The Museum of Egyptian Antiquities, known commonly as the Egyptian Museums, in Cairo, Egypt, is home to an extensive collection of ancient Egyptian antiquities. It has 120,000 items, with a representative amount on display, the remainder in storerooms.
The museum's Royal Mummy Room, containing 27 royal mummies from pharaonic times, was closed on the orders of President Anwar Sadat in 1981. It was reopened, with a slightly curtailed display of New Kingdom kings and queens in 1985. Today there are about 9 mummies displayed. One of them is the newly discovered mummy of Queen Hatshepsut.
Museum History:
The Egyptian government established the ‘Service des Antiques de l’Egypte’ in 1835 mainly to halt the plundering of archeological sites and to arrange the exhibition of the collected artifacts owned by the government. The Azbakian garden in Cairo was first used as a storage place for these artifacts.The collection was later transferred to another building in the citadel of Saladin.
In 1858, a museum was prepared at Boulaq, its contents collected by the French archeologist August Mariette. In 1880, the contents of the Boulaq museum was transferred to an annex of the Giza palace of Ismail pasha, the ruler of Egypt. The present museum was built in 1900, in the neo-classical style by the French architect Marcel Dourgnon.
The mummies of some pharaohs of the 18 to 20th Dynasty found in Thebes. The first group was found in Deir el Bahari cachette and these consist of the mummies of: Seqenenre, Ahmose I, Amenhotep I, Tuthmosis I, Tuthmosis II, Tuthmosis III, Seti I, Ramses II, Ramses III.The other group was found in the tomb of Amenhotep II, consisting of the mummies of: Amenhotep II, Tuthmosis IV, Amenhotep III, Merenptah, Seti II, Siptah, Ramses IV, Ramses V, Ramses VI, (and three women and a child.)
This museum exhibits over 120000 objects, some of the important groups of these objects are : Artifacts from the tombs of kings and members of the royal families of the Middle Kingdom found at Dahshur in 1894.The contents of the royal tombs of Tuthmosis III, Tuthmosis IV, Amenhotep III and Horemheb and the tomb of Yuya and Thuya.Artifacts from the tomb of Tutankhamun, consisting of more than 3500 Pieces, of which 1700 objects are displayed in the museum (the rest are in storerooms).
Objects from some royal and private tombs at Tanis (in the Delta) dating from the 21st and 22nd Dynasties. Artifacts from the Amarna period made for Akhenaton and members of his family and some high officials. These were found in Tell el Amarna, Hermopolis, Thebes and Memphis between 1912 and 1933. Collections of artifacts from the royal palaces.
Interior design
There are two main floors of the museum, the ground floor and the first floor. On the ground floor there is an extensive collection of papyrus and coins used in the Ancient world. The numerous pieces of papyrus are generally small fragments, due to their decay over the past two millennia. Several languages are found on these pieces, including Greek, Latin, Arabic, and the Ancient Egyptian writing language of hieroglyphs. The coins found on this floor are made of many different elements, including gold, silver, and bronze. The coins are not only Egyptian, but also Greek, Roman, and Islamic, which has helped historians research the history of Ancient Egyptian trade. Also on the ground floor are artifacts from the New Kingdom, the time period between 1550 and 1070 BC. These artifacts are generally larger than items created in earlier centuries. Those items include statues, tables, and coffins. On the first floor there are artifacts from the final two dynasties of Ancient Egypt, including items from the tombs of the Pharaohs Tuhtmoisis III, Tuhtmosis IV, Amenophis II, Hatshepsut, and Maherpen, and also many artifacts taken from the Valley of the Kings
Unlike many of the tombs discovered in Egypt, that of King Tutankhamun was found mostly intact. Inside the tomb there is a large collection of artifacts used throughout the King’s life. These artifacts range from a decorated chest, which was most likely used as a closet or suitcase, to ivory and gold bracelets, necklaces, and other decorative jewelry, to alabaster vases and flasks. The tomb is also home to many weapons and instruments used by the King. Although the tomb holds over 3,500 artifacts, it should be noted that this tomb was not found completely intact. In fact, there have been at least two robberies of the tomb, perhaps soon after Tutankhamun's burial. The most well known artifact in King Tutankhamun’s tomb is the famous Gold Mask, which rests over the bandages that wrap around the King’s face. The mask weighs in at 24.5 pounds of solid gold, and is believed to represent what the King’s face really looked like. Many features of the mask the eyes, nose, lips and chin are all represented very well.
Pharaohs
The remains of many famous Pharaohs are stored in the Egyptian Museum. One of these is Pharaoh Ramses III, who was an extremely skilled warrior. For many of the mummified pharaohs, it has been very difficult to determine when they were born. Also, historians can only estimate a time when they reigned over Egypt. For Amenhotep IV, historians have estimated that he reigned around 1372 B.C. They knew this because they found out when Amenhotep IV's father, Amenhotep III died. Also, that Amenhotep IV's tomb inscribed five names he gave himself and one of them, Golden Horus, proves that he was crowned on the bank of the Nile, his father's favorite domain. Before he even became pharaoh, however, he was already married to Nefertiti. When Amenhotep IV did become pharaoh, he destroyed the religion of Amun. He did this because he wanted start his own new religion of Aten, the disc which sent out rays ending in hands. King Sneferu was believed to be the first king of the Fourth Dynasty. The year Sneferu was believed to have started his reign over Egypt was around 2620 B.C. Sneferu is believed to have been a fair and just king. Master of Justice or Truth was his other chosen name. Sneferu, like many other kings, built many temples and structures. All of Sneferu’s structures and buildings had a signature. His signature was having a statue of a woman symbolizing the foundation. The statue of the young women is presenting the sign of life and votive offerings, as well as the signs of the city and the stronghold. There are about four or five of these in each province. A lot of the pharaohs had coronation names and they all seemed to be alike. For example, Sneferu, Tut, and Amenhotep all had the name "Golden Horus".
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