National Museum of Suez
π Location: Suez city, at the southern end of the Suez Canal Β Β· Β πΊ Focus: History of Suez from prehistory to today Β Β· Β ποΈ Tickets: ~100 EGP foreign adults
The first museum of Suez was destroyed during the 1967 ArabβIsraeli war; the city itself was on the front line and largely emptied. The replacement National Museum of Suez finally opened on 29 September 2014 in a new purpose-built complex closer to the canal, and it tells the long story of the city that connects the Red Sea to the Mediterranean β from prehistoric trade routes through the pharaonic, Greek, Roman, Coptic, Islamic and modern Suez Canal eras.
The museum has two floors plus an open-air sculpture court displaying classical and Islamic columns. Standout pieces include a statue of King Senwosret III of the Middle Kingdom, a stela of the Persian king Darius I (who first connected the Red Sea to the Nile by canal), a vivid full-room mummification hall that recreates an embalming chamber, and β in the gardens β a full-scale replica of one of Hatshepsut's expeditionary ships to Punt.
The thematic galleries also pay considerable attention to maritime trade, ship-building, mining, the Hajj routes, and of course the building of the modern Suez Canal in 1869.
Highlights
- Statue of King Senwosret III
- Stela of Darius I β Persian-period canal builder
- Recreated mummification chamber
- Replica of Hatshepsut's Punt ship in the gardens
- Suez Canal history room
Visiting
- Opening hours: 9 am β 5 pm
- Tickets: ~100 EGP foreign adults
- Best time: day trip from Cairo (~2 hrs)
- Nearby: Suez Canal viewpoint, Ain Sokhna beach (40 min south)