Our accommodation was close to the museum, so we set off on foot with confidence. However, this confidence quickly dissipated when we reached a huge highway with about four lanes in each direction. We stood there on the sidewalk and felt like we had to be born on the other side of this road. There was no pedestrian crossing anywhere, and the traffic was flowing like the Nile during a flood. Finally, at a lucky moment, taking advantage of the lightening of the traffic, we managed to cross as a kind of “Cairo test of courage”.
Getting into the museum was not an easy journey either. From the main gate to the exhibition halls, we had to go through three security checks. Each time, our luggage was thoroughly searched, but patience paid off, and in the end, the wonders of Egyptian history were revealed to us.
It was fantastic to see in person the statues and carvings that I had admired so many times in textbooks and picture books as a child. The highlight of the museum was of course Tutankhamun’s treasury. The sight of the golden death mask, the ornate jewelry and the sarcophagi exceeded all expectations. But the huge, monumental statues were also impressive, which majestically guarded the secrets of the past in the halls.
One of the most important objects in the museum (and in Egyptology in general) is the Rosetta Stone (or rather, a copy of it, since the original is in London). This dark granite slab was the key to deciphering hieroglyphs, as the same text was engraved on it in three different scripts: Hieroglyphs, Demotic script and Greek.
Since they knew Greek, Jean-François Champollion was able to compare the texts in 1822 and realized that hieroglyphs not only represented images, but also sounds. This opened the way for the interpretation of ancient Egyptian texts. The world of hieroglyphs is fascinating: more than 700 signs were used, which were both decorative and extremely logical, recording the actions of the pharaohs and religious rituals.
The Egyptian Museum in Cairo (originally called the Bulaq Museum) was founded in 1835 by the Egyptian government to stop the unbridled export of archaeological finds and tomb robberies. The collection moved to its current, iconic location in Tahrir Square in 1902. The neoclassical-style, distinctive red building was designed by the French architect Marcel Dourgnon. It was the first building in the world specifically designed as a museum and to house the enormous weight of ancient sculptures.
Over the decades, the museum has become one of the most important collections in the world, with more than 120,000 objects. The interior of the building itself is a kind of time travel: walking among the high ceilings, dusty display cases and huge stone colossuses, you feel like you are stepping into the shoes of a 19th-century explorer. Although the space has become cramped for the many finds, its atmosphere is irreplaceable.
In the meantime, Cairo and the world have been enriched by a new wonder: the Grand Egyptian Museum opened (partially, then in full) in the immediate vicinity of Giza. This modern, hyper-technological building has become the largest archaeological museum in the world.
While the old museum in Tahrir Square remains the home of art historical rarities, the GEM has become the new resting place for Tutankhamun’s entire treasury. The new building was designed so that visitors can see the pyramids through the huge glass walls, thus creating a direct connection between the exhibited objects and their original place of discovery.
