Who was the first director of the Cairo Museum? Cairo Egyptian National Museum. Egyptian Museum in Cairo - video

During our trip to Egypt, we couldn't help but go to Cairo. Yes, we knew that there were riots in the capital of Egypt, we knew that on the streets military equipment and the soldiers knew that they could stop on the road and check documents, they knew that they would have to travel almost 500 km at night, pass many checkpoints with armed soldiers, they knew that organized excursions did not yet go to Cairo, and much more we knew but let's go anyway.

International group of 14 people. We and the Kazakhs spoke Russian, there was a couple from England, two couples from Germany, a couple from Poland and a couple from France. The group was cheerful, many did not understand each other, somehow translated, joked, laughed all the way so much that the minibus rocked.

We arrived in Cairo early in the morning. It amazed us with everything, without exception: strange driving according to some rules known only to them, but there were no accidents on our way, dirt all around and mountains of garbage, people running and chewing as they walked, military equipment traveled on the same roads as city transport , soldiers on military equipment shouted to other soldiers on other vehicles, gesticulated, neighed, and pointed their fingers.
Our tourists became quiet and watched what was happening with square eyes.

We drove around the city for at least two hours to get to our destination, the Egyptian Museum, where our guide met us.
Finally the bus stopped. There are military equipment and soldiers all around. Some military men shook hands with us at the exit of their bus and asked us not to linger, not to take photographs, but to quickly enter the museum territory.
We passed. The museum stood still, but around there were burnt high-rise buildings, charred logs, and some kind of horror.
The guide told the history of the museum, touched a little on what was in the courtyard and with great regret uttered the phrase: “In the museum you will see many beautiful exhibits, they are all originals. But the bulk, all the most valuable, most significant for Egypt, main story The country and its priceless riches were taken to their countries by Europeans. They took away so much that it’s hard for you and me to even imagine. But nothing. Egyptian treasures, mummies, pharaohs and sarcophagi will call their people to them. And people will come to them. And then you will either have to come to terms with this, or bring the people back to the shrines of the Egyptian land.”
Similar to this expression we heard a guide say in Luxor...
I can say that in European museums there are halls of Egyptology, where the values ​​of Ancient Egypt are kept. I have read about this and am familiar with two Egyptologists from Germany who regularly take part in excavations and scientific expeditions to Egypt. So they also said that you cannot drag into your country what does not belong to you, your land. Over time, all this will talk and it will be very bad. These people live in their Germany today, but they do not change their opinion.

The building of the Egyptian Museum in Cairo was built in 1900 in the neoclassical style according to the design of the French architect Marcel Dunon, who is buried in the courtyard of the museum and there is a monument to him there.
The museum was built in Tahrir Square and opened in 1902.

It all started with the fact that the new government of Egypt in 1835 decided to stop the looting and export of priceless relics.
The previous rulers of the country did not particularly value antiquities and allowed almost everyone to take them out of the country. Under the pretext scientific research Priceless items were exported and sold for thousands and millions of dollars to private collections and museums. The Egyptians didn't know true value many things, since they were practically not interested in all this and such “good” was found everywhere.
In the mid-19th century, scientists sounded the alarm and insistently demanded that cultural heritage country, at least what is left. And there are quite a few left today. And today, black diggers and Bedouins make good money from ancient relics.

The Egyptian government created the "Egyptian Antiquities Service".
The first was a collection of ancient Egyptian art. It was housed in the first museum, opened in 1858, in Bulak, which was founded by the Egyptologist Auguste Mariette, one of the directors of the Louvre. Here the collected collection was exhibited for the first time.

As soon as the museum began to be replenished with collections and priceless exhibits, a severe flood occurred, many exhibits were badly damaged, and some of them were stolen.
The founder of the Mariette Museum approached the government with a proposal to create major museum with good security and collect everything in it valuable exhibits Egypt.

2 years after the appeal, the exhibits were transported to a wing of the palace of the ruler of Egypt, Ismail Pasha, in Giza. The exhibits were kept there until the opening of the museum in Cairo for 22 years.

During public demonstrations on January 28, 2011, looters broke several display cases and, after an inventory, the list of stolen museum valuables at least 18 artifacts. These are two gilded wooden statues of Pharaoh Tutankhamun, a statue of Nefertiti, a figurine of a scribe, a scarab heart and much more.

Today, photography is strictly prohibited in the museum. All equipment must be placed in a storage room. But there is a lot to see in the museum. The ancient values ​​are breathtaking. These are the famous mask of Tutankhamun and treasures from his tomb, 11 royal mummies of the pharaohs, statues of the pharaohs, the head of Queen Nefertiti, the statue of Mentuhotep, the statue of Pharaoh Thutmose the Third, the statue of Pharaoh Akhenaten, and one of the most popular exhibits is the statue of Pharaoh Djoser. This statue was found in Saqqara (the oldest necropolis of Ancient Egypt) in 1924. It is famous for the fact that the Pyramid of Djoser is the first pyramid in the world, and it has survived to this day in excellent condition.

There are several sculptures in the museum's courtyard, the most famous of which is the Sphinx sculpture located in front of the building's facade. Next to the sphinx is a small pool with bluish Nile lotus flowers, washed by small fountains.

Due to the situation in the country, there were few people in the museum. You could take your time and carefully examine the exhibits.

The Egyptian Museum has more than a hundred halls, with about 120 thousand exhibits on its two floors. The museum's exposition is presented in chronological order and covers everything historical periods ancient Egypt.

It will be interesting for everyone here...

near the sphinx there is a small pool with bluish Nile lotus flowers, where small fountains gush out - it’s very beautiful.

We carefully look at the face of one of the most mysterious persons of ancient Egypt - this is the female pharaoh - Hatshepsut. Her sculptural image has all the traditional symbols supreme authority, including beard. There is even an image of her in the form of a sphinx -

Stone Akhenaten, who looks very unattractive, even ugly, with a small head and a large belly. Neither earlier nor later than the Amarna period would a sculptor risk depicting the almighty pharaoh in such a way, even if the resemblance to the original was one hundred percent

Alabaster head - beautiful Nefertiti -
Akhenaten's wife

By the way, I was shocked by the assumption of some scientists that, in fact, some time after Akhenaten's supposed death(!) Egypt was ruled by his wife - Nefertiti - she also posed for sculptors in the role of her husband - that is why the figure of the pharaoh has such a feminine figure with large hips - and the similarity in the faces is clearly visible. Even bolder is the hypothesis that the famous prophet Moses is none other than Akhenaten, who fled to Sinai from ideological persecution for his transformations!

We go up the marble staircase to the second floor of the museum - the core of the collection here is the treasures of the tomb of Tutankhamun, which was found in 1922 in the Valley of the Kings in Luxor, practically unplundered. The collection is truly large and amazing - of course - the famous Golden death mask Tutankhamun (whom we still captured like a spy with the cameras of our mobile phones), his two coffins, the statue of Tutankhamun (it’s near her that we notice how similar our charming Ola is to this pharaoh), a gilded throne, a sculpture of the god Anubis in the form of a reclining figure jackals, gold jewelry and other utensils from the tomb. The collection also includes half-decayed clothes that Tutankhamun was wearing - sandals, a shirt and even underpants... for some reason, to put it mildly, one feels uneasy looking at ordinary, everyday items from this tomb.

On the second floor of the museum there are also Fayum portraits that were found in late XIX V. during excavations of the Roman necropolis in the Fayum oasis, they are a wax drawing on a wooden board. They were drawn from life, hung in the house during life, and after death were placed on top of the mummy. The images of people on them are absolutely realistic.

At one time I first “met” and was fascinated by Fayum portraits in Pushkin Museum in Moscow, thanks to the museum's magnificent permanent exhibition dedicated to ancient Egypt (the collection was compiled by the passionate Egyptologist Prince V.S. Golenishchev). By the way, the question of whether the removal of artifacts from Egypt was a civilized form of robbery or the only way to preserve them is still passionately debated. Scientists are inclined to the latter: at the moment when the burials of the pharaohs began to be discovered, they risked being plundered and destroyed by ignorant treasure hunters. Although it is known that the first robbers entered the tombs thousands of years ago, long before modern thieves
In general, the program of cultural saturation took place - it was time for lunch - there was still a slight feeling of hunger, a desire to drink beer, and most importantly, now just to chat. Ola invites us to go to a cafe she knows well, which is located nearby.

Art cafe (café Estoril)

This wonderful cafe is located very close to the museum and is one of the places where Cairo's bohemia gathers - artists, art critics and people in general who are no strangers to beauty. I specially took the business card of this cafe and am telling you the address for those lucky people who have plans to visit Cairo: it is located in a side street leading from Tallat Harb street in the area of ​​house number 12 to Kasr el Nil street, house 13. For those who are completely dull, it is written - in a buiding shopping center, located behind the Air France office and the cafe phone number: 574 31 02. In general - come in - you won’t regret it! Cozy atmosphere, pleasant coolness on a hot day, beautiful paintings on the walls - the work of a friend of Ola’s artist named Osman, who, of course, also studied his craft in Russia!

The complex, founded in 1885, has the highest concentration of archaeological artifacts in the world. This museum houses more than 100 thousand artifacts dating back to all periods Egyptian history. Wherever you look, you will see something interesting. It will take several years to explore all the treasures of this fantastic place! Since most people come to Cairo for only a few days, it is better to focus your attention on the most popular and important exhibits for Egyptian history.

Egyptian Museum in Cairo - video

Cairo Museum - photo

For those who were impressed by the pyramids, or here is the original statues of Pharaoh Djoser. There is also a small ivory figurine depicting Pharaoh Cheops (the only image of the pharaoh that has survived to this day) - the creator of the Great Pyramid of Giza. And the beautiful statue of his son Khafre is one of the masterpieces ancient egyptian sculpture. He is protected by the god Horus in the form of a hawk. Hidden in a corner of the first floor are several stone fragments that were found directly under the head of the Great Sphinx. These are parts of the ceremonial beard and king cobra that once adorned the statue.

Those who have visited ancient city Akhetaton probably wants to see the hall in which they are images of Pharaoh Akhenaten and Nefertiti. Egyptologists believe that when creating a new religion, Akhenaten wanted to be depicted in male and female guise at the same time, as the supreme creator.

Remember the Pharaoh who pursued Moses and his people in the Sinai desert? This is Ramses the Great. There are quite a few statues of him in the Cairo Egyptian Museum (he reigned for 66 years). You might want to look him in the eye hall of the royal mummies- this is an indescribable feeling.

Almost everyone who comes to Egypt visits, and the Cairo Museum has a special section for them. Everybody wants to watch treasures of Tutankhamun's tomb. Almost half of the second floor of the Egyptian Museum is devoted to the exhibition of these priceless artifacts. There are more than 1,700 exhibits occupying 12 halls! Here you can see a beautiful statue of Tutankhamun standing on the back of a panther; a magnificent throne made of wood, inlaid with gold and precious stones, on the reverse side of which the pharaoh is depicted with his young wife, who was his half-sister; You can also see golden amulets and sarcophagi made of pure gold, as well as small (38-centimeter) golden sarcophagi in which the pharaoh’s entrails were stored. And, probably, the main treasure of Tutankhamun is the golden death mask that covered the mummy’s face. The mask, made of pure gold and decorated with azure brought from what is now Afghanistan, is one of the main treasures of the Egyptian Museum in Cairo.

Cairo Museum - opening hours, ticket prices

You can visit the Cairo Museum daily from 9:00 to 17:00.

Tickets to visit cost 60 Egyptian pounds. To visit the hall with mummies you need to pay an additional fee of about 10 dollars.

Cairo Museum - how to get there, address

Address: Al Ismaileyah, Qasr an Nile, Cairo Governorate.

The Egyptian Museum is located in the center of Cairo. You can get to it by metro - first (red) line, Urabi station.

Cairo Egyptian Museum on the map

Egyptian Museum in Cairo (Cairo, Egypt) - exhibitions, opening hours, address, phone numbers, official website.

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One of the most interesting places In Cairo, the Egyptian Museum, located in Tahrir Square, is rightfully considered. Collected here great amount Egyptian antiquities of great interest. It is very difficult to see more than 150 thousand exhibits in one day, but it is worth the try. By the way, the building of the Egyptian Museum is also far from small and has more than 100 halls.

In 1835, the country's government was forced to create the "Egyptian Antiquities Service" because at that time the looting of pharaonic tombs had reached an unprecedented level. Many local residents lived exclusively by trading antiquities on the black market. Archaeologists often could not do anything, since robbers were vigilantly watching all new excavations. In addition, valuable exhibits were freely exported from the country, since there was no official ban on export.

This emergency shocked the French scientist Auguste Mariette. In 1850, he came to Cairo with one goal: to stop the theft of historical values ​​by any means possible. He managed to found the Egyptian Museum in Bulak, which was then moved to Giza. Mariette was so devoted to his profession and Egypt that he even died in this country. In 1902, all the museum's exhibits were transported to Cairo, to a building built by the architect Marcel Dunon. In the courtyard of the museum there is a monument to the famous Egyptologist, and his ashes are enclosed in a granite sarcophagus.

For the sake of preserving Egyptian antiquities, the French scientist Auguste Mariette refused high paying job at the Louvre and went to Cairo.

Today, the Egyptian Museum houses unique exhibits that are about five thousand years old. Here visitors can see eleven mummies of pharaohs, sarcophagi, objects of art and everyday life, and many other things from the life of the ancient Egyptians. Without a doubt, all exhibitions deserve close attention. But there are, of course, those that are especially popular among visitors. The tomb of Tutankhamun, found in 1922, is of great interest. Tutankhamun's burial was the only one that was not damaged by robbers. Archaeologists have found a lot of valuable things and treasures that belonged to the pharaoh. Many of them can now be seen in the Egyptian Museum. For example, three sarcophagi are stored here, one of which is made entirely of gold and weighs 110 kg.

In the hall of the Egyptian Museum, where the mummies of the pharaohs are kept, a special microclimate has been created.

The exhibition of items dating back to the reign of Pharaoh Akhenaten is also interesting. Amenhotep IV went down in Egyptian history thanks to his reforms. He ordered his people to worship only one god - the Sun-Aten, and not many gods, as was the case during the reign of his ancestors. In honor of the sun, he even took a new name for himself - Akhenaten. After his death, the priests hastened to return to the old principles of life as quickly as possible and ordered the destruction of everything connected with Akhenaten. That is why there are very few monuments left from this period of time.

Address: Meret Basha, Qasr an Nile, Cairo

Cairo Egyptian Museum is in Cairo, capital Egypt, in Tahrir Square, located in the central part of the city. Its collection of historical treasures exceeds 150,000 exhibits and annually attracts millions of tourists from all over the world.

Cairo Egyptian Museum - history of creation.

The famous treasury of antiquities owes its appearance to people who had never met during their lifetime. In 1835, by order of Mohammed Ali, who ruled the country at that time, a decree was issued prohibiting unauthorized excavations and the removal of ancient artifacts from Egypt. Before this decree, many graves were looted, and priceless exhibits could be purchased on the black market.

Not knowing about the ban, in 1850 the French historian Auguste Mariette arrived in Alexandria by ship. The purpose of his visit was to acquire ancient manuscripts. Realizing that it would not be possible to take the valuables out of the country, he remained in Egypt, forever in love with this country. He exhibited his first collection 8 years later in the museum he opened in Bulak. However, after a natural disaster that occurred in 1878, many exhibits were badly damaged, and some were stolen. The scientist appealed to the government with a request to build a large Egyptian museum to preserve the collection. Ismail Pasha, who headed the government, responded to this request, and for safety during the construction of the storage facility, he ordered the entire collection to be transported to his palace.

French architect Marcel Dunon provided a sketch of the building, made in the neoclassical style. After the project was approved in 1900, construction began and was completed 2 years later. All exhibits were transported from Giza and exhibited in the new National Museum in Cairo.

After his death, the founder of the treasury, Auguste Mariette, was given the honor of being buried in a marble sarcophagus located to the left of the entrance to it. A statue of the scientist cast in bronze rises above his tomb. The garden outside the Cairo Egyptian National Museum displays finds discovered by the famous Egyptologist. Here visitors can see the obelisk of Ramesses II and the sphinx of Thutmose III carved from red granite.

Cairo Egyptian Museum - exhibits.

The artifacts stored in the Egyptian Museum are so magnificent that they are of interest not only to connoisseurs of the past, but also to tourists who come to Egypt on vacation. To get acquainted with numerous exhibits and feel the greatness ancient civilization, need at least 4 days.

The Cairo Egyptian Museum, which consists of a huge lobby and one hundred rooms located on two floors, is always noisy and crowded. By visiting each of the halls, you can, as if in a time machine, travel to the origins of world civilization. Greatest Creations human hands collected in thematic collections and arranged chronologically. The oldest exhibits are over five thousand years old, while the youngest ones cover the beginning of our era.

First floor of the Cairo Museum.

The Egyptian Museum in Cairo houses granite, limestone and basalt statues of the rulers of Egypt on the ground floor. At the very entrance, visitors are greeted by huge statues of Pharaoh Amenhotep III and his wife Tia.

Next you can see Pharaoh Mikerin seated surrounded by the ancient Egyptian goddesses Hathor and Bath. Special attention Tourists are attracted by the carefully made statue of Pharaoh Khafre, who belongs to the fourth dynasty, made of dark green diorite, pierced with thin light veins. Some Egyptologists believe that it is his face that sits near the pyramid in the Giza Valley.

Here you can also see the figure of the III dynasty pharaoh Djoser, considered the first builder of the pyramids. His stepped tomb is located in Saqqara near the Giza plateau. On the ground floor there is a statue of Snofru, the pharaoh of the 4th dynasty, for whom two pyramids were erected in Dahshur: the Broken and the Rose, not inferior in their grandeur to the pyramids built in the Giza Valley.

Of equal interest to visitors are the skillfully painted limestone statues of Prince Rahotep and his wife, Princess Nofret. Both sculptures were discovered during expeditions led by Mariette himself.

There is also a separate hall dedicated to Tutankhamun’s father, the heretic pharaoh Akhenaten. It contains colossal statues depicting him and Nefertiti, who was his wife.

In addition to monumental sculptures, the exhibits include many funerary slabs, various vessels and smaller figurines.

Second floor of the Cairo Museum.

But what attracts visitors most of all is the second floor, where treasures from the tomb of Tutankhamun and other ancient rulers are collected. The discovery of the tomb of the young pharaoh and the treasures collected in it made an indelible impression on the inhabitants of the 20th century. It is not so much the quantity of precious stones and gold that amazes, as the highest skill of the ancient craftsmen. Golden funeral mask of Tutankhamun , decorated with precious stones and rare woods, delights visitors and envy modern jewelers. The weight of this masterpiece is more than 11 kg.

The pharaoh's jewelry was made with no less skill - necklaces made of gold with inlays of turquoise and coral, massive rings and earrings, as well as chest jewelry decorated with scenes from ancient myths.

The gilded throne of Tutankhamun, decorated with precious stones, evokes involuntary admiration. On the back there is an image of the pharaoh and his young wife.

Three sarcophagi are on display in the ruler's hall. It is noteworthy that one of them is cast in gold and weighs about one hundred kilograms.

IN separate room You can get acquainted with the treasures of Queen Hetepheres, who was the mother of the famous Pharaoh Cheops. In addition to a box encrusted with precious stones, a stretcher covered with gold leaves, and silver bracelets, in it you can see funerary sarcophagi belonging to different eras and made from various materials.

After examining the treasures of Tutankhamun, it is worth looking into the next room and familiarizing yourself with the collection of jewelry that belonged to the pharaohs who ruled in the 11th-10th centuries BC. These exhibits are less known, but no less valuable. Gold jewelry and the sarcophagus of Pharaoh Psusennes I, inlaid with precious stones, are kept here.

Tourists with strong nerves can visit the hall, which maintains a special microclimate. Here are mummies belonging to famous rulers of the country. If a tourist plans to visit the hall with mummies not as part of an excursion group, he must pay an additional fee. Before visiting, you need to remember one rule - taking photos and videos in this hall of the Cairo Egyptian Museum is prohibited.