Yes, until now, when I tell someone that I was in Cairo for Tahrir Square (Midan al-Tahrir), everyone becomes a little uncomfortable. I think you know that the area is known for its uprisings, but we will not talk about it. The most important thing that interested me is the Cairo Museum, which is located here. It has many interesting exhibits found in the tombs of ancient pharaohs and queens. And the most interesting thing in it is a collection of treasures from the tomb of Tutankhamun, found in the Valley of the Kings.
Important! Soon Tutankhamun's collection, along with many other exhibits, will be moved from the Cairo Museum to the new Grand Egyptian Museum in Giza (The Grand Egyptian Museum). My guess is why - to again attract tourists who are afraid to go to Tahrir because of the constant unrest; plus, the new museum is located next to it - you can combine viewing. By 2018, he plans to open new Tutankhamun Galleries, where almost all the exhibits found in the tomb of the pharaoh will be exhibited. But the Cairo Museum will remain active.
We got here early, just before opening. There are not so many tourists in the morning, and there is an opportunity to carefully photograph the exhibits. The museum is located directly opposite the square. Tahrir. From Arabic, its name is translated as "liberation square", which is very ironic.
Here's what we saw along the way. There were several tanks, guards were everywhere. On the one hand, you feel safe, on the other hand, you feel uncomfortable ... We hurried to the entrance.
Founded at the beginning of the 20th century, the museum is the world's largest repository of exhibits on the theme of Ancient Egypt, of which there are more than 150 thousand. It covers 5000 years of ancient Egyptian history from pre-dynastic to Greco-Roman times; it has over 100 rooms. In addition to the collection of Tutankhamen, there is a separate Mummy Hall, where the mummy of the female pharaoh Hatshepsut is kept.
Information:
Cairo Museum (National Egyptian Museum)
Address: pl. Tahrir, Cairo (Midan al-Tahrir); metro station "Sadat", exit towards the sign "to Egyptian Museum"
Opening hours: daily 09:00 – 19:00
Cost: museum - 60 LE, students - 30 LE, room with mummies - 100 LE, students - 50 LE
Since 2016, a photo pass has been introduced - permission to take photographs inside the museum, except for the room with mummies and the hall with the mask of Tutankhamun. The price is 50 LE. Previously, it was forbidden, the camera had to be taken to the storage room (but I did not give the iPhone).
Exhibit captions are in English and Arabic.
The territory is fenced. In front of the main entrance to the museum there is a pretty courtyard where you can take pictures. Tickets are also sold here.
Inside there is a frame like at the airport, security will check you. On the 1st floor, the exhibits are arranged chronologically. On the 2nd floor - by thematic; there is a collection of Tutankhamen and a room with mummies.
We didn't have much time, so we walked around the museum quickly. Huge statues, sarcophagi, gold items, figurines and decorations found in tombs and temples - we did not come in vain, because I am a big fan of Egyptian art. We paid special attention to the cherished 2nd floor.
Collection of treasures from Tutankhamun's tomb. Famous exhibits that the whole world was talking about, well, finally! I had already been to the tomb of Tutankhamen, it was my turn to look at what it was filled with. Let me remind you that the tomb with all its contents - more than 3,500 artifacts - was discovered by the team of archaeologist Howard Carter and Lord Cornarvon in 1922.
The collection is impressive, it is located in several halls. There are many items made of gold, as well as jewelry, figurines, household items, your eyes run straight.
At the beginning of the exhibition, one after the other, there are boxes lined with gold, in which sarcophagi were located. This is how they were “packed” - inserted one into the other: the mummy in sarcophagi, the sarcophagi in boxes (photo from libma.ru).
And here's what they actually look like. The boxes are huge, it is not surprising that the largest of them occupied almost the entire area of the pharaoh's burial chamber.
You can also see stretchers in the museum. (6) , on which lay a large sarcophagus, the sarcophagi themselves - 2 wooden and one gold, and the famous funeral mask of Tutankhamen. It is magnificent, executed perfectly to the smallest detail, really impressive.
The following most famous exhibits are - pharaoh's chariot and his throne, gold sandals. And many other items that I once saw only in black and white photographs of Carter and on TV, and now I was able to see them live.
The collection traveled extensively throughout Europe and the USA, and some exhibits are permanently in the museums of these countries. By the opening of the Grand Egyptian Museum, the United States even voluntarily gave Egypt some of its exhibits that were stored in a museum in New York.
Mummy Room: this is a small exposition consisting of 11 mummies. Of course, the price is too high, but I advise you to go to see real mummies right in front of you behind the glass. Here is an underground photo of one of them - the famous female pharaoh Hatshepsut.
I can confess that I feel proud. For a long time I wanted to visit both the tomb of Tutankhamun and the Cairo Museum, it was not for nothing that I wrote school essays on this topic. Thank you Egypt, my plan is done!
The famous Cairo Museum, built in the neoclassical style, is located, which is based on exhibits collected by its first leader, a Frenchman by nationality, Auguste Mariette. It was he who opened this treasury in 1858, and at first it was located in a completely different building, and already in 1902 the current one was built.
The Cairo Museum, whose exhibits are numerous, occupies one hundred rooms. Approximately one hundred thousand rarities, arranged in chronological order, are exhibited in it. Visitors get into the history of one of the most ancient earthly civilizations, stretching for more than three millennia.
At the very entrance they are met by huge sculptures of Pharaoh Amenhotep III and Tia - his wife, which, contrary to tradition, has the same size as the statue of her husband.
Cairo National Museum is considered the largest repository of exhibits of ancient Egyptian art. His pearl is the one exhibited on the second floor. It was found in 1922 in the famous Valley of the Kings, located near Luxor. This find is considered an archaeological masterpiece, a sensation of the 20th century, because the tomb of this pharaoh is the only tomb that was not looted and appeared before people in its original form.
The transportation of the treasures of the tomb to the Cairo Museum lasted about five years, there were so many of them: the total number of all items is more than three and a half thousand, including jewelry, household utensils and jewelry.
In several halls, in which the treasures of the tomb are exhibited, four gilded wooden arks are installed, in which in ancient times the stone sarcophagus of Pharaoh Tutankhamen was kept, and now located in the Valley of the Kings. The Cairo Museum exhibits three sarcophagi, one of which, made of pure cast gold, weighs 110 kilograms. In the same place, visitors can see the young ruler, which, made of the same precious metal, reproduces the face of Tutankhamun with the utmost accuracy.
Another priceless treasure that the Cairo Museum exhibits is a gilded throne decorated with a scattering of precious stones, on which this pharaoh once sat. Serpents are depicted on its armrests, and lion heads are depicted on the sides of the seat. On the back of this throne is the figure of Tutankhamen himself and his beloved wife. In the same collection, half-decayed sandals and a shirt are on display - what the young pharaoh was wearing.
More recently, the Egyptian, or Cairo, Museum has opened a hall containing the mummies of other kings. Thanks to a specially created microclimate, here you can see Ramesses II, Seti I, Thutmose II - a total of 11 pharaohs.
The most “expensive” section of the museum is the works of art that have come down to us from the so-called Amarna time, when Egypt was ruled by the “heretic pharaoh” Amenhotep IV, the father of Tutankhamun. It was he who renounced the many gods of his ancestors and officially introduced the cult of the Aton in the country. Thanks to his aesthetic requirements, a new, previously unprecedented artistic movement was born, which, in contrast to the restrained ancient Egyptian canonical art, is very similar to a kind of expressionism.
In general, the Cairo Museum is based on the “Antiquities Service” organized by the Egyptian government, which in every possible way prevented the lawlessness that reigned on the spot. However, the Cairo Museum owes its real birth to its first director, the Egyptologist Mariette, who came to Cairo from the Louvre in order to acquire papyri. In love with this country, Auguste Mariette stayed here, devoting his life to creating a museum that would collect all the treasures found on ancient land.
His ashes rest in the same place, in the courtyard of the museum.
Two people to whom the world owes its creation Cairo Museum, which preserved the creations of the great masters of antiquity, have never been met. One of them - Muhammad Ali, the ruler of Egypt in the first half of the 19th century, an Albanian by origin, who learned to read and write at a fairly mature age, in 1835 by his decree forbade the export of ancient monuments from the country without special permission from the government. The other one is French Auguste Mariette, who in 1850 arrived by ship in Alexandria with the intention of acquiring Coptic and Syriac church manuscripts, not knowing that shortly before this, the Coptic patriarch had forbidden the export of these rarities from the country.
Marietta conquered Egypt, the magnetism of ancient images completely took possession of him, and he began excavations at Saqqara. Unexpected discoveries absorbed him so much that Mariette forgets about the original purpose of his trip, but he is well aware that all artifacts obtained with such difficulty should be preserved for contemporaries and posterity. To do this, you need to control the ongoing excavations and find a place to store and display what was found. Thus were born existing to this day Egyptian Antiquities Service and Cairo Museum which Mariette took over in 1858.
The first building of the museum was located in the quarter Bulak, on the banks of the Nile, in the house where Mariette settled with his family. There he opened four exhibition halls of Egyptian antiquities. The number of valuable finds, including gold jewelry, was constantly growing. A new building was needed to accommodate them, but, as always, financial difficulties arose. Despite the great efforts of Marietta, who had a selfless love for Egypt, his determination and diplomacy, this issue could not be resolved, and the old building was threatened by the annual floods of the Nile. Mariette won the love and respect of the rulers of Egypt, he was invited to the grand opening ceremony of the Suez Canal, wrote the story that formed the basis of the libretto of the famous opera "Aida", was awarded the title "pasha", but until his death he never saw a new building.
Mariette died in 1881, the sarcophagus with his body was buried in the garden of the Bulak Museum. Ten years later, the collection will move to Giza, to the old residence of Khedive Ismail, Marietta's sarcophagus will follow there, and only in 1902 will his dream of creation of a museum in the center of the capital - Cairo. The building was built on El Tahrir Square by a French architect. In the garden of the new museum, Mariette will find her last resting place, above his marble sarcophagus, located on the left side of the entrance, his bronze statue will rise in full growth, in a traditional Egyptian costume of the late 19th century, in an Ottoman fez on his head. Around - the busts of the world's largest Egyptologists, among them - a sculptural portrait of the outstanding Russian scientist of the early twentieth century, V. S. Golenishchev. Marietta's findings are also exhibited in the garden - the sphinx of Thutmose III made of red granite, the obelisk of Ramses II and other works of monumental art. A huge lobby, about a hundred rooms located on two floors, one hundred and fifty thousand exhibits and thirty thousand items in storerooms covering the five thousand-year history of Ancient Egypt - this is what the Cairo Museum is.
His collection is unique. Passing from hall to hall, the visitor makes an unforgettable journey into the mysterious world of ancient civilization, the cradle of human culture, striking in the abundance and magnificence of its man-made deeds. The exhibits are arranged thematically and chronologically. On the first floor - masterpieces of stone sculpture from limestone, basalt, granite from pre-dynastic to Greek-Roman times. Among them is the famous pharaoh Khafre statue, the builder of the second largest pyramid in Giza, made of dark green diorite with light veins, a sculptural composition of Pharaoh Mycerin, shown surrounded by goddesses.
The sculptural group of the married couple of Prince Rahotep and his wife Nofret made of painted limestone is striking in its beauty and subtlety of execution. The wooden statue of Kaaper, called the “Village Headman”, is amazing: at the time of the discovery, the workers of Marietta were struck by the similarity of the features of the statue with the face of the headman of their village.
A separate hall is dedicated to the treasures of Queen Hetepheres, the mother of Pharaoh Cheops, who built the most famous pyramid. Among them are an armchair, a huge bed, a stretcher covered with gold leaf, a casket decorated with inlaid stones in the form of butterfly wings, with twenty silver bracelets. There are also massive sarcophagi of various eras made of red and black granite, pharaohs' boats made of precious woods, pharaohs' granite sphinxes. In a separate room - the colossi of the heretic pharaoh Akhenaten and the statue of his wife Nefertiti, whose fame and beauty can only compete with Gioconda Leonardo da Vinci. Here is a far from complete list of what a visitor can see on the first floor of the exposition.
The undoubted masterpiece of the collection is the treasures of Tutankhamun, which became a sensation at the beginning of the 20th century. It is not even the abundance of gold that is striking, although Tutankhamun's mask alone weighs eleven kilograms, but the highest quality of jewelry work with noble metal, precious stones and the most valuable woods. Tutankhamen's jewelry, including wide gold necklaces inlaid with turquoise, lapis lazuli and coral, massive earrings, pectorals with mythological scenes, have no equal. The furniture is made with special elegance, even the huge gold-studded arks, inside of which the sarcophagus was placed, delight with the subtlety of their workmanship. Full of lyricism is the scene on the back of Tutankhamen's chair, showing a loving couple of young rulers of a vast country.
The abundance of unique art objects, exuding amazing energy of images, from the moment the tomb was opened, gave rise to many mysteries, fantasies and legends. An X-ray analysis of the mummy of Tutankhamun, carried out quite recently, showed an undoubted relationship with the reformer pharaoh Akhenaten, who was his father. The cause of Tutankhamun's death was also established - a fall from a chariot during a hunt, as a result of which an open fracture of the patella was obtained and an outbreak of the malaria virus in the body occurred. Even with the high level of development of ancient Egyptian medicine, it was not possible to save the pharaoh, he died at the age of 18.
Those who, after examining the collection of Tutankhamun, decide to go into the next room, where the treasures of the pharaohs from the 21st Egyptian dynasty (XI-X centuries BC) to Roman times, another miracle awaits. If the collection of Tutankhamun was destined to travel half the world, delighting people of different ages and nationalities, then the gold and silver items found in Tanis are much less known. The most impressive are the treasures from the burial of Pharaoh Psusennes I, who ruled from 1045-994 BC. e. And his associates. Among the masterpieces of jewelry art are wide necklaces with pendants and gold pectorals inlaid with carnelian, lapis lazuli, green feldspar, and jasper.
Priceless are bowls made of silver and electrum in the form of a flower or with floral motifs found in the tomb of Undjedbauenjed, commander Psusennes I, vessels for ritual libations, golden figurines of goddesses, golden funeral masks of pharaohs. Two sarcophagi made of silver, which was especially valued in Egypt, are unique, because, according to the testimony of the rulers of neighboring countries, the pharaoh had as much gold as sand under his feet, while there were only a few silver items. One sarcophagus 185 centimeters long belongs to Psusennes I. The pharaoh's mask is decorated with gold, which gives volume and grace to his face. In another, Pharaoh Sheshonk II rested. The length of his sarcophagus is 190 centimeters, in place of the funeral mask is the head of a divine falcon.
In a separate room, where a special temperature and humidity are maintained, the mummies of many famous pharaohs of Egypt are kept. They were found in the necropolis of Qurna in 1871 by the brothers Abd el-Rasul, who kept the secret of their find for many years and profited from the treasure trade. From time to time, under the cover of night, they were pulled out of the cache and sold on the black market. A quarrel between the brothers over the division of the booty helped stop the robbery. The mummies, carefully hidden by the priests, were raised to the surface after millennia and urgently loaded onto a ship that headed north to deliver the finds to the Cairo Museum. Along the entire route of the ship along both banks of the Nile, there were residents of the surrounding villages. Men fired their guns, saluting their famous ancestors, and women, as if descended from ancient Egyptian reliefs and papyri, with uncovered heads and loose hair, mourned the mummies, escorting them to burial, just as they did in Egypt many centuries ago.
In the middle of the III millennium BC. on the walls of the pyramids of the pharaohs, the words were inscribed: "O pharaoh, you did not leave dead, you left alive." The author of this text did not even suspect what continuation of life awaits the owners of the pyramids and tombs. And although the names of those who built, sculpted and created for their pharaohs have disappeared in the maelstrom of history, the spirit of Ancient Egypt hovers within the walls of the Cairo Museum. Here you can feel the great spiritual power of the ancient civilization, love for your country, a phenomenon unlike any other cultures of the state.
Cairo Egyptian Museum is in Cairo, the capital Egypt, on Tahrir Square, located in the central part of the city. Its collection of historical treasures exceeds 150,000 exhibits and annually attracts millions of tourists from all over the world.
Cairo Egyptian Museum - the history of creation.
The famous treasury of antiquities owes its appearance to people who never met during their lifetime. In 1835, on the orders of Mohammed Ali, who ruled the country at that time, a decree was issued prohibiting unauthorized excavations and the removal of ancient artifacts from Egypt. Prior to this decree, many burials were looted, and priceless exhibits could be purchased on the black market.
Not knowing about the ban, in 1850, the French historian Auguste Mariette arrived in Alexandria by steamer. The purpose of his visit was to acquire ancient manuscripts. Realizing that it would not be possible to take the valuables out of the country, he remained in Egypt, forever in love with this country. He exhibited his first collection 8 years later at the museum he opened in Bulak. However, after the natural disaster that occurred in 1878, many exhibits were badly damaged, and some were stolen. The scientist appealed to the government with a request to build a large Egyptian museum to preserve the collection. Ismail Pasha, who headed the government, responded to this request, and for safety during the construction of the vault, he ordered the entire collection to be transported to his palace.
French architect Marcel Dunon provided a neoclassical sketch of the building. After the approval of the project in 1900, construction began, which was completed in 2 years. All exhibits were transported from Giza and exhibited in the new National Museum in Cairo.
The founder of the treasury, Auguste Mariette, after his death, was honored to be buried in a marble sarcophagus, located to the left of the entrance to it. A statue of a scientist cast in bronze rises above his tomb. Finds discovered by the famous Egyptologist are exhibited in the garden, laid out near the building of the Cairo Egyptian National Museum. Here visitors can see the obelisk of Ramesses II and the red granite sphinx of Thutmose III.
Cairo Egyptian Museum - exhibits.
The artifacts stored in the Egyptian Museum are so magnificent that they are of interest not only to connoisseurs of the past, but also to tourists who came to Egypt on vacation. To get acquainted with the numerous exhibits and feel the greatness of the ancient civilization, you need at least 4 days.
The Cairo Egyptian Museum, which consists of a huge lobby and a hundred rooms located on two floors, is always noisy and crowded. By visiting each of the halls, you can, as if by a time machine, make a journey to the origins of world civilization. The greatest creations of human hands are collected in thematic collections and arranged chronologically. The oldest exhibits are over five thousand years old, while the youngest ones cover the beginning of our era.
First floor of the Cairo Museum.
The Egyptian Museum of Cairo keeps granite, limestone and basalt statues of the rulers of Egypt on the ground floor. At the very entrance, visitors are greeted by huge statues of Pharaoh Amenhotep III and his wife Tia.
Next, you can see Pharaoh Mykerin, seated surrounded by the ancient Egyptian goddesses Hathor and Bat. Particular attention of tourists is attracted by the statue of Pharaoh Khafre, belonging to the fourth dynasty, carefully made of dark green diorite, pierced by thin light veins. Some Egyptologists believe that it is his face that is worn, sitting near the pyramid in the Giza Valley.
Here you can also see the figure of the pharaoh of the III dynasty Djoser, who is considered the first builder of the pyramids. His stepped tomb is located in Saqqara near the Giza plateau. On the first floor there is a statue of Snefru, the pharaoh of the IV dynasty, for whom two pyramids were erected in Dahshur: Broken and Pink, not inferior in their grandeur to the pyramids built in the Giza Valley.
Of no less interest to visitors are the skillfully painted limestone statues of Prince Rahotep and his wife, Princess Nofret. Both statues were discovered during expeditions led by Mariet himself.
There is also a separate hall dedicated to the father of Tutankhamun - the heretic pharaoh Akhenaten. It contains colossal sculptures depicting him and Nefertiti, who was his wife.
In addition to monumental statues, there are many burial slabs, various vessels and smaller figurines among the exhibits.
Second floor of the Cairo Museum.
But most of all, visitors are attracted by the second floor, which contains treasures from the tomb of Tutankhamen and other ancient rulers. The discovery of the tomb of the young pharaoh and the treasures collected in it made an indelible impression on the inhabitants of the 20th century. It is not so much the number of precious stones and gold that is striking, but the highest skill of the ancient masters. Golden funeral mask of Tutankhamen , decorated with precious stones and rare woods, delights visitors and envy modern jewelers. The weight of this masterpiece is more than 11 kg.
Pharaoh's jewelry was made with no less skill - necklaces made of gold inlaid with turquoise and corals, massive rings and earrings, as well as breast jewelry decorated with scenes from ancient myths.
Involuntary admiration is caused by the gilded throne of Tutankhamen, decorated with precious stones. On the back there is an image of the pharaoh and his young wife.
Three sarcophagi are exhibited in the ruler's hall. It is noteworthy that one of them is cast in gold and weighs about a hundred kilograms.
In a separate room you can see the treasures of Queen Hetepheres, who was the mother of the famous Pharaoh Cheops. In addition to a box inlaid with precious stones, a stretcher covered with gold sheets, and silver bracelets, one can see funerary sarcophagi belonging to different eras and made of various materials.
After examining the treasures of Tutankhamen, it is worth looking into the adjacent room and getting acquainted with the collection of jewelry that belonged to the pharaohs who ruled in the 11th-10th centuries BC. These exhibits are less known, but no less valuable. Here are stored gold jewelry and the sarcophagus of Pharaoh Psusennes I, inlaid with precious stones.
Tourists with strong nerves can visit the hall, which maintains a special microclimate. Here are the mummies belonging to the famous rulers of the country. If a tourist plans to visit the hall with mummies not as part of an excursion group, he must pay an additional fee. Before visiting, you need to remember one rule - taking photos and videos in this hall of the Cairo Egyptian Museum is prohibited.
Located in the northern part, the Egyptian Museum seems almost as archaic as the civilization it tells about. Founded in 1858 by Auguste Mariette, who excavated several of the largest temples of Upper Egypt (and was later buried on museum grounds), it has long outgrown the existing building, which now barely has enough space to house artifacts from the pharaonic era. If you give each exhibit one minute, it will take nine months to inspect all 136,000 monuments.
Another 40,000 are hidden in basements, many of which have already been swallowed up by soft soil, so new excavations are required already under the building itself. A new large building of the Egyptian Museum is currently being built near it, it will house part of the exhibits of the current collection. It is scheduled to open at the end of 2015. At the same time, despite the clutter, poor lighting, and lack of accompanying inscriptions in the old museum, the richness of the collection makes it one of the few truly great museums in the world that no visitor to Cairo can miss.
One three, four-hour visit is enough to view the exhibition of Tutankhamen's treasures and some other masterpieces. Each visitor has their own favorite objects, but the list should include on the ground floor the halls of Amarna art (rooms 3 and 8), the finest statues of the Ancient, Middle and New Kingdoms (rooms 42, 32, 22 and 12) and objects from the Nubian cache (room 44). On the second floor are Faiyum portraits (room 14), models from tombs (rooms 37, 32 and 27) and, of course, the mummy room (room 56), although they charge an additional fee to enter it.
Before entering the museum, pay attention to the pond in front of the main entrance. The water lilies growing there are now rare blue lotuses, a plant with psychotropic properties that was used by the ancient Egyptians as a medicine. Judging by some of the frescoes and reliefs, they dipped lotus flowers in wine.
When you enter the museum, you may be offered a guided tour, which usually lasts two hours (about £60 an hour), although the museum deserves at least a six-hour tour. The guides know their subject very well and will help you understand what you see, and if you are visiting the museum in a small group, their services will not be so expensive at all. Another option is to rent an audio guide with a taped tour (£20 in English, Arabic or French) that has buttons on the panel with the numbers of the exhibits in question.
However, since the exhibits were numbered according to at least two different systems, not to mention the new numbers used by the audio guide, things get more complicated. Some objects now have three different numbers, and often do not have any other labels on them. The best published guide to the museum is the Illustrated Guide to the Egyptian Museum (£150) with many photographs of the museum's finest items.
The monuments are not described in the order in which they are presented in the exhibition, but there is an illustrated index at the end to help you navigate the text of the book. In addition, this book is a wonderful souvenir of visiting the museum. The entrance to the cafe-restaurant, located on the ground floor, is through the gift shop on the outside of the museum.
First floor of the Egyptian Museum
The exhibition is organized in more or less consistent chronological order, so heading clockwise from the entrance through the outer galleries, you will pass through the Ancient, Middle and New Kingdoms, and end with the Late and Greco-Roman periods in the east wing. This is the correct approach from the point of view of history and art criticism, but a very tedious approach.
An easier way to view is to go through the Atrium, which covers the entire era of pharaonic civilization, to the beautiful Amarna-era hall in the north wing, and then come back and go through the departments that interest you the most, or go up to the second floor to the exhibition, dedicated to Tutankhamen.
In order to cover both options, the article has divided the lower floor into six sections: the Atrium, the Ancient, Middle and New Kingdoms, the Amarna-era hall, and the east wing. Whichever route you choose, you should start from the Atrium foyer (room 43), where the story of the dynasties of the pharaohs begins.
Rotunda and Atrium
In the Rotunda, located inside the museum lobby, monumental sculptures of various eras are presented, in particular, three colossi of Ramses II (XIX dynasty) standing at the corners and a statue of Amenhotep, the son of the royal architect Hapu, who lived during the reign of the XVIII dynasty. Here, in the northwest corner, there are sixteen small wooden and stone statues of an official of the 24th century BC named Ibu, depicting him at various periods of his life.
To the left of the door is a limestone statue of the seated pharaoh Djoser (No. 106), installed in the serdab of his step pyramid in Saqqara in the 27th century BC and removed by archaeologists 4600 years later. Those who consider the reign of Djoser the beginning of the era of the Old Kingdom, call the previous period the Early Dynastic or Archaic.
The real beginning of dynastic rule is immortalized on the famous exhibit located in room number 43, at the entrance to the Atrium. The Narmer Palette (a decorative flat tile used for rubbing paint) depicts the unification of the two kingdoms (circa 3100 BC) by a ruler named Narmer or Menes. On one side of the monument, a ruler in the white crown of Upper Egypt strikes an enemy with a mace, while a falcon (Chorus) holds another prisoner and tramples underfoot the heraldic symbol of Lower Egypt, the papyrus.
The reverse side depicts how the ruler in the red crown inspects the bodies of the dead, and also destroys the fortress in the form of a bull. Two tiers of images are separated by figures of mythical animals with intertwined necks, which are kept from fighting by bearded men, a symbol of the political achievements of the ruler. Along the side walls of the hall are two funeral boats from (Senusret III - XII dynasty).
Going down to hall number 33, which is the Atrium of the museum, you will see the pyramidions (keystones of the pyramids) from Dashur and the sarcophagi of the New Kingdom era. Overshadowing the sarcophagi of Thutmose I and Queen Hatshepsut (dating from the period when she had not yet become pharaoh), stands the sarcophagus of Merneptah (No. 213), crowned with the figure of the pharaoh himself in the form of Osiris and decorated with a relief image of the sky goddess Nut, protecting the ruler with her embrace. But Merneptah's desire for immortality did not come true. When the sarcophagus was discovered at Tanis in 1939, it contained the coffin of Psusennes, ruler of the 21st Dynasty, whose gold-covered mummy is now on display on the top floor.
In the center of the Atrium is a fragment of a painted floor from the royal palace at Tel el-Amarna (XVIII Dynasty). Cows and other animals roam along the reed-covered banks of the river, which abounds in fish and water birds. This is a fine example of the lyrical naturalism of the art of the Amarna period. To learn more about this revolutionary era in the history of the pharaohs, climb past the imperturbable colossi of Amenhotep III, Queen Tiye and their three daughters, the predecessors of Akhetaten and Nefertiti, whose images are in the northern wing.
But first you must pass through Hall 13, which (to the right) contains the victory stele of Merneptah, also known as the stele of Israel. It got its name from a phrase from the story of the conquests of Merneptah - "Israel is devastated, its seed is gone." This is the only known mention of Israel in the texts of ancient Egypt.
That is why many believe that the Exodus took place precisely during the reign of Merneptah, the son of Ramesses II (XIX dynasty), although recently this point of view has been increasingly criticized. On the other side there is an earlier inscription that tells about the deeds of Amenhotep III (Akhenaton's father), committed in honor of the god Amun, whom his son later rejected. At the other end of the hall is a model of a typical Egyptian house from the excavations of Tell el-Amarna, the short-lived capital of Akhenaten and Nefertiti, who are honored to have their own separate exhibition in rooms 8 and 3, a little further.
Halls of the Old Kingdom
The southwest corner of the first floor is dedicated to the Old Kingdom (circa 2700-2181 BC), when the pharaohs of the III and VI dynasties ruled Egypt from Memphis and built their pyramids. Along the central wing of rooms 46-47 there are funeral statues of important nobles and their servants (the custom of burying servants alive with the master was interrupted with the end of the second dynasty). The relief from the temple of Userkaf (room No. 47, on the north side of the entrance to room No. 48) is the first known example of the depiction of nature in the decoration of royal burial structures. The figures of a motley kingfisher, a purple moorhen and a sacred ibis are clearly distinguishable.
Along the north wall of room 47 are six wooden panels from Khesir's tomb depicting this senior scribe of the pharaohs of the 3rd dynasty, who is also the earliest dentist known to us. In hall No. 47, there are also ushabti - figurines of workers who are depicted preparing food (No. 52 and 53). There are also three slate sculptural triads of Menkaure originating from the temple in Giza from his valley temple in Giza: the pharaoh is depicted next to Hathor and the goddess of the Aphrodite nome. A pair of alabaster slabs depicting lions at the fourth pillar on the north side may have been used for sacrifices or libations at the end of the 2nd dynasty.
Among the most impressive exhibits in room No. 46 are the statuettes of the dwarf Khnumhotep, the keeper of the royal wardrobe, a man with a deformed head and a hunched back, who apparently suffered from Pott's disease (Nos. 54 and 65). Fragments of the Sphinx's beard are located at the end of the vestibule (room No. 51), on the left under the stairs (No. 6031). Another meter-long fragment is located in . The beard appears to have been 5 meters long before it was smashed to pieces by Mamluk troops and Napoleon's soldiers during practice shooting. In addition, in room 51 there is a sculpted head of the 5th dynasty pharaoh Userkaf (no. 6051), which is the earliest known larger-than-life statue.
At the entrance to room no. 41, reliefs from a 5th dynasty tomb at Meidum (. no. 25) depict hunting in the desert and various types of agricultural work. On another slab (No. 59) from the tomb of the 5th dynasty in Saqqara, we see the weighing, threshing and sorting of grain, the work of a glass blower and a carver of statues. The women depicted in these reliefs are dressed in long dresses, the men in loincloths, and sometimes without clothes at all (it can be seen that the circumcision rite was one of the Egyptian customs). Room No. 42 boasts a magnificent statue of Khafre, his head surmounted by the image of Horus (No. 37).
The statue, brought from the valley temple of Khafre in Giza, is carved from black diorite, and white marble inclusions successfully emphasize the muscles of the pharaoh's legs and clenched fist. No less impressive is the wooden statue of Kaaper (No. 40) standing on the left, a figure of a stout man with a thoughtful look, which the Arabs working on the excavations in Saqqara called "sheikh al-balad" because he looked like their village headman. One of the two recently restored wooden statues on the right (No. 123 and No. 124) may represent the same person. Note also the remarkable statue of a scribe (No. 43) spreading a papyrus scroll on his knees.
On the walls of hall No. 31 are sandstone reliefs found in Wadi Maragha, near the ancient turquoise mining sites. Paired limestone statues of Ranofer symbolize his dual status as the high priest of the god Ptah and the god Sokar in Memphis. The statues look almost identical, differing only in wigs and loincloths, both of which were created in the royal workshops, possibly by the same sculptor.
Room 32 is dominated by life-size statues of Prince Rahotep and his wife Nefert from their mastaba in Meidum (4th Dynasty). The prince's skin is brick red, his wife's is creamy yellow; such a distinction is common in Egyptian art. Nefert is dressed in a wig and a diadem, her shoulders are shrouded in a transparent veil. The prince wears a simple loincloth wrapped around his waist. Pay attention to the living image of the dwarf Seneb and his family on the left (No. 39).
The face of the keeper of the royal wardrobe, whom his wife embraces, looks peaceful; their naked children raise their fingers to their lips. In the second niche on the left side hangs a bright and lively example of wall painting, known as the "Meidum Geese" (III-IV dynasty). The heyday of the Old Kingdom is represented only by the statue of Ti on the left (No. 49), the period of decline of this era is much richer in monuments: directly next to the entrance are the oldest metal sculptures known to us (about 2300 BC) - statues of Pepi I and his son.
The furniture of Queen Hetepheres, exhibited in room 37, was restored from a pile of gold and fragments of rotten wood. Hetepheres - the wife of Sneferu and the mother of Cheops - was buried near the pyramid of her son in Giza; along with her, a stretcher, golden vessels and a bed with a canopy were placed in the tomb. In addition, in the same hall, in a separate showcase, there is a tiny figurine of Cheops, the only portrait image of the pharaoh known to us - the builder of the Great Pyramid.
Halls of the Middle Kingdom
In room number 26, you find yourself in the era of the Middle Kingdom, when, under the rule of the XII dynasty, centralized power was established and the construction of the pyramids resumed (circa 1991-1786 BC). A dark relic of the previous era of internal unrest (which completed the First Intermediate Period) is on the right. This is a statue of Mentuhotep Nebhepeter with huge feet (a symbol of power), a black body, arms crossed on his chest and a curly beard (features characteristic of the images of Osiris).
In ancient times, it was hidden in an underground chamber near the memorial temple of Mentuhotep in Deir el-Bahri and subsequently accidentally discovered by Howard Carter, whose horse fell through the roof. On the opposite side of the hall stands Dagi's sarcophagus (No. 34). If the mummy of the owner was still in it, then with the help of a pair of “eyes” painted on the inside of the coffin wall, she could admire the statues of Queen Nofret in a tight dress and a wig of the goddess Hathor standing at the entrance to hall No. 21.
The figurines in the back of room No. 22 amaze with the atypical liveliness of their faces, which contrasts with the manic, frozen gaze of the wooden statue of Nakhti on the right. Portraits of Amenemhet III and Senusret I are also displayed in the hall, but first of all, the burial chamber of Harhotep from Deir el-Bahri in the middle of the hall, which is covered with picturesque scenes, incantations and texts, will attract your attention.
Around the chamber are ten limestone statues of Senusret from his pyramid complex at Lisht. Compared to the cedar wood statue of the same pharaoh in the display case on your right (No. 88), these sculptures are very formal. On the thrones of these statues are depicted different versions of the symbol of the unity of the semataui: Hapi, the god of the Nile, or Horus and Seth with intertwined plant stems - symbols of the Two Lands.
The main idea of Egyptian statehood is expressed by the unique double statue of Amenemhet III (No. 508) in room No. 16. Paired figures - personifications of the Nile deity offering fish to his people on trays - can symbolize the Upper and Lower, or the pharaoh himself and his divine essence ka. As you exit the halls of the Middle Kingdom, you are escorted to the left by five sphinxes with lion heads and human faces. The era of anarchy - the Second Intermediate Period and the invasion of the Hyksos - are not presented in the exposition.
Halls of the New Kingdom
Entering hall number 11, you find yourself in the New Kingdom - the era of the revival of the power of the pharaohs and the expansion of the empire during the 18th and 19th dynasties (about 1567-1200 BC). The Egyptian empire uniting Africa and Asia was created by Thutmose III, who had to wait a long time for his turn, while his not at all warlike stepmother Hatshepsut ruled as pharaoh. The museum houses a column from her great temple at Deir el-Bahri: from above, the sculpted head of Hatshepsut crowned with a crown (No. 94) looks imperiously at visitors. On the left side of the hall is an unusual statue of pharaoh Horus (No. 75), mounted on an inclined base, symbolizing his posthumous wanderings.
In room no. 12 you will see the slate statue of Thutmose III (no. 62), as well as other masterpieces of art from the 18th dynasty. At the back of the hall, in the sacred ark from the ruined temple of Thutmose III at Deir el-Bahri, there is a statue of the goddess Hathor in the form of a cow emerging from a thicket of papyrus. Thutmose himself is depicted in front of the statue, under the head of the goddess, and also in the fresco on the side, where he sucks milk like a baby. To the right of the ark is a stone statue of the vizier Hatshepsut Senenmut (No. 418) with the daughter of Queen Neferur, in the second niche on the right is a smaller statue of the same couple.
The relationship between the queen, her daughter and the vizier causes a lot of different speculation. A relief fragment from Deir al-Bahri (second niche from the left) depicting the expedition to Punt belongs to the same period. It depicts Queen Punta suffering from elephantiasis and her donkey, as well as Queen Hatshepsut watching them during her journey to this fabulous country.
To the right of the relief is a gray granite statue of the god Khoneu with a lock of hair, symbolizing youth, and the face (as is commonly believed) of the boy pharaoh Tutankhamen. She was taken from the temple of the moon god in Karnak. On either side of this sculpture and the "Puntian Relief" stand two statues of a man named Amenhotep, depicting him as a young scribe of humble birth and an octogenarian priest honored for managing large-scale construction, like the building of the "Colossi of Memnon".
Before turning the corner into the north wing, you will see two statues of the lion-headed Sekhmet found at Karnak. In hall number 6, royal sphinxes with the heads of Hatshepsut and members of her family dominate. Some of the reliefs on the south wall come from the Mayan tomb at Saqqara. The tomb was discovered in the nineteenth century, then lost and found again in 1986. Room No. 8 is largely an addition to the Amarna-era hall, it also houses a monumental double statue of Amun and Mut, broken into pieces by medieval stonemasons and lovingly assembled from fragments lying around for a long time in the cellars of the museum in Karnak, where the monument originally stood . Those parts that could not be inserted into the puzzle are displayed in a stand behind the sculpture.
To the left of the stairs in room 10, note the colored relief on the slab from the Temple of Ramses II in Memphis (no. 769), which depicts the king subjugating the enemies of Egypt. In a motif repeated on dozens of temple pylons, the king holds a Libyan, a Nubian, and a Syrian by the hair and swings an axe. The pharaohs of the Ramesside dynasty, who had never fought themselves, were especially fond of such reliefs.
The hall ends with an artistic rebus (No. 6245): the statue of Ramses II depicts the king as a child with a finger attached to his lips and a plant in his hand, he is protected by the sun god Ra. The name of the god in combination with the words "child" (mes) and "plant" (su) forms the name of the pharaoh. From Room 10, you can continue your exploration of the New Kingdom in the east wing, or take the stairs to Tutankhamen's Gallery on the next floor.
Amarna era hall
Hall No. 3 and most of the adjoining Hall No. 8 are dedicated to the Amarna period: an era of break with centuries of tradition, which lasted for some time after the end of the reign of Pharaoh Akhenaten (circa 1379-1362 BC) and Queen Nefertiti. Rejecting Amun and other Theban gods, they proclaimed the cult of a single god - Aton, built a new capital in Central Egypt to get rid of the old bureaucracy, and left behind mysterious works of art.
Four colossal statues of Akhenaten look out at you from the walls of Hall 3. Their elongated heads and faces, plump lips and flared nostrils, rounded hips and belly suggest a hermaphrodite or a primeval goddess of the earth. Since these features are also characteristic of the images of his wife and children on some steles (in the left niche and in the windows opposite) and tomb reliefs, there is a theory that the artistic style of the Amarna era reflects some kind of physical anomaly of Akhenaten (or members of the royal family), and the inscriptions hint at some kind of perversion.
Opponents of this hypothesis object: the head of Nefertiti, stored in, proves that it was only a stylistic device. Another feature of Amarna art was a pronounced interest in privacy: a stele depicting the royal family (No. 167 in room No. 8) depicts Akhenaten holding his eldest daughter Meritaten in his arms, while Nefertiti rocks her sisters in the cradle. For the first time in Egyptian art, for example, a breakfast scene appears. The masters of the Amarna era concentrated their attention on the earthly world, and not on the traditional plots associated with the afterlife.
The art is brimming with new vitality - notice the loose brush strokes on the fragments of the fresco with scenes in the swamp, presented on the walls of Room No. Berlin). They contain requests to send troops to help supporters of the pharaoh in Palestine, tell about the consequences of his death and Nefertiti's search for allies to fight those who encouraged Tutankhamun to turn the Amarna revolution back. These cuneiform tablets in baked clay "envelopes" were kept in the archives of the Amarna diplomatic department.
Akhenaten's coffin, inlaid with carnelian, gold and glass, can be seen in room 8, its lid is displayed next to the gold lining of the lower part. These treasures disappeared from the museum between 1915 and 1931, but were discovered in Switzerland in 1980. Now the gold decoration has been restored and placed on a plexiglass model, which has the supposed shape of the original coffin.
East Wing
The incentive to move on from the halls of the New Kingdom to the east wing may be the statue of the wife of Nakht Mina (No. 71) located in the hall No. 15, which looks very sexy. Room 14 displays a huge alabaster statue of Seti I, whose sensual facial modeling evokes a bust of Nefertiti.
It is likely that the pharaoh was originally depicted in a nemes - a headdress that we can see on the funeral mask of Tutankhamun. Even more impressive is the restored pink granite triple statue of Ramesses III being crowned by Horus and Seth, representing order and chaos respectively.
The new kingdom gradually declined during the 20th Dynasty and perished under the 21st Dynasty. It was followed by the so-called Late Period, when foreign rulers were predominantly in power. By this time, the statue of Amenirdis the Elder, exhibited in the center of hall No. 30, which the pharaoh placed at the head of the Theban priestesses of Amon, dates back to this time.
On the head of Amenirdis, dressed as the queen of the New Kingdom, is a falcon headdress decorated with a uraeus, which was once crowned with the crown of Hathor with a solar disk and horns. The most memorable of the numerous statues of the gods in room number 24 is the image of a pregnant hippo female - the goddess of childbirth Taurt (or Toerit).
Rooms 34 and 35 cover the Greco-Roman period (from 332 BC), when the principles of classical art began to actively penetrate the symbolism of Ancient Egypt. The fusion of styles characteristic of the era is demonstrated by bizarre statues and sarcophagi in room 49. Room 44 is used for temporary exhibitions.
Second floor of the Egyptian Museum
The most significant part of the exposition on the second floor are the halls with the treasures of Tutankhamun, which occupy the best areas. After examining these objects, everything but the mummies and a few masterpieces seems dim, although there are artifacts in other rooms that are not inferior to those exhibited below. To view them, come to the museum on some other day.
Halls of Tutankhamen
Tutankhamen's boy-pharaoh's grave goods set includes 1,700 items that fill a dozen halls. Considering the shortness of his reign (1361-1352 BC) and the small size of his tomb in the Valley of the Kings, the priceless treasures that seem to have belonged to at least such great pharaohs as Ramesses and Seti are even more amazing. imagination.
Tutankhamun simply went over to the side of the Theban counter-revolution, which destroyed the Amarna culture and restored the former power of the cult of Amun and its priests. However, the influence of Amarna is evident in some exhibits, which are arranged in much the same way as they were in the tomb: chests and statues (room no. 45) in front of furniture (rooms no. 40, 35, 30, 25,15, 10), arks (rooms no. 9-7) and gold items (room No. 3).
Next to them are decorations (room no. 4) and other treasures from various tombs (rooms no. 2 and 13). Most visitors rush to the last four halls (halls 2, 3 and 4 close fifteen minutes before the rest), ignoring the sequence just indicated. If you are one of those visitors, please skip the detailed description below.
When members of Howard Carter's expedition in 1922 entered the sealed corridor of the tomb, they found the front chamber literally full of caskets and fragments of things left by the robbers. There were also two life-size statues of Tutankhamun (standing at the entrance to room No. 45), whose black skin color symbolizes the rebirth of the king. Directly behind them are golden statues of Tutankhamun depicting him hunting with a harpoon.
In hall No. 35, the main exhibit is a gilded throne with handles in the form of winged kites and legs in the form of animal paws (No. 179). The back depicts a royal couple resting in the rays of the sun-Aton. The names of the spouses are given in the form accepted for the Amarna era, which makes it possible to attribute the throne to the period when Tutankhamun still adhered to the sun-worshipping cult.
Other mundane items that the boy pharaoh took with him to the other world included an ebony and ivory set for a game of senet similar to our checkers (No. 49). A lot of ushabti figurines were supposed to perform tasks that the gods could give the pharaoh in another world (on the sides of the entrance to hall No. 34).
In room No. 30 there is a casket with the “Staffs of the Captives” (No. 187), the images on which, inlaid with ebony and ivory, symbolize the unity of the north and south. The bust of a boy pharaoh born from a lotus (No. 118) testifies to the continued influence of the Amarna style during the reign of Tutankhamun. The ceremonial throne (no. 181) in room no. 25 is the prototype of the episcopal chairs in the Christian church. Its back is decorated with luxurious ebony and gold inlay, but it looks uncomfortable. More typical of pharaonic times are the wooden armchair and footstools, as well as the ornate chest of drawers.
The clothes and ointments of the king were stored in two magnificent chests. On the lid and side walls of the “Painted Chest” (No. 186) in room No. 20, he is depicted hunting ostriches and antelopes or destroying the Syrian army from his war chariot, shown more than life size. The end panels show the pharaoh in the form of a sphinx trampling on his enemies.
In contrast to the warlike images of Tutankhamun on other objects, the scene on the lid of the “Inlaid Chest” is made in the Amarna style: Ankhesenamun (daughter of Nefertiti and Akhenaten) brings a lotus, papyrus and mandrake to his spouse, surrounded by flowering poppies, pomegranates and cornflowers. Decorated with idyllic scenes of family life, the golden ark once contained statues of Tutankhamun and his wife Ankhesenamun, which were stolen in antiquity.
From the ivory headrests in room 15, it would be perfectly logical to move on to the gilded boxes dedicated to the gods, whose images in the form of animals are carved on the racks (nos. 183, 221 and 732 in room 10). In the next room, No. 9, there is the sacred ark of Anubis (No. 54), which was carried before the funeral procession of the pharaoh: the protector of the dead is depicted as a vigilant jackal with gilded ears and silver claws.
Four alabaster vessels with lids, placed in an alabaster casket (No. 176), which were exposed further, contained the entrails of the deceased pharaoh. This casket, in turn, stood inside the next exhibit - a golden chest with a lid and statues of the protective goddesses Isis, Nephthys, Selket and Neith (No. 177). In halls No. 7 and 8, four gilded arks are exhibited, which were placed one inside the other, like a Russian nesting doll; they contained the sarcophagus of Tutankhamen.
Hall No. 3, always filled with visitors, exhibits Tutankhamen's gold, some of which is periodically exhibited abroad. When the treasures are in, the main attention is drawn to the famous funeral mask with a nemyos headdress, inlaid with lapis lazuli, quartz and obsidian.
The inner anthropomorphic coffins are decorated with the same materials, they depict a boy-king with arms folded, like those of Osiris, under the protection of the wings of the goddesses Wadjet, Nekhbet, Isis and Nephthys, made in the technique of cloisonné enamel. Tutankhamun's mummy (which remains in his tomb in the Valley of the Kings) was found to contain numerous amulets, enameled ceremonial armor with glass and carnelian inlays, a jeweled pectoral and a pair of golden sandals, all on display here.
The next jewelry hall is amazing. The 6th Dynasty golden falcon head (once attached to a copper body) from Hierakonpolis is considered the star of the collection, but the crown and necklace of Princess Khnumit, as well as the diadem and breast jewelry of Princess Sathatkhor, are in serious competition with her. An amethyst belt and an anklet from Mereret, another princess of the 12th dynasty, were found near the body of the latter in her tomb at Dashur.
The ceremonial ax of Ahmose commemorates the expulsion of the Hyksos from Egypt. The ax was found in the tomb of his mother, Queen Ahhotep. From the same cache, discovered by Mariette in 1859, comes a composite bracelet of lapis lazuli and bizarre gold flies with bulging eyes - the Order of Valor, an award for bravery.
Item No. 787, exhibited in room No. 2, dates back to the XXI-XXII dynasties, when northern Egypt was ruled from the Delta. found in the sarcophagus of Merneptah (located on the lower floor). His New Kingdom-style gold necklace is made from several rows of disc-shaped pendants.
Between Hall 8 and the Atrium are two wooden chariots found in the front chamber of Tutankhamun's tomb. They were intended for solemn ceremonies, their gilded reliefs depict bound Asians and Nubians. The real war chariots of the pharaohs were lighter and stronger. After completing your tour of Tutankhamun's treasures, you can go either to the Hall of Mummies in the west wing, or to other rooms.
Museum mummies
In the southern part of the second floor of the museum there are two halls where mummies are exhibited. Room 53 contains mummified animals and birds from various Egyptian necropolises. They testify to the prevalence of animalistic cults at the end of the pagan era, when their adherents embalmed everything from bulls to mice and fish.
Modern Egyptians look at these testimonies of their ancestors' superstitiousness calmly, but the exhibition of human remains offended the feelings of many of them, which led to the closing of Sadat's famous Mummy Hall (formerly Room No. 52) in 1981. Since then, the Egyptian Museum and the Getty Institute have been working to restore the badly damaged mummies of the kings. The results of their work are currently on display in Room 56, which requires a separate ticket to enter (£70, £35 for students; closes at 6:30 pm).
Eleven royal mummies are exhibited here (with detailed explanations; the exhibits are arranged in chronological order, if you go around the hall counterclockwise), including the remains of some of the most famous pharaohs, in particular, the great conquerors of the 19th dynasty, Seti I and his son Ramesses II. The latter had a much less athletic build than that seen at his colossal statues in Memphis and elsewhere. Here is also the mummy of the son of Ramesses, Merneptah, who is considered by many to be the pharaoh of the biblical Exodus. If you don't have much interest in mummies, it's not worth paying so much to see them.
All of the mummies are kept in sealed, humidity-controlled containers, and most of them look very peaceful. Thutmose II and Thutmose IV seem to be sleeping, many of them have hair. The curly locks and beautiful face of Queen Henuttaui may indicate her Nubian origin. Out of respect for the dead, tours are not allowed here, the muffled hum of the voices of visitors is interrupted only by periodic calls: "Please keep silence!".
The mummies were found in the royal cache at Deir el-Bahri and in one of the rooms of the tomb of Amenhotep II, where the bodies were reburied during the reign of the 21st dynasty to protect them from robbers. To see that the mummy is empty inside, look through the right nostril of Ramesses V - from this angle you can look inside directly through the hole in the skull.
Other halls of the museum
To view the rest of the exhibition in chronological order, you must start in room 43 (above the Atrium) and move clockwise as you did on the first floor. But, since most visitors come here from the halls of Tutankhamen, we describe the western and eastern wings from this point.
Starting from the west wing, note the "Heart Scarabs" that were placed on the throats of the mummies. They were inflicted with the words of a spell, calling the heart of the deceased not to testify against him or her during the Judgment of Osiris (room number 6). Among the many objects from the royal tombs of the XVIII dynasty in room No. 12 are the mummy of a child and a gazelle (case I); priestly wigs and wig boxes (case L); two leopards from the cache of the tomb of Amenemhat II (No. 3842) and the chariot of Thutmose IV (No. 4113). Room No. 17 presents utensils from private tombs, in particular, the tombs of Sennedzhem from the workers' settlement near the Valley of the Kings.
With skill honed in the construction of royal tombs, Sennedjem carved for himself a stylish crypt on the door of the tomb (No. 215), he is depicted playing senet. On the sarcophagus of his son Khonsu, the lions of Ruti, the deities of the current and the past day, are depicted supporting the rising sun, and Anubis embalming his body under the protection of Isis and Nephthys.
Caskets with canopies and coffins are exhibited in the corridor, in the inner halls there are models from the Middle Kingdom. Magnificent figurines and genre scenes come from the tomb of Meketre in Thebes (room No. 27): a woman carrying a jug of wine on her head (No. 74), peasants fishing with a net from reed boats (No. 75), cattle driven past the owner (No. 76). In room 32, compare models of boats with a full crew of sailors (case F) with solar barges without sailors, designed to travel to eternity (case E). Fans of soldiers will admire the phalanxes of Nubian archers and Egyptian warriors from the tomb of Prince Mesehti in (room number 37).
The south wing of the museum is best viewed at a brisk pace. The middle section contains a model of a funerary complex showing how the pyramids and their temples were connected to the Nile (room no. 48), and a leather funeral canopy for a 21st dynasty queen decorated with red and green checkerboard squares (no. 3848, near the south east stairs in hall No. 50). More impressive are the two displays in the central part: recent finds and forgotten treasures displayed near room 54, as well as room 43 - objects from the tomb of Yuya and Tuya.
The most beautiful of these items are Tuya's jeweled gilded mask, their anthropomorphic coffins, and the statues of this married couple. As the parents of Queen Tiye (wife of Amenhotep III) they were buried in the Valley of the Kings, their tomb was found intact at the end of the nineteenth century. Behind the entrance to hall no. 42, note the blue faience tile wall panel originating from Djoser's mortuary temple at Saqqara (no. 17).
In room No. 48, near the railing of the open gallery above the Rotunda, there is a showcase (No. 144) with a stone head of Akhenaten's mother Queen Tia, which anticipates the Amarna style, and figurines of "dancing dwarfs" depicting equatorial pygmies. In the same display case is a magnificent, very lively statuette of a Nubian woman (possibly also Queen Tii) with a braided hairstyle that looks very modern.
If you come from the north wing, then the east wing opens for you with room number 14, which exhibits a couple of mummies and very realistic, but poorly lit Faiyum portraits found by archaeologist Flinders Petrie in Khawara. Portraits dating back to the Roman period (100-250 years) were made using the encaustic technique (dyes were mixed with molten wax) from living life, and after the death of the depicted person, they were placed on the face of his mummy.
The striking diversity of the late Pagan Egyptian pantheon is shown by the statues of deities in room 19. The tiny figurines deserve close inspection, especially those of the pregnant female hippopotamus - the goddess Taurt (in case C), Harpocrates (Chora the Child), Thoth with the head of an Ibis and the dwarf god Ptah-Sokar (everything is in window E), as well as Bes, who looks almost like a Mexican god (in window R). In showcase V in the center of the room, note the image of Chorus in gold and silver, apparently serving as a sarcophagus for the mummy of a falcon.
The next room is dedicated to ostraca and papyri. Ostraca were pieces of limestone or clay shards, on which drawings or insignificant inscriptions were applied. Papyrus was used to complete works of art and record valuable texts.
In addition to the Book of the Dead (rooms 1 and 24) and the Book of Amduat (where the ceremony of weighing the heart is depicted, no. 6335 in the southern part of room no. 29), pay attention to the Satirical Papyrus (no. 232 in case 9 on the north side), which depicts cats, serving mice. In the images created in the Hyksos period, cats represent the Egyptians, and mice represent their rulers, who came from countries that were formerly part of the Egyptian state.
The image alludes to the fact that the rule of foreigners in Egypt was perceived as unnatural. In room No. 29, there is also a scribe's writing set and the artist's paints and brushes (near the door at the other end). In the next room number 34 there are musical instruments and figurines of people playing them.
In the hallway (Room 33) there are two interesting chairs: a seat from an Amarna toilet is on display in display case "O" near the door, and in display case "S" is a birthing chair, very similar to that used today. Room 39 displays glassware, mosaics and figurines from the Greco-Roman period, while room 44 displays faience wall cladding in the Mesopotamian style from the palaces of Ramesses II and III.
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