Extensive Collection Of Ancient Egyptian Antiquities
The Museum of Egyptian Antiquities, known commonly as the Egyptian Museum was first built in Boulak. In 1891, it was moved to Giza Palace of “Ismail Pasha” which housed the antiquities that were later moved to the present building situated at Tahrir Square in Cairo, Egypt. The building which has 107 halls was built during the reign of Khedive Abbass Helmi II in 1897, and opened on November 15, 1902 . The Egyptian Museum is home to an extensive collection of ancient Egyptian antiquities. On the ground floor of the museum there are the huge statues. Today, the upper floor houses small statues, jewels, Tutankhamun treasures and there are about 9 mummies displayed. One of these is Pharaoh Ramses III, who was an extremely skilled warrior and the newly discovered mummy of Queen Hatshepsut. Overall, it has 120,000 items, with a representative amount on display, and many treasures of King Tutankhamun.
The above information pertains to the state of the museum prior to the Egyptian Revolution of 2011. During the Egyptian Revolution of 2011, the museum was broken into, and two mummies were reportedly destroyed. Several artifacts were also shown to have been damaged.
The Egyptian Museum is without doubt, the greatest collection of Egyptian antiquities and it is a place of true discovery. If you are planning to visit the museum, try not to see everything in one day. Otherwise, you may not remember anything at all! Perhaps, go at least twice.