The Egyptian museum is located in the heart of the Egyptian capital, “Cairo”, on the northern side of Tahrir Square. This museum is considered one of the first museums globally specifically established as a public museum, unlike those preceding it.
Work began in the museum during the reign of Khedive Abbas Hilmi II in 1897 CE and was completed in 1901AD and was inaugurated on November 15, 1902. The museum was designed in a classical style. It did not contain any influences of ancient Egyptian art and ancient Egyptian temples except for the design of its internal halls, which simulate the compartments of ancient Egyptian temples.
Entrance interface: –
The entrance to the museum is surrounded by two Greek columns like the one in the temple of Philae. Above this entrance is a bust of the goddess “Hathor” depicted as a female with two horns on her head, and between the two horns there is a sun disk, and on both sides of the entrance, there are two statues of the goddess “Isis” wearing a Greek costume,
Written in the upper part on the right and the left is the years 1897 and 1901; As an indication of the beginning and the end of the work, and there are also the letters “AH” as an abbreviation for the name of the Khedive “Abbas Helmy II”, who was built during his reign.
The museum consists of two main floors:
Ground floor: – This floor contains heavy relics from coffins, paintings and huge statues made of limestone and sand, such as: –
The statue of Ramses II, Senusret, Khafre, Sphinx, Akhenaten and Hatshepsut.
The upper floor includes: –
Effects of the era of the modern state,
Among the most famous of these monuments are the golden pharaoh “Tutankhamun” group and two halls of royal mummies.
The interior halls are large, the walls are high, and natural light enters through the glass panels and the windows on the ground floor. The museum’s central hall is the highest part of the interior, where antiquities are displayed in ancient temples.
Any additions or expansions in the building were considered in the future, which made it visitors easy to move from one hall to another.
The Egyptian Museum is the largest in the world, as it contains more than 150,000 artefacts.
The most important archaeological collections were found in the tombs of the kings and the royal entourage of the middle family in Dahshur in 1894. Now the museum houses the greatest archaeological collection globally; It expresses all stages of ancient Egyptian history.
Among the important museum collections: –
Prehistory: These are the ages that represent the product of the ancient Egyptian before the knowledge of writing, which settled in many places in Egypt.
In the north, centre and south of the country.
This group includes various types of pottery, decorative tools, hunting tools, and the everyday requirements of an ancient Egyptian.
• The Foundation Age: – It includes the relics of the first and second dynasties, including the Narmer saloon, the statue of “Khaa Sakhmoy”, and many pots and tools developed from those that were in prehistoric times.
• The Old Kingdom Era: – Includes a group of artefacts, the most important of which are: – statues of “Zoser,” “Khafre,” “Menkaure,” “Sheikh al-Balad,” “The Dwarf Sinb,” “Biy I,” and his son, “Mary En Ra,” and many more Of the coffins, statues of individuals, murals, and the collection of the Queen “Hotepheres”.
• The Middle Kingdom Era: – It includes a group of artefacts, the most important of which are: – The statue of King Mentuhotep the Second, and a group of statues of some of the 12th dynasty kings such as: – The statue of King Senusret the First and the statue of King Amenemhat the Third and others, and many more. Figurines of individuals, coffins, jewellery, and tools of everyday life.
• The era of the modern state: It is the most famous collection in the museum,
On top of it is the King Tutankhamun collection, the statues of Hatshepsut, Tuthmosis the Third, and Ramses II, in addition to the war wheels, papyri, and ornaments, the group “Akhenaten”, Merneptah’s painting “The Former Israel Plate”, the statues of “Amenhotep III” and his wife “T”, and the collection of amulets, writing and agricultural tools And finally, the royal mummies collection, which is displayed in a special hall, which opened in 1994.
• Late eras: – Includes the treasures of Tanis, which are made of gold, silver and precious stones.
These treasures were found in the tombs of some kings and queens of the two dynasties 21 and 22 in Sun al-Hajar.
It includes some important statues such as: – the statue of “Amun” and “Mentumhat”, a statue of the goddess “Taourt”, and a panel of Canopus decision (Abu Qir), a painting in Anani and a group of Nubian antiquities, some of which were transferred to the Nubian Museum in Aswan.