Just back from a week in Rome, it's a fantastic city.
Just back from a week in Rome, it's a fantastic city.
Member since:19.09.2005
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The treasures of ancient Egypt are some of the most sought after in the world. This museum houses what is arguably the best collection of ancient artefacts.
The museum is divided into several rooms on two floors, from the outside the museum looks quite small, I was expecting it to look bigger, but it is deceptively large inside. The museum is a kind of rusty colour on the outside and looks quite old.
The main reason that this museum is so famous is that it houses the majority of the finds from King Tutankhamen's tomb that was discovered by Howard Carter and Lord Carnarvon in 1922 after decades of searching. It is the only tomb found intact to this day, all the others have long been pillaged by tomb robbers.
On entering the museum you are faced with a large room with two large statues at the end. There is a large map at the entrance and it's worth studying this before you start your journey around the museum, there
is a lot to see.
The King Tutankhamen's treasures have about a quarter of the museum dedicated to it, and are without a doubt the most impressive collection ever discovered. All of his treasures are on the upper floor.
The first thing you will see of his treasures is the set of coffins, variable in size, that once fit inside each other like a Russian doll. The size of the largest box is huge. This wets the appetite for what is probably the main reason for being in the museum in the first place, the gold mask and sarcophagus. We came back to this room three times during our visit, it's really that impressive.
The mask is placed dead centre in the room in a glass case, but this is not the most impressive item in the room, the two gold coffins are in my opinion even more impressive than the mask. The goldsmith work in simply amazing. It takes time to take in just these three items. Everyone in the room seems mesmerised and that is not surprising.
This is not the end of his treasures, there are over a thousand of Tutankhamen's treasures on display in the museum at any one time, this is about a quarter of the treasures found, many are on loan to other museums. Some are in the Luxor museum.
Of course this only makes up a small amount of the vast amount of other treasures to be seen. If they ever find another intact tomb then they will seriously need an extension. Some of the other treasures in the museum include the Head of Nefertiti and two Rahotep and Nofret statues that are beautifully painted and life like.
Another highlight is the mummy room, these are a bit macabre but very interesting too, remembering that they are thousands of years old. If you want to you can pay extra, to see the mummy of possibly the second most famous pharaoh, Ramses II, he is so well remember because he lived for 96 years, a miracle in those days and he ruled for 67 years. He had 96 sons and 60 daughters with approximately 200 women, an amazing feat in itself I'd say. It costs eight pounds sterling to go in. To be honest, if you've seen one mummy, you've seen them all.
One disappointment for me was the lack of the Rosetta stone, the stone found by a French soldier that has the same text in three languages, that helped translate the hieroglyphs. This is now housed in the British Museum. There is a replica in the Cairo museum.
I believe that other countries should start giving back the treasures they have taken in the past, not just Egyptian treasures but any treasures. The Eglin Marbles for example belong on the Parthenon in Athens. I wouldn't like to think how many artefacts are in private collections.
You can't take cameras in to the museum, which is a little disappointed, but I can understand the reasons. It is worth buying a book, our guide recommended a book shop just across the road from the museum that has a good selection of books.
The museum is the most interesting I have ever been in, I enjoyed every minute in there. We spent three hours in the museum, this is adequate, make sure that you give yourself at least that amount out time. The museum was quite busy when we were there in March, but not over crowded. If you are looking for the best collection of the treasures of Egypt you can't do any better than this museum. You won't fail to be amazed.
Well recommended.
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NH Hotels, the hotel chain leader in Europe, with more than 300 hotels in 20 countries in Europe, Latin America and Africa. Enter into our web site and find the best available tariff at all times
Advantages: Close to the Egyptian Museum and other interesting places Disadvantages: Compared to the other hotels it was on the expensive side - but well worth it
Steven_Holroyd 07.06.2007 ·
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