Cairo Museum

The Museum of Egyptian Antiquities opened in 1902. It is packed full now as more discoveries have been added over the years. There is a new museum under construction by the pyramids in Giza, it will have much more room for displaying artifacts.

Many artifacts are under glass in this museum, and the windows open. With the sand and dust storms, I suspect it’s difficult to keep the glass clean. It’s difficult to take good pictures through dirty glass.

Highlights of the museum were Tutankhamen’s treasures. Here is his throne:

Notice it shows him and his wife. Many of the other pharaohs had battle scenes on their thrones. Here is his name on the right side of the throne.

His sarcophagus was inside four gilded wooden cases, nested inside of one another. Here is one of the cases:

All burials had Ushabti figurines in their tombs. These figurines where supposed to answer for you and go in your place when the gods called you up to work in the afterlife. Pharaohs had much fancier and more of them. Here’s a set of gilded ones:

Here is another gilded statue of the god Horus:

Here is the one Stella that gives Sneferu’s name. He built several pyramids, including the bent pyramid and the red pyramid. His architects were the ones that really figured out how to build pyramids. His son, Kufu, built the great pyramid.