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Wandering Through History at the Museum of Egyptian Antiquities

For those of us that love to travel back in time, exploring history and anthropology, the Egyptian Museum of Antiquities is really a bit of a dream, as there are not many places you can go back further in human history, especially right from it’s source.  And this is a museum that I really never expected to be walking inside.

 

A Writer and History Enthusiast’s Dream-Come-True: the Egyptian Museum of Antiquities

 

Now love of history aside, I’m quite picky when it comes to museums, having been a historical educator myself and having weaved tales around past civilisations.  So that said, I will be the first to agree with our Egyptian Guide that they are not effectively displaying and interpreting the many artefacts in the Museum of Antiquities.  You see there is just so much stuff, and while many museums have a storage facility for artefacts, so on the display floor they can highlight particular pieces, the Museum of Antiquities is really one great big warehouse of antiquities.  Kind of exciting to think about really, as part of the reason for that is there have just been so many discoveries of ancient human history in Egypt, that there’s not enough space for it all, and that’s with Egyptian collections on loan to other museums all around the world, and with everything that’s been stolen.  Stories such as Indiana Jones and Relic Hunter do after all come from somewhere and many such tales of stolen artefacts have come from this part of the World, and not just in the past.  The Museum itself was raided and had pieces stolen in last year’s revolution. As a weaver of tales myself, this space and this place was a dream come true, as it’s walls just hold so many stories from both the past and the present.  Hello historic thriller!

 

On-Guard at the Egyptian Museum

 

And that is exactly what I got from my visit to the Museum of Egyptian Antiquities ~ an incredible sense of awe at where I was standing and what I was surrounded by, and a recognition at just how much history had been unearthed in Egypt, despite robberies, artefacts elsewhere in the World and constant new discoveries, not so far from where I was standing. How often is it that you stand in a museum of this magnitude, where it is solely sharing it’s own history and not that of other lands?!?  Pretty gosh darn incredible.  The magnitude of this, only hit that much harder, when our guide took us through the area of the Museum dedicated to Tutankhamun, Egypt’s child Pharaoh, having reigned from age 9 to his death at age 19. As our guide talked about Tutankhamum and walked us through the immense amount of items that had been found in his tomb, including every bed that he’d ever slept on. That was when the realisation hit me, a Pharaoh was buried with all of his worldly possessions from birth to death. That included every article of clothing, he’d ever worn ~ yes, underwear inclusive ~ I saw it on display. Sure glad no one has kept or will be displaying any of my ratty old underwear after I’m gone. Now all of this took up a space 3 – 4 times larger then most of our homes (or at least my Vancouver townhouse), and that was for a King that only lived 19-years. Now just imagine the tomb of Ramesses the Great, who is suspected to have lived for 90 years. No wonder they are running out of room for the antiquities.

I am pleased to share that there are plans for a second Museum of Egyptian Antiquities, the Grand Egyptian Museum, to better deal with, preserve and display Egypt’s Antiquities.  The Museum is scheduled to open in 2012 by the Giza Pyramids.

In the meantime, however, if you are in Cairo, I do encourage you to visit the Museum of Egyptian Antiquities, as it really is an incredible space, filled with both stories and history.  Just be warned, no cameras are allowed inside, and I’d recommend a guide, at least for your first visit, as it really helped me to navigate and fully appreciate what I was seeing.  I understand this is even more valuable at busier times in the Museum, which I understand is most of the time (I was just visiting at the time of the December 2011 demonstrations, so got to enjoy the advantages of fewer tourists, as a result).

Oh and personally, this is a museum that I’d take in with many shorter visits to effectively absorb it all.  I’m hoping to return one day.

So …??? What are some of your favourite museums in this big wide world of ours?  If you have photos of them, you should share them on twitter today with the hashtag #FriFotos, as museums are this week’s theme.

 

PS. In Full Disclosure: As always, the opinions and thoughts shared here are our own and honest ones. We are bought out by no one. In the spirit of disclosure, it should be noted that on this trip our expenses were paid by the IOETI Conference, for which we were speaking at.

 

Things To Do
Cairo

June 22, 2012 By Erica Hargreave 11 Comments

Filed Under: Africa, All Aboard!, Around the World, Egypt, Erica Hargreave, History, Middle East, Nerding Out, Our Travelers, Specialty Tagged With: Cairo, Egypt, Giza, history

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Norbert

    June 23, 2012 at 1:31 am

    I was in Egypt a couple months ago and I LOVED that museum! Well, especially since I love Ancient Egypt’s history. I too recommend a lot to visit that museum as much of the heritage is showcased there. And so much art! Oh, and King Tut’s artifacts. So much…

    Reply
    • Erica

      June 23, 2012 at 2:53 pm

      I know! And I feel I only got just a taste of it, as it was the end of a long week with the early symptons of food poisoning starting to hit me (end up quite sick that night).

      Sounds like you got to enjoy it too, while Cairo has been a little quieter for tourist. A great time to visit places like this and the pyramids.

      Reply
  2. My Travel Affairs

    June 23, 2012 at 1:28 pm

    To be frank I have been in Egypt once, long time ago for a week to dive. I didn’t have the best impression of the country, but such articles make me wonder if I should revisit the country again and give it another chance. Great post

    Reply
    • Erica

      June 23, 2012 at 2:56 pm

      So I suspect you were on the Red Sea then?

      Red Sea Egypt is quite different from Cairo, and different again, depending on where on the Red Sea you were.

      Many people go to Hurghada to dive, which is really resort town. Not my most favourite place in Egypt, as it is much harder there to source out the true Egyptian experiences and what I travel for, the culture.

      Reply
  3. Annie@GreenTravelReviews

    October 25, 2013 at 12:55 am

    This sounds incredible, thank you for tipping me off about where to go 🙂 I love the whispers of history and always search for places to find them.

    Reply
    • Erica Hargreave

      October 26, 2013 at 5:25 pm

      Enjoy listening to the stories that a place will tell Annie, and thank you!

      Reply
  4. Saugat

    October 27, 2014 at 6:13 am

    Egypt has the rich cultural history. The remarkable development in the ancient Egypt was astonishing. People will surely love to see the museum. Wondering what’s might be the amazing things in there. 🙂

    Reply
    • Erica Hargreave

      October 27, 2014 at 10:03 am

      Yeah, a fascinating place! Also very much looking forward to visiting the new museum too.

      Reply
  5. Mary Susan

    April 25, 2015 at 6:30 pm

    This is such and informative piece on egyptian antiks. I especially love history. The part concerning king Tut stuffs is fascinating and I hope to see them someday.
    Thank you for sharing this…I really appreciate it.

    Reply
  6. shahid

    October 19, 2015 at 6:13 am

    I find the best site to know history museum egyptian. Very beautiful pic share

    Regards
    Shahid

    Reply
  7. Tim

    March 3, 2017 at 10:56 pm

    Looks like a really interesting museum. I would love to go there and have a look at what interesting things are in there.

    Reply

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