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The Egyptian Museum, Cairo. Photo By Bs0u10e01 –

Top 10 Interesting Facts about Egyptian Museum, Cairo

The Egyptian Museum, also known as the Museum of Egyptian Antiquities, is located in the country’s capital city, Cairo. The Museum, seated in a principal public town square, is one of Cairo’s historical landmarks.

The Egyptian Museum is a historical gold mine with an extensive catalogue of sarcophagi, statues, portraits, shrines, paintings, funerary masks, and stelas. Cumulatively, it has over 100,000 items on display and in stores.

 The Egyptian Museum is the first of its kind in North Africa and the Middle East to be established purposely to preserve antiques. The Museum was initially built in the 1800s, but it was moved to its current location and inaugurated in the 1900s.

The 15,000 square meter building has two floors with large-scale and small-scale works from the Predynastic Period, Old and New Kingdom, Intermediate, and the Greco-Roman Era.

The Museum is managed by the Registration Collection Management and Documentation Department (RCMDD). It is to be superseded by the newly constructed Grand Egyptian Museum at Giza.

After a successful win by French Architect Marcel Dourgnon, the Museum was built in 1901. Garozzo- Zaffarani, an Italian construction company, oversaw the construction of the building until its completion. It was later inaugurated in 1902 by Abbas Helmy 1I.

1. The Egyptian Museum Was Originally Established in The 1800s

In 1835, the Egyptian government established the first Egyptian Antique Museum in Ezbekieh Garden. It was later relocated to the Citadel at Cairo. After orders from Auguste Mariette, the new Museum was established in 1858 at the Boulaq warehouse.

Due to natural calamities, the antiques were moved to Giza Islam palace until 1902, where they relocated to the current Egyptian Museum.

2. The Neoclassical Designed Museum Was Built By A French Architect

After coming to the consensus that the Ismail Pasha Palace was a relatively small museum for the extensive antique collections, the Ministry of Public Works opted to construct a new museum. In 1895, Egypt put out a competition open to international architects where interested parties would submit their design proposals for the proposed Museum

3. It Is The Oldest Archaeological Museum In The Middle East

The Egyptian Museum was the first national Museum in the Middle East. Before 1835, Egypt had been an exporter of antiquities. After the decree issuance by the viceroy Muhammad Ali Pasha, the founder of modern Egypt, the first antique Museum was set up in Cairo.

Among the items displayed, the Museum has the oldest surviving Pharaonic painting, dated 2500 BC.

4. The Egyptian Museum Has The Widest Antique Collection in Egypt

Antiques In The Egyptian Museum. Photo By Gary Todd –

The Egyptian Museum has the most Pharaonic antiquities in Egypt. The historical materials and documents housed in the Archive section include the Museum’s original architectural plans, historical manuscripts, and collection records.

 The section also includes approximately 50,000 samples of negative plates, film rolls, and digital pictures. The Museum is a vital information resource for historical researchers, scholars, and scientists.

5. It Houses Statues of Great Egyptian Kings and Queens

Egyptian Museum Cairo: Sitting statue of the ancient Egyptian Queen Nofret,. Photo By Djehouty –

Some of the most important pieces include the seated statue of Queen Nofret, King Senusret 1(1920 BC to 1875 BC), Khakaure Senusret III (pharaoh of Egypt in 1878 BC), and goddess Hathor.

The Museum also has busts of Queen Hatshepsut, Nefertiti, Userkaf, and Alexander the Great. Aside from the coffin of Akhenaten, the masterpiece collection also showcases the coffin of Petosiris, the highest priest of Thoth, and Ahmose-Meritamun.

6. It Was Vandalized During The Egyptian Revolution

Egyptian Revolution, Jan 29th  2011. Photo By Mohamed Abdel Ghani –

The protest during the Egyptian Revolution of 2011 led to the vandalization of the Egyptian Museum. Looters and protesters broke into the Museum and destroyed 70 artefacts and 2 Egyptian Pharaoh mummies.

Later in the year, missing objects such as parts of the broken sarcophagus were recovered and returned to the Museum.

7. The Egyptian Museum Has Artifacts From New Kingdom, Greece, Latin And Arabic Origin

Though discovered in Egypt, the languages on several pieces in the Museum prove that they originated from Greece, Arabic, and Latin countries. The items from the New Kingdom are dated from 1550 and 1069 BC and include statues and coffins.

The Museum also has a library with over 80,000 books and magazines in Arabic, English, French, and Dutch. Some collections are rare books on the Near-Eastern disciples and ancient Rome.  

8. The August Memorial Garden Is Part Of The Museum Complex

The August Mariette Memorial Garden is named after the French Archaeologist August Mariette who was appointed the Director of Egypt’s Antiquities Service after discovering Apis cult’s sacred burial. The well-manicured garden was the final resting place for Mariette after his death in 1881.

August’s tomb marks the centrepiece of the garden and is surrounded by 24 sculptors of former directors and curators of the Egyptian Museum. Some of the notable busts are Peter le Page Renouf, Gaston Maspero, and Labibi Habachi.

9. The Egyptian Museum Has Recovered Treasures of King Tutankhamun

Golden funeral mask of king Tutankhamun. Photo By Jon Bodsworth –

Three thousand years after his death, Howard Carter discovered King Tutankhamun’s tomb in the Valley of Kings. It had over 5,000 items, a thousand displayed in the Egyptian Museum.

The golden funerary mask of King Tutankhamun is among the most valuable masterpieces that were retrieved from the King’s tomb. Other items include golden statuettes, canopic chests and jars, meteoric daggers, and ceremonial thrones. Several gilded funerary sandals were also discovered.

The Museum also has the first wooden shrine of Tutankhamun discovered in the Valley of Kings.

10. The Statues At The Main Entrance Are A Representation of Upper And Lower Egypt

Entrance of The Egyptian Museum. Photo By Olaf Tausch –

The French Artist Ferdinand Faivre modelled the two feminine statues on either side of the Museum’s entrance. Ferdinand was a well know artist, having done sculptors in Europe and the Middle East.

Before the reign of King Namer, Egypt was divided into two regions. The sculptors symbolised the unity of the Egyptian territory as they represented upper and lower Egypt. The two were initially separated by the Nile River but came together in 3150 BC during the final stage of the prehistoric era.