The main building of the Hermitage – ii. Cairo Egyptian Museum - Treasury of Ancient History Current Situation and History of the Cairo Museum

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

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One of the most interesting places in Cairo is considered to be the Egyptian Museum, located on Tahrir Square. There is a huge collection of Egyptian antiquities of great interest. It is very difficult to see more than 150 thousand exhibits in one day, but it is worth trying. By the way, the building of the Egyptian Museum is also far from small and has more than 100 rooms.

In 1835, the government of the country was forced to create the Egyptian Antiquities Service, since at that time the plundering of the tombs of the pharaohs reached an unprecedented level. Many locals lived solely off the black market trade in antiquities. Archaeologists often could not do anything, because robbers were vigilantly watching all new excavations. In addition, valuable exhibits were freely exported from the country, since there was no official export ban.

This emergency shocked the French scientist Auguste Mariette. In 1850, he came to Cairo with the sole purpose of stopping the plunder of historical values ​​by any means. He managed to establish the Egyptian Museum in Bulak, which was then moved to Giza. Mariette was so devoted to his profession and to Egypt that he even died in that country. In 1902, all the exhibits of the museum were transferred to Cairo, in a building that was 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 a highly paid job at the Louvre and left for Cairo.

Today, the Egyptian Museum houses unique exhibits that are about five thousand years old. Here, visitors can see eleven mummies of pharaohs, sarcophagi, art and household items, and many other things from the life of the ancient Egyptians. Without a doubt, all the expositions deserve close attention. But there are, of course, those that are especially popular with visitors. Of great interest is the tomb of Tutankhamen, found in 1922. The burial of Tutankhamun was the only one that did not suffer from the hands of the 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.

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

The exposition of objects related to the reign of Pharaoh Akhenaten is also interesting. Amenhotep IV entered the history of Egypt through 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 foundations of life as soon as possible and ordered to destroy everything connected with Akhenaten. That is why there are very few monuments related to this period of time.

Address: Meret Basha, Qasr an Nile, Cairo

Located in the northern part, the Egyptian Museum seems almost as archaic as the civilization it tells about. Founded in 1858 by Auguste Mariette, who excavated several of the largest temples of Upper Egypt (and was later buried on museum grounds), it has long outgrown the existing building, which now barely has enough space to house artifacts from the pharaonic era. If you give each exhibit one minute, then it will take nine months to inspect all 136,000 monuments.

Another 40,000 are hidden in basements, many of which have already been swallowed up by soft soil, so new excavations are required already under the building itself. A new large building of the Egyptian Museum is currently being built near it, it will house part of the exhibits of the current collection. It is scheduled to open at the end of 2015. At the same time, despite the clutter, poor lighting, and lack of accompanying inscriptions in the old museum, the richness of the collection makes it one of the few truly great museums in the world that no visitor to Cairo can miss.

One three, four-hour visit is enough to view the exhibition of Tutankhamen's treasures and some other masterpieces. Each visitor has his own favorite objects, but the list should include on the ground floor the halls of Amarna art (rooms 3 and 8), the best statues of the Ancient, Middle and New Kingdoms (rooms 42, 32, 22 and 12) and objects from the Nubian cache (room 44). On the second floor are Faiyum portraits (room 14), models from tombs (rooms 37, 32 and 27) and, of course, the mummy room (room 56), although they charge an additional fee to enter it.

Before entering the museum, pay attention to the pond in front of the main entrance. The water lilies growing there are now rare blue lotuses, a plant with psychotropic properties that was used by the ancient Egyptians as a medicine. Judging by some of the frescoes and reliefs, they dipped lotus flowers in wine.

When you enter the museum, you may be offered a guided tour, which usually lasts two hours (about £60 an hour), although the museum deserves at least a six-hour tour. The guides know their subject very well and will help you understand what you see, and if you are visiting the museum in a small group, their services will not be so expensive at all. Another option is to rent an audio guide with a taped tour (£20 in English, Arabic or French) that has buttons on the panel with the numbers of the exhibits in question.

However, since the exhibits were numbered according to at least two different systems, not to mention the new numbers used by the audio guide, things get more complicated. Some objects now have three different numbers, and often do not have any other labels on them. The best published guide to the museum is the Illustrated Guide to the Egyptian Museum (£150) with many photographs of the museum's finest items.

The monuments are not described in the order in which they are presented in the exhibition, but there is an illustrated index at the end to help you navigate the text of the book. In addition, this book is a wonderful souvenir of visiting the museum. The entrance to the cafe-restaurant, located on the ground floor, is through the gift shop on the outside of the museum.

First floor of the Egyptian Museum

The exposition is organized in a more or less sustained chronological order, therefore, heading clockwise from the entrance through the outer galleries, you will pass through the Ancient, Middle and New Kingdoms, and complete the tour with the Late and Greco-Roman periods in the east wing. This is the correct approach from the point of view of history and art criticism, but a very tedious approach.

An easier way to view is to go through the Atrium, which covers the entire era of pharaonic civilization, to the beautiful Amarna-era hall in the north wing, and then come back and go through the departments that interest you the most, or go up to the second floor to the exhibition, dedicated to Tutankhamen.

In order to cover both options, the article has divided the lower floor into six sections: the Atrium, the Ancient, Middle and New Kingdoms, the Amarna-era hall, and the east wing. Whichever route you choose, you should start from the Atrium foyer (room 43), where the story of the dynasties of the pharaohs begins.

• Rotunda and Atrium

In the Rotunda, located inside the museum lobby, monumental sculptures of various eras are presented, in particular, three colossi of Ramses II (XIX dynasty) standing at the corners and a statue of Amenhotep, the son of the royal architect Hapu, who lived during the reign of XV III dynasty. Here, in the northwest corner, there are sixteen small wooden and stone statues of an official of the 24th century BC named Ibu, depicting him at various periods of his life.

To the left of the door is a limestone statue of the seated pharaoh Djoser (No. 106), installed in the serdab of his step pyramid in Saqqara in the 27th century BC and removed by archaeologists 4600 years later. Those who consider the reign of Djoser the beginning of the era of the Old Kingdom, call the previous period the Early Dynastic or Archaic.

The real beginning of dynastic rule is immortalized on the famous exhibit located in room number 43, at the entrance to the Atrium. The Narmer Palette (a decorative flat tile used for rubbing paint) depicts the unification of two kingdoms (circa 3100 BC) by a ruler named Narmer or Menes. On one side of the monument, a white-crowned ruler of Upper Egypt strikes an enemy with a mace, while a falcon (Chorus) holds another prisoner and tramples underfoot the papyrus, the heraldic symbol of Lower Egypt.

The reverse side depicts how the ruler in the red crown inspects the bodies of the dead, and also destroys the fortress in the form of a bull. Two tiers of images are separated by figures of mythical animals with intertwined necks, which are kept from fighting by bearded men, a symbol of the political achievements of the ruler. Along the side walls of the hall are two funeral boats from (Senusret III - XII dynasty).

Going down to hall number 33, which is the Atrium of the museum, you will see the pyramidions (keystones of the pyramids) from Dashur and the sarcophagi of the New Kingdom era. Overshadowing the sarcophagi of Thutmose I and Queen Hatshepsut (belonging to the period when she had not yet become pharaoh), stands the sarcophagus of Merneptah (No. 213), crowned with the figure of the pharaoh himself in the form of Osiris and decorated with a relief image of the sky goddess Nut, protecting the ruler with her arms. But Merneptah's desire for immortality did not come true. When the sarcophagus was discovered at Tanis in 1939, it contained the coffin of Psusennes, ruler of the 21st Dynasty, whose gold-covered mummy is now displayed on the top floor.

In the center of the Atrium is a fragment of a painted floor from the royal palace at Tel el-Amarna (XVIII Dynasty). Cows and other animals roam along the reed-covered banks of the river, which abounds in fish and water birds. This is a fine example of the lyrical naturalism of the art of the Amarna period. To learn more about this revolutionary era in the history of the pharaohs, climb past the imperturbable colossi of Amenhotep III, Queen Tiye and their three daughters, the predecessors of Akhetaten and Nefertiti, whose images are in the northern wing.

But first you must pass through Hall 13, which (to the right) contains the victory stele of Merneptah, also known as the stele of Israel. It got its name from a phrase from the story of the conquests of Merneptah - "Israel is devastated, its seed is gone." This is the only known mention of Israel in the texts of ancient Egypt.

That is why many believe that the Exodus took place during the reign of Merneptah, the son of Ramesses II (XIX dynasty), although in Lately this view is under increasing criticism. On the other side there is an earlier inscription that tells about the deeds of Amenhotep III (Akhenaton's father), committed in honor of the god Amun, whom his son later rejected. At the other end of the hall is a model of a typical Egyptian house from the excavations of Tell el-Amarna, the short-lived capital of Akhenaten and Nefertiti, who are honored to have their own separate exhibition in rooms 8 and 3, a little further.

• Halls of the Old Kingdom

The southwest corner of the first floor is dedicated to the Old Kingdom (circa 2700-2181 BC), when the pharaohs of the III and VI dynasties ruled Egypt from Memphis and built their pyramids. Along the central wing of rooms 46-47 there are funeral statues of important nobles and their servants (the custom of burying servants alive with the master was interrupted with the end of the second dynasty). The relief from the temple of Userkaf (room No. 47, on the north side of the entrance to room No. 48) is the first known example of the depiction of nature in the decoration of royal burial structures. The figures of a motley kingfisher, a purple moorhen and a sacred ibis are clearly distinguishable.

Along the north wall of room 47 are six wooden panels from Khesir's tomb depicting this senior 3rd dynasty pharaonic scribe, who is also the earliest known dentist. In hall No. 47, there are also ushabti - figurines of workers who are depicted preparing food (No. 52 and 53). There are also three slate sculptural triads of Menkaure originating from the temple in Giza from his valley temple in Giza: the pharaoh is depicted next to Hathor and the goddess of the Aphrodite nome. A pair of alabaster slabs depicting lions at the fourth pillar on the north side may have been used for sacrifices or libations at the end of the 2nd dynasty.

Among the most impressive exhibits in room No. 46 are the statuettes of the dwarf Khnumhotep, the keeper of the royal wardrobe, a man with a deformed head and a hunched back, who apparently suffered from Pott's disease (Nos. 54 and 65). Fragments of the Sphinx's beard are located at the end of the vestibule (room No. 51), on the left under the stairs (No. 6031). Another meter-long fragment is located in . The beard appears to have been 5 meters long before it was smashed to pieces by Mamluk troops and Napoleon's soldiers during practice shooting. In addition, in room No. 51 there is a sculpted head of the pharaoh Userkaf of the 5th dynasty (No. 6051), which is the earliest known on this moment statues larger than life size.

At the entrance to room no. 41, reliefs from a 5th Dynasty tomb at Meidum (. no. different kinds agricultural work. On another slab (No. 59) from the tomb of the 5th dynasty in Saqqara, we see the weighing, threshing and sorting of grain, the work of a glassblower and a carver of statues. The women depicted in these reliefs are dressed in long dresses, the men in loincloths, and sometimes without clothes at all (it can be seen that the circumcision rite was one of the Egyptian customs). Room No. 42 boasts a magnificent statue of Khafre, his head surmounted by the image of Horus (No. 37).

The statue, brought from the valley temple of Khafre in Giza, is carved from black diorite, and white marble inclusions successfully emphasize the muscles of the pharaoh's legs and clenched fist. No less impressive is the wooden statue of Kaaper (No. 40) standing on the left, a figure of a stout man with a thoughtful look, which the Arabs working on the excavations in Saqqara called "sheikh al-balad" because he looked like their village headman. One of the two recently restored wooden statues on the right (No. 123 and No. 124) may represent the same person. Note also the remarkable statue of a scribe (No. 43) spreading a papyrus scroll on his knees.

On the walls of hall No. 31 are sandstone reliefs found in Wadi Maragha, near the ancient turquoise mining sites. Paired limestone statues of Ranofer symbolize his dual status as the high priest of the god Ptah and the god Sokar in Memphis. The statues look almost identical, differing only in wigs and loincloths, both of which were created in the royal workshops, possibly by the same sculptor.

Room 32 is dominated by life-size statues of Prince Rahotep and his wife Nefert from their mastaba in Meidum (4th Dynasty). The prince's skin is brick red, his wife's is creamy yellow; such a distinction is common in Egyptian art. Nefert is dressed in a wig and a diadem, her shoulders are shrouded in a transparent veil. The prince wears a simple loincloth wrapped around his waist. Pay attention to the living image of the dwarf Seneb and his family on the left (No. 39).

The face of the keeper of the royal wardrobe, whom his wife embraces, looks peaceful; their naked children raise their fingers to their lips. In the second niche on the left side hangs a bright and lively example of wall painting, known as the "Meidum Geese" (III-IV dynasty). The heyday of the Old Kingdom is represented only by the statue of Ti on the left (No. 49), the period of decline of this era is much richer in monuments: directly next to the entrance are the oldest metal sculptures known to us (about 2300 BC) - statues of Pepi I and his son.

The furniture of Queen Hetepheres, exhibited in room 37, was restored from a pile of gold and fragments of rotten wood. Hetepheres - the wife of Sneferu and the mother of Cheops - was buried near the pyramid of her son in Giza; along with her, a stretcher, golden vessels and a bed with a canopy were placed in the tomb. In addition, in the same hall, in a separate showcase, there is a tiny figurine of Cheops, the only portrait image of the pharaoh known to us - the builder of the Great Pyramid.

• Halls of the Middle Kingdom

In room number 26, you find yourself in the era of the Middle Kingdom, when, under the rule of the XII dynasty, centralized power was established and the construction of the pyramids resumed (circa 1991-1786 BC). A dark relic of the previous era of internal unrest (which completed the First Intermediate Period) is on the right. This is a statue of Mentuhotep Nebhepeter with huge feet (a symbol of power), a black body, arms crossed on his chest and a curly beard (features characteristic of the images of Osiris).

In ancient times, it was hidden in an underground chamber near the memorial temple of Mentuhotep in Deir el-Bahri and subsequently accidentally discovered by Howard Carter, whose horse fell through the roof. On the opposite side of the hall stands Dagi's sarcophagus (No. 34). If the mummy of the owner was still in it, then with the help of a pair of “eyes” painted on the inside of the coffin wall, she could admire the statues of Queen Nofret in a tight dress and a wig of the goddess Hathor standing at the entrance to hall No. 21.

The figurines in the back of room No. 22 amaze with the atypical liveliness of their faces, which contrasts with the manic, frozen gaze of the wooden statue of Nakhti on the right. Portraits of Amenemhet III and Senusret I are also displayed in the hall, but first of all, the burial chamber of Harhotep from Deir el-Bahri in the middle of the hall, which is covered with picturesque scenes, incantations and texts, will attract your attention.

Around the chamber are ten limestone statues of Senusret from his pyramid complex at Lisht. Compared to the cedar wood statue of the same pharaoh in the display case on your right (No. 88), these sculptures are very formal. On the thrones of these statues are depicted different variants symbol of the unity of the semataui: Hapi, the god of the Nile, or Horus and Seth with intertwined stems of plants - symbols of both lands.

The main idea of ​​Egyptian statehood is expressed by the unique double statue of Amenemhet III (No. 508) in room No. 16. Paired figures - personifications of the Nile deity offering fish to his people on trays - can symbolize the Upper and Lower, or the pharaoh himself and his divine essence ka. As you exit the halls of the Middle Kingdom, you are escorted to the left by five sphinxes with lion heads and human faces. The era of anarchy - the Second Intermediate Period and the invasion of the Hyksos - are not presented in the exposition.

• Halls of the New Kingdom

Entering hall number 11, you find yourself in the New Kingdom - the era of the revival of the power of the pharaohs and the expansion of the empire during the 18th and 19th dynasties (about 1567-1200 BC). The Egyptian empire uniting Africa and Asia was created by Thutmose III, who had to wait a long time for his turn, while his not at all warlike stepmother Hatshepsut ruled as pharaoh. The museum houses a column from her great temple at Deir el-Bahri: from above, the sculpted head of Hatshepsut crowned with a crown (No. 94) looks imperiously at visitors. On the left side of the hall is an unusual statue of pharaoh Horus (No. 75), mounted on an inclined base, symbolizing his posthumous wanderings.

In hall number 12 you will see the statue of Thutmose III (no. 62) made of slate, as well as other masterpieces of art epoch XVIII dynasties. At the back of the hall, in the sacred ark from the ruined temple of Thutmose III at Deir el-Bahri, there is a statue of the goddess Hathor in the form of a cow emerging from a thicket of papyrus. Thutmose himself is depicted in front of the statue, under the head of the goddess, and also in the fresco on the side, where he sucks milk like a baby. To the right of the ark is a stone statue of the vizier Hatshepsut Senenmut (No. 418) with the daughter of Queen Neferur, in the second niche on the right is a smaller statue of the same couple.

The relationship between the queen, her daughter and the vizier causes a lot of different speculation. A relief fragment from Deir al-Bahri (second niche from the left) depicting the expedition to Punt belongs to the same period. It depicts Queen Punta suffering from elephantiasis and her donkey, as well as Queen Hatshepsut watching them during her journey to this fabulous country.

To the right of the relief is a gray granite statue of the god Khoneu with a lock of hair, symbolizing youth, and the face (as is commonly believed) of the boy pharaoh Tutankhamen. She was taken from the temple of the moon god in Karnak. On either side of this sculpture and the "Puntian Relief" are two statues of a man named Amenhotep, depicting him as a young scribe of humble birth and an 80-year-old priest honored for managing large-scale construction, like that of the "Colossi of Memnon".

Before turning the corner into the north wing, you will see two statues of the lion-headed Sekhmet found at Karnak. In hall number 6, royal sphinxes with the heads of Hatshepsut and members of her family dominate. Some of the reliefs on the south wall come from the Mayan tomb at Saqqara. The tomb was discovered in the nineteenth century, then lost and found again in 1986. Room No. 8 is largely an addition to the Amarna-era hall, it also houses a monumental double statue of Amun and Mut, broken into pieces by medieval stonemasons and lovingly assembled from fragments lying around for a long time in the cellars of the museum in Karnak, where the monument originally stood . Those parts that could not be inserted into the puzzle are displayed in a stand behind the sculpture.

To the left of the stairs in room 10, note the colored relief on the slab from the Temple of Ramses II in Memphis (no. 769), which depicts the king subjugating the enemies of Egypt. In a motif repeated on dozens of temple pylons, the king holds a Libyan, a Nubian, and a Syrian by the hair and swings an axe. The pharaohs of the Ramesside dynasty, who had never fought themselves, were especially fond of such reliefs.

The hall ends with an artistic rebus (No. 6245): the statue of Ramses II depicts the king as a child with a finger attached to his lips and a plant in his hand, he is protected by the sun god Ra. The name of the god in combination with the words "child" (mes) and "plant" (su) forms the name of the pharaoh. From Room 10, you can continue your exploration of the New Kingdom in the east wing, or take the stairs to Tutankhamen's Gallery on the next floor.

• Amarna era hall

Hall No. 3 and most of the adjoining Hall No. 8 are dedicated to the Amarna period: an era of break with centuries of tradition, which lasted for some time after the end of the reign of Pharaoh Akhenaten (circa 1379-1362 BC) and Queen Nefertiti. Rejecting Amon and other Theban gods, they proclaimed the cult of a single god - Aten, built a new capital in Central Egypt to get rid of the old bureaucracy, and left behind mysterious works art.

Four colossal statues of Akhenaten look out at you from the walls of Hall 3. Their elongated heads and faces, plump lips and flared nostrils, rounded hips and belly suggest a hermaphrodite or a primeval goddess of the earth. Since these same features are also characteristic of the images of his wife and children on some steles (in the left niche and in the windows opposite) and tomb reliefs, there is a theory that the artistic style of the Amarna era reflects some physical anomaly Akhenaten (or members royal family), and the inscriptions hint at some kind of perversion.

Opponents of this hypothesis object: the head of Nefertiti, stored in, proves that it was only a stylistic device. Another feature of Amarna art was the expressed interest in privacy: a stele depicting the royal family (No. 167 in room No. 8) depicts Akhenaten holding his eldest daughter Meritaten in his arms, while Nefertiti rocks her sisters in the cradle. For the first time in Egyptian art, for example, a breakfast scene appears. The masters of the Amarna era concentrated their attention on the earthly world, and not on the traditional plots associated with the afterlife.

Art is filled with new life force– pay attention to the loose brush strokes on the fragments of the fresco with scenes in the swamp, presented on the walls of room number 3. Showcase “A”, located to the left of the entrance to the hall, exhibits some of the documents of the Amarna archive (the rest are in London and Berlin). They contain requests to send troops to help supporters of the pharaoh in Palestine, tell about the consequences of his death and Nefertiti's search for allies to fight those who encouraged Tutankhamun to turn the Amarna revolution back. These cuneiform tablets in baked clay "envelopes" were kept in the archives of the Amarna diplomatic department.

Akhenaten's coffin, inlaid with carnelian, gold and glass, can be seen in room 8, its lid is displayed next to the gold lining of the lower part. These treasures disappeared from the museum between 1915 and 1931 but were rediscovered in 1980. Now the gold decoration has been restored and placed on a plexiglass model, which has the supposed shape of the original coffin.

• East Wing

The incentive to move further from the halls of the New Kingdom to the east wing may be the statue of the wife of Nakht Mina (No. 71) located in the hall No. 15, which looks very sexy. Room 14 displays a huge alabaster statue of Seti I, whose sensual facial modeling evokes a bust of Nefertiti.

It is likely that the pharaoh was originally depicted in a nemes - a headdress that we can see on the funeral mask of Tutankhamun. Even more impressive is the restored pink granite triple statue of Ramesses III being crowned by Horus and Seth, representing order and chaos respectively.

The new kingdom gradually declined during the 20th Dynasty and perished under the 21st Dynasty. It was followed by the so-called Late Period, when foreign rulers were predominantly in power. By this time, the statue of Amenirdis the Elder, exhibited in the center of hall No. 30, which the pharaoh placed at the head of the Theban priestesses of Amon, dates back to this time.

On the head of Amenirdis, dressed as the queen of the New Kingdom, is a falcon headdress decorated with a uraeus, which was once crowned with the crown of Hathor with a solar disk and horns. The most memorable of the numerous statues of the gods in room number 24 is the image of a pregnant hippo female - the goddess of childbirth Taurt (or Toerit).

Rooms 34 and 35 cover the Greco-Roman period (from 332 BC) when the principles classical art began to actively penetrate into the symbolism of ancient Egypt. The fusion of styles characteristic of the era is demonstrated by bizarre statues and sarcophagi in room 49. Room 44 is used for temporary exhibitions.

Second floor of the Egyptian Museum

The most significant part of the exposition on the second floor are the halls with the treasures of Tutankhamun, which occupy the best areas. After examining these objects, everything but the mummies and a few masterpieces seems dim, although there are artifacts in other rooms that are not inferior to those exhibited below. To view them, come to the museum on some other day.

• Halls of Tutankhamun

Tutankhamen's boy-pharaoh's grave goods set includes 1,700 items that fill a dozen halls. Considering the shortness of his reign (1361-1352 BC) and the small size of his tomb in the Valley of the Kings, the priceless treasures that seem to have belonged to at least such great pharaohs as Ramesses and Seti are even more amazing. imagination.

Tutankhamun simply went over to the side of the Theban counter-revolution, which destroyed the Amarna culture and restored the former power of the cult of Amun and its priests. However, the influence of Amarna is evident in some exhibits, which are arranged in much the same way as they were in the tomb: chests and statues (room no. 45) in front of furniture (rooms no. 40, 35, 30, 25,15, 10), arks (rooms no. 9-7) and gold items (room No. 3).

Next to them are decorations (room no. 4) and other treasures from various tombs (rooms no. 2 and 13). Most visitors rush to the last four halls (halls 2, 3 and 4 close fifteen minutes before the rest), ignoring the sequence just indicated. If you are one of those visitors, please skip the detailed description below.

When members of the Howard Carter expedition in 1922 entered the sealed corridor of the tomb, they found the front chamber literally full of chests and fragments of things left by the robbers. There were also two life-size statues of Tutankhamun (standing at the entrance to room No. 45), whose black skin color symbolizes the rebirth of the king. Directly behind them are golden statues of Tutankhamun depicting him hunting with a harpoon.

In hall No. 35, the main exhibit is a gilded throne with handles in the form of winged kites and legs in the form of animal paws (No. 179). The back depicts a royal couple resting in the rays of the sun-Aton. The names of the spouses are given in the form accepted for the Amarna era, which makes it possible to attribute the throne to the period when Tutankhamun still adhered to the sun-worshipping cult.

Other mundane items that the boy pharaoh took with him to the other world included an ebony and ivory set for a game of senet similar to our checkers (No. 49). A lot of ushabti figurines were supposed to perform tasks that the gods could give the pharaoh in another world (on the sides of the entrance to hall No. 34).

In room No. 30 there is a casket with the “Staffs of the Captives” (No. 187), the images on which, inlaid with ebony and ivory, symbolize the unity of the north and south. The bust of a boy pharaoh born from a lotus (No. 118) testifies to the continued influence of the Amarna style during the reign of Tutankhamun. The ceremonial throne (no. 181) in room no. 25 is the prototype of the episcopal chairs in the Christian church. Its back is decorated with luxurious ebony and gold inlay, but it looks uncomfortable. More typical of pharaonic times are the wooden armchair and footstools, as well as the ornate chest of drawers.

The clothes and ointments of the king were stored in two magnificent chests. On the lid and side walls of the “Painted Chest” (No. 186) in room No. 20, he is depicted hunting ostriches and antelopes or destroying the Syrian army from his war chariot, shown more natural size. The end panels show the pharaoh in the form of a sphinx trampling on his enemies.

In contrast to the warlike images of Tutankhamun on other objects, the scene on the lid of the “Inlaid Chest” is made in the Amarna style: Ankhesenamun (daughter of Nefertiti and Akhenaten) brings a lotus, papyrus and mandrake to his spouse, surrounded by flowering poppies, pomegranates and cornflowers. Decorated with idyllic scenes of family life, the golden ark once contained statues of Tutankhamun and his wife Ankhesenamun, which were stolen in antiquity.

From the ivory headrests in room 15, it would be perfectly logical to move on to the gilded boxes dedicated to the gods, whose images in the form of animals are carved on the racks (nos. 183, 221 and 732 in room 10). In the next room, No. 9, there is the sacred ark of Anubis (No. 54), which was carried before the funeral procession of the pharaoh: the protector of the dead is depicted as a vigilant jackal with gilded ears and silver claws.

Four alabaster vessels with lids, placed in an alabaster casket (No. 176), which were exposed further, contained the entrails of the deceased pharaoh. This casket, in turn, stood inside the next exhibit - a golden chest with a lid and statues of the protective goddesses Isis, Nephthys, Selket and Neith (No. 177). In halls No. 7 and 8, four gilded arks are exhibited, which were placed one inside the other, like a Russian nesting doll; they contained the sarcophagus of Tutankhamun.

Hall No. 3, always filled with visitors, exhibits Tutankhamen's gold, some of which is periodically exhibited abroad. When the treasures are in, the main attention is drawn to the famous funeral mask with a nemyos headdress, inlaid with lapis lazuli, quartz and obsidian.

The inner anthropomorphic coffins are decorated with the same materials, they depict a boy-king with arms folded, like those of Osiris, under the protection of the wings of the goddesses Wadjet, Nekhbet, Isis and Nephthys, made in the technique of cloisonné enamel. Numerous amulets were found on the mummy of Tutankhamen (which remains in his tomb in the Valley of the Kings), enamel ceremonial armor with glass and carnelian inlays, precious stones and a pair of golden sandals are all on display here.

Next room jewelry strikes the imagination. The 6th Dynasty golden falcon head (once attached to a copper body) from Hierakonpolis is considered the star of the collection, but the crown and necklace of Princess Khnumit, as well as the diadem and breast jewelry of Princess Sathatkhor, are in serious competition with her. An amethyst belt and an anklet from Mereret, another princess of the 12th dynasty, were found near the body of the latter in her tomb at Dashur.

The ceremonial ax of Ahmose commemorates the expulsion of the Hyksos from Egypt. The ax was found in the tomb of his mother, Queen Ahhotep. From the same cache, discovered by Mariette in 1859, comes a composite bracelet of lapis lazuli and bizarre gold flies with bulging eyes - the Order of Valor, an award for bravery.

Item No. 787, exhibited in room No. 2, dates back to the XXI-XXII dynasties, when northern Egypt was ruled from the Delta. found in the sarcophagus of Merneptah (located on the lower floor). His New Kingdom-style gold necklace is made from several rows of disc-shaped pendants.

Between Hall 8 and the Atrium are two wooden chariots found in the front chamber of Tutankhamun's tomb. They were intended for solemn ceremonies, their gilded reliefs depict bound Asians and Nubians. The real war chariots of the pharaohs were lighter and stronger. After completing your tour of Tutankhamen's treasures, you can go either to the Hall of Mummies in the west wing, or to other rooms.

• Museum mummies

In the southern part of the second floor of the museum there are two halls where mummies are exhibited. Room 53 contains mummified animals and birds from various Egyptian necropolises. They testify to the prevalence of animalistic cults at the end of the pagan era, when their adherents embalmed everything from bulls to mice and fish.

Modern Egyptians view these testimonies of their ancestors' superstition calmly, but the display of human remains offended many of them, which led to Sadat's closure. the famous Hall mummies (formerly Hall No. 52) in 1981. Since then, the Egyptian Museum and the Getty Institute have been working to restore the badly damaged mummies of the kings. The results of their work are currently on display in Room 56, which requires a separate ticket to enter (£70, £35 for students; closes at 6:30 pm).

Eleven royal mummies are exhibited here (with detailed explanations; the exhibits are arranged in chronological order, if you go around the hall counterclockwise), including the remains of some of the most famous pharaohs, in particular, the great conquerors of the 19th dynasty, Seti I and his son Ramesses II. The latter had a much less athletic build than that seen at his colossal statues in Memphis and elsewhere. Here is also the mummy of the son of Ramesses, Merneptah, who is considered by many to be the pharaoh of the biblical Exodus. If you don't have much interest in mummies, it's not worth paying so much to see them.

All of the mummies are kept in sealed, humidity-controlled containers, and most of them look very peaceful. Thutmose II and Thutmose IV seem to be sleeping, many of them have hair. The curly locks and beautiful face of Queen Henuttaui may indicate her Nubian origin. Out of respect for the dead, tours are not allowed here, the muffled hum of the voices of visitors is interrupted only by periodic calls: "Please keep silence!".

The mummies were found in the royal cache at Deir el-Bahri and in one of the rooms of the tomb of Amenhotep II, where the bodies were reburied during the reign of the 21st dynasty to protect them from robbers. To see that the mummy is empty inside, look through the right nostril of Ramesses V - from this angle you can look inside directly through the hole in the skull.

• Other halls of the museum

To view the remainder of the exhibition in chronological order, you must start in Room 43 (above the Atrium) and move clockwise as you did on the ground floor. But, since most visitors come here from the halls of Tutankhamen, we describe the western and eastern wings from this point.

Starting from the west wing, note the "Heart Scarabs" that were placed on the throats of the mummies. They were inflicted with the words of a spell, calling the heart of the deceased not to testify against him or her during the Judgment of Osiris (room number 6). Among the many objects from the royal tombs of the XVIII dynasty in room No. 12 are the mummy of a child and a gazelle (case I); priestly wigs and wig boxes (case L); two leopards from the cache of the tomb of Amenemhat II (No. 3842) and the chariot of Thutmose IV (No. 4113). Room No. 17 presents utensils from private tombs, in particular, the tombs of Sennedzhem from the workers' settlement near the Valley of the Kings.

With skill honed in the construction of royal tombs, Sennedjem carved for himself a stylish crypt on the door of the tomb (No. 215), he is depicted playing senet. On the sarcophagus of his son Khonsu, the lions of Ruti, the deities of the current and the past day, are depicted supporting the rising sun, and Anubis embalming his body under the protection of Isis and Nephthys.

Caskets with canopies and coffins are exhibited in the corridor, in the inner halls there are models from the Middle Kingdom. Magnificent figurines and genre scenes come from the tomb of Meketre in Thebes (room No. 27): a woman carrying a jug of wine on her head (No. 74), peasants fishing with a net from reed boats (No. 75), cattle driven past the owner (No. 76). In room 32, compare models of boats with a full crew of sailors (case F) with solar barges without sailors, designed to travel to eternity (case E). Fans of soldiers will admire the phalanxes of Nubian archers and Egyptian warriors from the tomb of Prince Mesehti in (room number 37).

The south wing of the museum is best viewed at a brisk pace. The middle section contains a model of a funerary complex showing how the pyramids and their temples were connected to the Nile (room no. 48), and a leather funeral canopy for a 21st dynasty queen decorated with red and green checkerboard squares (no. 3848, near the south east stairs in hall No. 50). More impressive are the two displays in the central part: recent finds and forgotten treasures displayed near room 54, as well as room 43 - objects from the tomb of Yuya and Tuya.

The most beautiful of these items are Tuya's jeweled gilded mask, their anthropomorphic coffins, and the statues of this married couple. As the parents of Queen Tiye (wife of Amenhotep III) they were buried in the Valley of the Kings, their tomb was found intact at the end of the nineteenth century. Behind the entrance to hall no. 42, note the blue faience tile wall panel originating from Djoser's mortuary temple at Saqqara (no. 17).

In hall number 48 near the railing open gallery above the Rotunda is a showcase (No. 144) with a stone head of Akhenaten's mother Queen Tiye, which anticipates the Amarna style, and statuettes of "dancing dwarfs" depicting equatorial pygmies. In the same display case is a magnificent, very lively statuette of a Nubian woman (possibly also Queen Tii) with a braided hairstyle that looks very modern.

If you come from the north wing, then the east wing opens for you with room number 14, which exhibits a couple of mummies and very realistic, but poorly lit Faiyum portraits found by archaeologist Flinders Petrie in Khawara. Portraits dating back to the Roman period (100-250 years) were made using the encaustic technique (dyes were mixed with molten wax) from living life, and after the death of the depicted person, they were placed on the face of his mummy.

The striking diversity of the late Pagan Egyptian pantheon is shown by the statues of deities in room 19. The tiny figurines deserve close inspection, especially those of the pregnant female hippopotamus - the goddess Taurt (in case C), Harpocrates (Chora the Child), Thoth with the head of an Ibis and the dwarf god Ptah-Socar (everything is in window E), as well as Bes, who looks almost like a Mexican god (in window R). In showcase V in the center of the room, note the image of Chorus in gold and silver, apparently serving as a sarcophagus for the mummy of a falcon.

The next room is dedicated to ostraca and papyri. Ostraca were pieces of limestone or clay shards, on which drawings or insignificant inscriptions were applied. Papyrus was used to complete works of art and record valuable texts.

In addition to the Book of the Dead (rooms 1 and 24) and the Book of Amduat (where the ceremony of weighing the heart is depicted, no. 6335 in the southern part of room no. 29), pay attention to the Satirical Papyrus (no. 232 in case 9 on the north side), which depicts cats, serving mice. In the images created in the Hyksos period, the cats represent the Egyptians, and the mice represent their rulers, who came from countries that were formerly part of the Egyptian state.

The image alludes to the fact that the rule of foreigners in Egypt was perceived as unnatural. In room No. 29, there is also a scribe's writing instrument and the artist's paints and brushes (near the door at the other end). In the next room number 34 are musical instruments and figurines of people playing on them.

In the hallway (Room 33) there are two interesting chairs: a seat from an Amarna toilet is on display in display case "O" near the door, and in display case "S" there is a birthing chair, very similar to that used today. Room 39 displays glassware, mosaics and figurines from the Greco-Roman period, while room 44 displays faience wall cladding in the Mesopotamian style from the palaces of Ramesses II and III.

In contact with

The collection of Egyptian originals came to the museum from St. Petersburg academician Vladimir Semyonovich Golenishchev. V.S. Golenishchev was a scientist, an archaeologist, he traveled to Egypt with an expedition from the State Hermitage and acted as an overseer of the work. In parallel, he collected a collection for himself. The St. Petersburg collection was collected during excavations, so its items are accurately dated, attributed and tied to one or another tomb. And for himself, V.S. Golenishchev bought items on the "black market". Therefore, they were neither attributed nor dated. Later, scientists determined the age of the monuments and belonging to a particular tomb in parallel with other similar artifacts.

In 1909, Golenishchev went bankrupt and was forced to sell his collection. But, despite the lucrative offers from different countries, the scientist wanted his collection to remain in Russia, so he sold it to the imperial treasury for a smaller amount. Moreover, the first half of the amount was paid to him immediately, the second was promised to be paid later, and they never paid the scientist, as is usual in Russia.

They decided to send the collection to Moscow, because the Hermitage already had a collection of Egyptian art. As a result, the Moscow collection turned out to be even better than the one exhibited in the Hermitage. It is smaller in number of items, but their quality is much higher. After all, V.S. Golenishchev tried to ensure that every epoch, every phenomenon in Egyptian culture, was represented by some kind of object. That is why the collection of Egyptian antiquities in the Pushkin Museum, although smaller, is better than the Hermitage collection. It is currently the best collection of Egyptian art in Russia. And it became the first collection of originals in the museum.

Hall No. 1, where the monuments of Ancient Egypt are now exhibited, was specially rebuilt for the collection of V.S. Golenishchev. His collection came to the museum when it was still under construction.

The ceiling is supported by ancient Egyptian-style columns imitating bundles of papyrus. The whole architecture of the hall goes back to one of the halls of the ancient Egyptian temple. To imagine the atmosphere of the ancient sanctuary, Roman Ivanovich Klein traveled to Egypt, visited and examined the temples. In particular, he drew attention to the temple of Amun in Luxor and was primarily guided by it. The windows were curtained because the hall of the Egyptian temple did not allow for natural light. Above, on the ceiling, there is a repeatedly repeated image of a bird with outstretched wings, this is the image of the sky goddess Nut.


The ceiling is also painted under the starry sky.

One of the halls of the Egyptian temple actually reproduced nature on the banks of the Nile, a mountain of royal papyri.
I.V. Tsvetaev specifically asked R.I. Klein to make a hall in this style so that the visitor not only looked at individual objects, but also felt the atmosphere of Ancient Egypt. In addition, the museum was originally planned as an educational one and its purpose was to give students an idea not only about painting, sculpture and small plastic arts, but also about architecture.

About the collection. The re-exposition in the hall took place several years ago, in 2012. Some monuments ended up in the funds, while others, on the contrary, were put up. Currently, about a third of the existing collection is represented, that is, most of the Egyptian antiquities are in storerooms.

MONUMENTS
Sarcophagus and mummy of Hor-Kha. It is curious that this mummy cannot be photographed in any way, x-rays are never obtained. The mummy "does not want" to reveal its secrets. This is the mummy of the priest Khor-Kha, he died in the 2nd millennium BC.

The mummy is in a horizontal display case to the right of the entrance to the hall

How did the Egyptians embalm a mummy? There are many recipes and all of them, in fact, come down to the same technology: an incision was made in the side of a dead body. The ego was made by a specially trained person, who was called a "paraschist" (ripper). The body of a deceased person was considered sacred and therefore, on the one hand, the paraschist was hired by the relatives of the deceased and paid him money for making an incision on his side. On the other hand, as soon as the paraschist made an incision, he ran away as fast as he could. The people who hired him were now running after him and throwing stones at him for committing such sacrilege.

Then, through the incision, the insides were taken out, which were washed, placed in special vessels filled with embalming substances. Such vessels are in the collection of the museum, they are located in a vertical display case behind the mummy of Khor-Kha, in the corner, almost opposite the entrance to the hall).


All cavities in the body were also filled with embalming agents. The body was placed in "natron" - a kind of soda. Natron pulled all the moisture out of the body and the process of mummification began. The body was dried up, so it could no longer decay. He was wrapped in linen bandages and placed in a sarcophagus.

The sarcophagus of the priest Hor-Ha is not the best and not the most beautiful in the collection. The best is Mahu's sarcophagus.

Sarcophagus of Mahu.

It repeats the shape of a mummy, the tomb narrows towards the feet. A mask was always placed on the sarcophagus, which was supposed to indicate the face of the deceased. It is to designate, not to depict. Because regardless of who was buried - an old man, a girl, a woman, a young or old person - the mask was always the same. The face of the mask was painted with a wide open eyes, underlined with black or dark blue paint.

The Egyptians believed that when the soul reconnects with the body, it must enter the sarcophagus through the eyes. For this, the body was preserved, mummified.

Mahu's sarcophagus is a brilliant example of ancient Egyptian art. It is made of wood, this material was highly valued in ancient Egypt, there was not much wood. The black color of the sarcophagus emphasizes the radiance of the gilding. The gilding, the subtlety of the details indicates that this is a sarcophagus of a very rich man, made by the best craftsmen.

Undoubtedly, the best Egyptian craftsmen also made wooden statues of Amenhotep and his wife Rannai. These figures, on the one hand, connect the traditions of Egyptian art.

Amenhotep and his wife, the "singer of Amun", Rannai, are the priests of the temple of the sun god.

The Egyptians have always depicted people in a frozen posture of wide stride with straight legs. It's not quite lifelike, because while walking, the knees bend. Here the legs are straight, the arms are extended along the body and pressed to it. The left arm of Rannai is bent at the elbow and also pressed to the body. The rule here is combined with a very subtle psychologism. The figure of a man is tall, he is broad-shouldered. He walks confidently, his head held high and open. He is a priest, so he does not wear a wig and his hair does not darken his face, it is brightly lit. He turns his head slightly to the left. He seems to resist the rule that the person portrayed had to look straight ahead. The figure of his wife is thin, fragile, she minces her feet finely in her narrow dress, in contrast to her husband's wide step. Her face is slightly lowered, a shadow from her hair falls on her face. On the right side, the hair was not preserved, but they were also there. A dreamy, enigmatic expression appears on the woman's face. This is how the Egyptians imagined perfect man and the perfect woman. A man is strong and determined, a woman is fragile, thin, mysterious. And this is the beauty of Egyptian art. On the one hand, it has strict rules, on the other hand, within these rules there can be a very subtle and refined psychological characteristic.

In addition to wood, the Egyptians were very fond of ivory, and even more - stone.
Cosmetic spoon. The masterpiece of the museum is a small bone spoon, it is known all over the world. This is the finest work of ivory. The spoon is intended for cosmetics.

It is a box for storing cosmetics, it can be opened. The box is made in the form of a floating girl with a lotus flower in her hands. In addition to painted and unpainted ivory, beech wood was used here; the girl’s wig was made from this material. Such a thin, elegant thing may have been used in the everyday life of rich people, or perhaps it was ritual. It comes, of course, from the tomb.

A feature of ancient Egyptian culture in the form in which it has come down to us is that objects do not come from houses or from palaces, but from tombs. This is the best that the Egyptians wanted to take with them to the afterlife.

It also represents the Middle Kingdom era in Egyptian art. The name suggests that this is the middle of the existence of the ancient Egyptian kingdom - the 2nd millennium BC. At this time, special attention in Egyptian art is paid to portrait images.

The sculptures of Amenemhat III are interesting in that quite a lot of them have been preserved.

The pharaoh ruled long enough, he founded the Fayum oasis in Egypt. He has been depicted on numerous occasions different ages, his image can be found in various museums - in Berlin, in the Hermitage. From his portraits, one can observe how the appearance of the pharaoh changed with age. In the Pushkin Museum, Amenemhat III is presented not as an old man, but not as a young man either. If you look closely, you can see bags under the eyes, heavy, hanging eyelids, wrinkled lips, that is, the pharaoh is far from being young. But his head is attached to the body of a young and strong youth, since the pharaoh in ancient Egypt was considered a god and the personification of Egypt and always had to be portrayed as strong and young. Therefore, here, on the one hand, there is a portrait image, and on the other, the deification of the pharaoh, represented in the body of a young and strong youth, who is no different from the gods.

On this conversation about Egyptian art can be completed, we saw the masterpieces of the hall. If you have time, you can show relief of the head of the treasury Isi. ( Relief. Limestone. Middle of the 3rd millennium BC e.)

There are several relief images of the treasurer of Pharaoh Isi. It should be emphasized that the Egyptians used strict rules when depicting a person. The shoulders of a person are turned to the front, the head has a complex turn. In fact, it is absolutely impossible to roll the eye the way it is depicted. The person looks directly at us, that is, the eye is depicted in front, while the head is turned in profile. Such an image showed that the depicted person was alive, that he was capable of movement.

When the Egyptians depicted a mummy, not a living body, then in the compositions dedicated to the burial, the mummy was depicted either strictly in front or strictly in profile. The complex image of Treasurer Isi emphasized that the person was alive, and therefore collected different points of view. What is considered unrealistic for us, from their point of view, was perfect realism, an indication that this is a living person.

Cairo Egyptian Museum is a unique place and one of the main attractions of the Land of the Pharaohs. It is located right on the central square of the Egyptian capital. This museum complex was founded in 1885 and at the moment it is the place of the largest concentration of historical exhibits in the world.

The Cairo Museum exhibits about 100,000 artifacts that tell about different periods of Egyptian history. It is believed that even a few years will not be enough to see them all. And since tourists come to Egypt for a very a short time, it is best to stop at the most popular and breathtaking exhibits of Egyptian history.

Treasury of Egyptian History

The collection of the Cairo Museum is truly unique. Each tourist, passing through numerous halls, makes a fascinating journey into the mysterious ancient Egyptian civilization, striking in the grandeur and magnificence of its creations. All artifacts in the museum are arranged chronologically and thematically. The first floor is occupied stone sculptures from limestone, basalt, granite from ancient times to the period of the conquest of Egypt by the Romans. Among them is a magnificent sculptural composition of Pharaoh Mykerin surrounded by goddesses.

Those who have been impressed by the pyramids at Saqqara, Dashur and Giza will surely be awed by the original statue of Pharaoh Djoser. The only surviving image of the great pharaoh Cheops, the creator of the pyramid at Giza, is also kept here - an ivory figurine. And the statue of his son Khafre is one of the masterpieces of ancient Egyptian sculpture. The museum also exhibits several stone fragments found directly above the head of the Great Sphinx. These are parts of the ceremonial beard and king cobra that once adorned the statue of Khafre.

It is impossible to ignore the hall, which stores images of the heretic pharaoh Akhenaten and his wife, Queen Nefertiti, whose beauty is legendary. famous photos her profile speaks eloquently of the beauty and refinement of her features. Also, the National Museum of Cairo is famous for its many images of Pharaoh Ramses the Great, who, according to legend, pursued Moses in the Sinai desert. Be sure to look at him in the hall of the royal mummies - this spectacle leaves no one indifferent.

And of course, who doesn't want to look at the treasures of Tutankhamun's tomb? These priceless exhibits occupy almost half of the second floor of the museum building - 1700 artifacts located in more than 10 halls. Here you can find a majestic statue of Tutankhamun standing on the back of a panther, a solid wood throne decorated with gold and precious minerals, golden amulets, sarcophagi.

It is known that this ruler died very young, at the age of 18, and his death was provoked by an accident. He died from malaria, which developed after he suffered an open fracture of the knee in a fall from a chariot. The museum contains small caskets-sarcophagi, in which the organs of the young king were placed. And, of course, the most famous treasure of Tutankhamun - golden mask, which covered the face of the found mummy. This is one of the most valuable antiquities that the National Egyptian Museum in Cairo keeps. A photo of the mask can be easily found on the Internet - it is so beautiful and so well preserved that it is impossible not to be delighted looking at it.

A separate room is reserved for the treasures of Queen Hetepheres, the mother of Cheops, the creator of the most famous and largest pyramid in Giza. This is a large throne, and a bed, and a stretcher covered with gold, and caskets adorned with jewels, and bracelets. There are huge sarcophagi here. different eras made of red and black granite, granite sphinxes, spoons made of the most valuable woods.

In the 3rd millennium BC, someone wrote on the walls of the Great Pyramids: “O Pharaoh, you did not leave dead, you left alive!” The person who wrote these lines had no idea how right he turned out to be. Whole story ancient egypt collected in the walls of the Cairo Egyptian Museum. Only here you can fully feel the strength and power of the greatest ancient civilization, and this phenomenon could not be repeated by any other state.

Opening hours of the Cairo Egyptian Museum

The National Museum of Antiquities is located in the very center of Cairo, on the main square. It can be reached by metro (line 1, Urabi station). Cairo Egyptian Museum welcomes tourists every day from 9.00 to 17.00.

The ticket costs 60 Egyptian pounds, but if you want to visit the hall of mummies, you will have to pay another 10 pounds.

In the very center of Cairo on Tahrir Square is one of the largest repositories of historical artifacts - the Cairo Museum. The museum's collection is located in more than a hundred rooms, which exhibit over a hundred thousand archaeological finds. No museum in the world can boast of such a high concentration of exhibits.

The history of the creation of the museum

The basis of the richest collection of Egyptian antiquities in the world was laid by the French scientist Auguste Mariette, the founder and first head of the Cairo Museum. Fascinated by Egyptology under the influence of his friend and relative, the famous Champollion, Mariette went to work at the Louvre Museum, and in 1850 was sent to Egypt to search for ancient manuscripts.

Instead of searching the library archives, the young Egyptologist enthusiastically set about excavating the Memphis necropolis at Saqqara, as well as elsewhere. The scientist sent his findings to the Louvre. He owns the honor of opening the Alley of the Sphinxes and the Serapeum, the necropolis of the sacred Apis bulls.

Returning to France, Mariet continued to work at the Louvre, but already in 1858 the ruler of Egypt, Said Pasha, invited him to head the Egyptian Antiquities Service. Arriving in Egypt, Mariet led an energetic fight against the plunder of ancient artifacts, not forgetting about archaeological research. Under his leadership, the Great Sphinx was finally cleared of centuries-old sand drifts. In 1859, in the Cairo suburb of Bulak, at the request of the scientist, a special building was built for archaeological finds. This was the beginning of the collection of the Cairo Museum.

In 1878, during the flood, the museum building was partially flooded, many exhibits were damaged. After that, it was decided to build a new large building in a safer place, and the collection was transported for storage to the palace of the ruler of Egypt, Ismail Pasha.

For services to Egyptology, Mariet was elected a member of a number of European academies, and the Egyptian authorities honored him with the title of pasha. Auguste Mariette died in 1881. The ashes of the scientist, according to his will, rest in a sarcophagus in the courtyard of the Cairo Museum.

The current building was built in 1900, and two years later the museum received its first visitors.

Since then, the museum's collection has been continuously replenished. However, there were dark moments in his history. During the Arab Spring in 2011, during a popular demonstration, looters smashed several shop windows and stole at least 18 exhibits. The robbery was stopped by other demonstrators, after which the military took the museum under their protection.

Museum exposition

It will take several years to see all the exhibits of the Cairo Museum. Even specialists from time to time find something completely new for themselves in its storerooms. Therefore, we will focus on the most interesting of the artifacts stored here.

The exhibits of the museum are arranged chronologically and thematically. At the entrance, the visitor is greeted by imposing statues of Amenhotep III and his wife Tia. The image of the queen is not inferior in size to the sculpture of the pharaoh, which contradicts the Egyptian tradition.

The ground floor houses statues of all sizes, dating from the pre-dynastic era to the Roman conquest. There are also fragments of the Great Sphinx - parts of a false beard and uraeus, images of a cobra from the crown of the pharaoh.

Of particular interest are the sculptural images of the pharaohs of the most ancient era - the statue of the builder of the first pyramid of Djoser, the only surviving image of Cheops - an ivory figurine, as well as a magnificent example of ancient Egyptian art - a diorite statue of the pharaoh Khafre. The 10-meter statue of Ramses II from pink granite stands out for its majesty.

The grave goods from the tomb of Queen Hetepheres, the mother of Cheops, belong to the era of the Old Kingdom. Found in 1925, the tomb was untouched. Finds made in it, including the queen's palanquin, her bed, precious boxes and jewelry, give an idea of ​​the luxury that surrounded the pharaoh's family.

An unforgettable impression will be made by visiting the “Mummy Hall”, where the visitor finds himself face to face with the rulers of Egypt, including the legendary Seti I, Ramses II, Thutmose III, Amenhotep II, conquerors and builders who left behind majestic architectural monuments. A special microclimate is maintained in the hall, which contributes to the preservation of mummies.

Of great value are the artifacts of the era of the reign of the pharaoh-reformer Akhenaten, who tried to replace the traditional religion of the Egyptians with the cult of the single solar god Aten. In just a few years, Akhenaten built a new capital, Akhetaten, which was abandoned after the death of the pharaoh, and his name was cursed by the priests. Any memory of him was destroyed, however, many works of art from the era of Akhenaten were preserved in the ruins of Akhetaton.

The pharaoh was a reformer not only in the sphere of religion. The frozen canons of art were violated during his reign, the sculptural and pictorial images of people and animals are distinguished by expressiveness, naturalness, and the absence of idealization. It was a real revolution in art. The famous image of Queen Nefertiti belongs to this period.

Tomb of Tutankhamen

The real gem of the museum is the collection of objects from the tomb of Tutankhamen, the only royal tomb that remained untouched. In total, more than 3,500 items were found in the tomb, half of which are exhibited in the halls of the museum.

The tomb contained everything that the pharaoh might need in the afterlife - pieces of furniture, dishes, jewelry, writing materials, even the royal chariot. A masterpiece of furniture art is a gilded throne carved from wood, studded with precious stones. There is also a statue of Tutankhamun depicted standing on the back of a panther, his hunting weapons, even the shirt and sandals in which he was buried.

The museum exhibits four wooden sarcophagi. In them, nested in each other, was the last, golden, containing the mummy of the pharaoh. Small golden sarcophagi intended for the entrails of the deceased are also exhibited here.

The main treasure of the exposition, and, perhaps, of the entire museum, is the gold death mask of the pharaoh, decorated with azure. The mask is perfectly preserved and perfectly conveys the facial features of the ancient ruler. Tutankhamen's mask is a kind business card Cairo Museum and one of the symbols of Egypt.

A few hours of travel through time past the showcases of the Cairo Museum will leave indelible memories. Even after a superficial acquaintance with the incredibly rich collection, it becomes clear why the Cairo Museum is often called the main attraction of Egypt.