Egyptian Museum

Museum:After 43 years, I have made my second trip to the Egyptian Museum, which contains the world's most extensive collection of pharaonic antiquities.The contents of the museum date from the Prehistoric Period of Egypt to the end of the Roman era. It's always amazing. The ground floor has a massive statue pair of Amenhotep III and his wife Tiye as its focus as you enter. If you've read Naquib Mahfouz's Akhenaten, you'll know who they are–the parents of the heretic pharaoh Akhenaten (Amarna) of the 18th Dynasty (who ruled for 17 years). Akhenaten's "great king's wife" was Nefertiti; and they had six daughters. His display was great. Akhenaten raised the Aten to the position of "sole god," represented as a disk with rays of light terminating in hands which reach out to the royal family, sometimes offering the hieroglyphic sign for life. Akhenaten and his family are frequently shown worshipping the Aten or simply indulging in everyday activities beneath the disk.

Tutankhamun: The most popular of the museum’s treasures are housed in the Tutankhamun gallery on the upper floor. These fascinating artifacts (3,000 pieces) from the boy-king’s tomb were discovered by Howard Carter in 1922. These include the shrines and tomb furniture, which are definitely the main attraction of the museum. The famous gold funerary mask and coffin as well as other objects are on display elsewhere. Tutankhamun was nine years old when he became pharaoh and reigned for approximately ten years.

In historical terms, Tutankhamun's significance stems from his rejection of the radical religious innovations introduced by his predecessor and father, Akhenaten. Secondly, his tomb in the Valley of the Kings was discovered by Carter almost completely intact—the most complete ancient Egyptian royal tomb ever found. The Weight of Centuries: It's truly amazing that traces from a civilization so old survive today! The museum was filled mainly with Egyptians, of which there were many. Only a few foreign tourists were visible. The place was very warm and airless. Many objects had only numbers and no labels. Labels were hand-typed, so are quite aged. Some large statues and sarcophagi on the lower floor were still in plastic wrapping, giving the area the appearance of a storage area. Maybe all the dust and old storage areas helped me imagine the weight of centuries or millennia. The museum is open from 9 AM to 6 PM; but it's really too much to take in on one day.