Egyptian Museum (Tahrir)
π Location: Tahrir Square, downtown Cairo Β Β· Β πΊ Focus: Pharaonic Egypt Β Β· Β ποΈ Tickets: ~450 EGP foreign adults
Opened on 15 November 1902 in its distinctive pink neo-classical building beside Tahrir Square, the Egyptian Museum is one of the world's great museums and was, for over a century, the single most important destination for anyone interested in ancient Egypt. Even now β with the Tutankhamun collection moving piece by piece to the new Grand Egyptian Museum at the Pyramids, and the royal mummies relocated to the NMEC β the Tahrir museum still holds 120,000 objects, of which only a fraction are ever on view.
Standouts that remain in Tahrir include the statue of Khafre in green diorite (one of the masterpieces of all sculpture), the Narmer Palette (the founding monument of Egyptian dynastic history, c. 3100 BC), the Old Kingdom statues of Rahotep and Nofret with their startlingly modern eyes, the golden treasure of Tanis (the second-richest royal find after Tutankhamun's), and a wing devoted to the animal mummies of the Late Period.
The building itself is a planned heritage attraction in its own right; portions of the original 1902 displays have been preserved as a "museum of the museum".
Highlights
- Statue of Khafre in diorite
- Narmer Palette (c. 3100 BC)
- Rahotep and Nofret Old Kingdom couple
- Treasure of Tanis (gold of the 21stβ22nd Dynasties)
- The 1902 building itself
Visiting
- Opening hours: 9 am β 5 pm
- Tickets: ~450 EGP foreign adults
- Best time: allow a half day; weekdays less crowded
- Nearby: Tahrir Square, the Coptic Museum is one metro stop south