boxes, have them sealed and cleared for export. Many objects now held in private collections or public museums originated here. After years of debate about the strategy for selling the antiquities, the sale room was closed in November 1979.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Ticket prices

Old museum entrance ticket with Arabic and English text
Old museum ticket

The value is in Egyptian pounds.

Places to visit Students Adult
Ticket price
Egyptians and Arabs 10 30
Foreigners 275 550

Free entrance for children under 6 years

Black and white portrait photograph of Auguste Mariette, 19th century French Egyptologist
Auguste Mariette
Black and white portrait photograph of Gaston Maspero, French Egyptologist
Gaston Maspero

Leadership

The museum is overseen by the Museums Sector of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, which is part of the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities (Egypt). The management of the museum is entrusted to the position of museum director, a role held by several prominent figures in the field of Egyptology, including:<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Layout and collections

Interior courtyard view of the Egyptian Museum showing visitors and stone artifacts
Interior of the Egyptian Museum

The museum has two main floors: the ground floor and the first floor. On the ground floor is an extensive collection of large-scale works in stone, including statues, reliefs, and architectural elements. These are arranged chronologically in a clockwise fashion, from the pre-dynastic to the Greco-Roman period.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The first floor is dedicated to smaller works, including papyri, coins, textiles, and an enormous collection of wooden sarcophagi.

The numerous pieces of papyrus are generally small fragments, owing to their decay over the past two millennia. Several languages are found on these pieces, including Greek, Latin, Arabic, and ancient Egyptian. The coins found on this floor are made of many different metals, including gold, silver, and bronze. The coins are not only Egyptian, but also Greek, Roman, and Islamic. This has helped historians research the history of Ancient Egyptian trade.

Also on the ground floor are artifacts from the New Kingdom, a time period spanning from 1550 to 1069 BC. These artifacts are generally larger than items created in earlier centuries. Those items include statues, tables, and coffins (sarcophagi). It contains 42 rooms, with many items on view from sarcophagi and boats to enormous statues.

On the first floor are artifacts from the final two dynasties of Egypt, including items from the tombs of the Pharaohs Thutmosis III, Thutmosis IV, Amenophis II, Hatshepsut, and the courtier Maiherpri, as well as many artifacts from the Valley of the Kings, in particular the material from the intact tombs of Tutankhamun and Psusennes I.

Until 2021, two rooms contained several mummies of kings and other royal family members of the New Kingdom. On 3 April 2021, twenty-two of these mummies were transferred to the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization in Fustat in a grand parade dubbed The Pharaohs' Golden Parade.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Collections are also being transferred to the Grand Egyptian Museum in Giza, including all the artifacts found inside Tutankhamun's tomb.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite web</ref> "Among the reasons that the GEM itself was conceived, the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir has been criticized for being overcrowded, displaying pieces in a way that is said to make the experience cumbersome for visitors."<ref name=":0" />

Memorial to famous Egyptologists

Monument to Auguste Mariette surrounded by bust sculptures in the museum garden
Memorial to famous Egyptologists

In the garden adjacent to the building of the museum, is a memorial to famous egyptologists of the world. It features a monument to Auguste Mariette, surrounded by 24 busts of the following egyptologists: François Chabas, Johannes Dümichen, Conradus Leemans, Charles Wycliffe Goodwin, Emmanuel de Rougé, Samuel Birch, Edward Hincks, Luigi Vassalli, Émile Brugsch, Karl Richard Lepsius, Théodule Devéria, Vladimir Golenishchev, Ippolito Rosellini, Labib Habachi, Sami Gabra, Selim Hassan, Ahmed Kamal, Zakaria Goneim, Jean-François Champollion, Amedeo Peyron, Willem Pleyte, Gaston Maspero, Peter le Page Renouf<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and Kazimierz Michałowski.

Pharaohs' Golden Parade

On 3 April 2021, the Egyptian Museum witnessed the Pharaohs' Golden Parade, during which 22 royal mummies (18 kings and 4 queens) were transferred from the Egyptian Museum to the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization in Fustat. The mummies are now displayed in state-of-the-art display cases designed to better control temperature and humidity, offering enhanced preservation compared to their previous display in the Egyptian Museum.

See also

References

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Sources

Further reading

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