Museum of Islamic Art
π Location: Bab al-Khalq Square, central Cairo Β Β· Β πΊ Focus: Islamic decorative arts, Umayyad to Ottoman Β Β· Β ποΈ Tickets: ~200 EGP foreign adults
The Museum of Islamic Art in Cairo holds one of the three or four greatest collections of Islamic art in the world β alongside London's V&A, Istanbul and Doha β with more than 100,000 objects spanning the 7th to 19th centuries and every Islamic dynasty from the Umayyads to the Ottomans. Founded in 1881 and moved into its current Mamluk-revival building in 1903, it reopened in 2017 after a long restoration triggered by the 2014 truck bombing of the police HQ next door, which destroyed about 170 objects and badly damaged the faΓ§ade.
The redesigned galleries are organised thematically and chronologically. Highlights include the famous Umayyad lustreware, exquisite Fatimid carved-rock-crystal flasks, Mamluk enamelled glass mosque lamps, the carved wooden mihrab of Sayyida Ruqayya, Persian carpets and miniatures, Ottoman Iznik tiles and the largest collection of Mamluk inlaid metalwork in existence. There is a separate gallery devoted to Islamic sciences and medicine β astrolabes, surgical instruments, manuscripts of Ibn Sina.
Highlights
- Fatimid rock-crystal flasks
- Mamluk enamelled mosque lamps
- Carved wooden mihrab of Sayyida Ruqayya
- Iranian and Mughal carpets and miniatures
- Astrolabes and medical instruments
Visiting
- Opening hours: 9 am β 5 pm
- Tickets: ~200 EGP foreign adults
- Best time: weekday mornings
- Nearby: Islamic Cairo, al-Muizz Street, Bayt al-Razzaz, Sabil of Muhammad Ali