Did you know that the Egyptian Museum in Cairo has more than 120,000 ancient artifacts?
Egypt has a long and wealthy history. Monuments, artifacts, objects are the main source of information about their civilization. This museum hosts the world’s largest collection of Pharaonic antiquities.
Blog Contents
Egyptian Museum highlights
- The Museum has 42 rooms.
- It is built on a land area of 117 acres.
- During the 2011 Egyptian revolution, the looters destroyed two mummies and damaged many artifacts.
- More than 1.5 million tourists visit every year.
↪️ Download your free Egyptian Museum guide ↩️
The Museum is huge and has two floors. Anyone entering will spend a couple of hours. If you are a museum lover, you will be occupied for a whole day. In this blog, you will know some of the highlights from both the floors.
Entrance fee
The official currency is Egyptian pounds (LE)
- General admission: 120 LE
- Children and students: 60 LE
- Separate ticket to visit the Royal Mummies Hall: 150 LE
- Combo ticket (General + Mummies Hall): 240 LE
- Audio Guide: 20 LE
- Egyptian national: 10 LE
- Photography: 50 LE
Tips:
- Prices are always subjected to change.
- Credit card usage is not widespread in Egypt. So carry plenty of cash.
- The tickets are not possible to buy online.
- Any student with a valid student card pays only 50% of the general entrance fee. This is applicable to all attractions in Cairo and Luxor.
- An Egyptian national pay only 10% of a foreigner’s entrance fee. This is quite similar to the Taj Mahal entrance.
Download Egyptology’s pdf during your trip. It has the entrance fee of all the main attractions in Egypt; like the Great Pyramids, Temple of Hatshepsut.
Museum opening hours
General hours: 9 am – 5 pm. Extended hours on Sunday and Thursday (5.30 – 9 pm). But during Ramadan time, the museum has short working hours; typically closing at 3 pm. Check google maps before your trip.
Ground floor
Upon entering, I was awestruck. Never have I ever seen such a huge museum. It was mindblowing to see the giant statues. Each and every corner has a historic significance. You never know where to start.
The ground floor tells you the history of ancient Egypt. As you move a clockwise, find numerous limestone structures of ancient rulers. Then step into small rooms that include all the big and heavy objects of this period such as statues, tables, sphinxes, and other artifacts like coins, Papyri collection.
Tip: Don’t try to see everything; it starts boring. Pick your choice and skim other sections.
The Papyri section
The Papyri refers to a material similar to the thick paper which the ancient Egyptians used it as a writing surface. Papyri scripting use many languages like Hieroglyphic, Hieratic, Demotic. Have a look at tour Egypt to know more about all the sections.
Hieroglyphs
Hieroglyph refers to ‘Sacred carving‘, an ancient Egyptian scripts used on the temple walls. This writing system was used from 4th Millenium BC until the 4th century AD. They can be read from left to right or vice versa.
In short, all the fancy emojis we use in the modern world, the Egyptians used them long ago.
First floor
The first floor has Tutankhamun’s famous rooms (New kingdom ruler), the Royal Mummies halls. There are thousands of various objects used in ancient Egypt history like pieces of jewelry, knives, slippers, chairs, shields, coffins.
Mummification
Mummification process refers to the method of treating a dead body, an Egyptian’s ancient technique. They removed all the moisture from the body to prevent decay. Therefore one can exactly see how the body looked like 3000 years ago. The complete process took 70 days.
Mummy paper
This special paper is made of linen wrapping and few other fibers. Each Mummy needs hundreds of meters of linen. The priests coat the linen with warm resin during regular intervals to make intact.
Why preserve the body?
The ancient Egyptians had the belief that a soul or spirit reaches home in a mummified body. When you destroy a body, the spirit is lost.
The Royal Mummies Hall
The best is yet to come. Royal Mummies Hall, the main reason why all tourists visit the museum. The largest collection of Royal mummies are present in two halls. Seeing the Royal mummies was a freaking experience.
One can find mummies of all great pharaohs of Egypt (rulers). Each Royal mummy had an identity with a pharaoh’s name, life span, possible reason for death. The pharaohs list goes on. If you want to know who these pharaohs are, then visit the Valley of the Kings in Luxor.
Note: Photography is prohibited in both Mummies hall. Also, only limited people can enter the room.
How to reach the Egyptian Museum
The Egyptian Museum is located at the bustling Tahrir square. The best way is to use Uber; its safe, affordable, and hassle-free. An alternative is to take the metro. A few hundred meters away from the museum is the metro stop ‘Sadat’. Both lines M1 and M2 stop here. Follow the sign in the subway to know which side to exit.
My experience
The Egyptian Museum is a must-see; even if you are not a history lover. After the great Pyramids, include this museum in your Egypt itinerary. A trip to Egypt is never complete without seeing the mummies.
Overall experience: 
out of 5
Time of visit: May 2019
” It’s not a museum. It’s not a place of artifacts; a place of ideas ” – Jeanie Kahnke