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Egyptian Museum

Cairo, Cairo, Egypt

The Egyptian Museum at night

The Egyptian Museum probably has the greatest collection of artifacts of any museum in the world! I simply could not believe the amazing quantity of priceless treasures they had there. Unfortunately, almost nothing is labeled. There are almost no informational displays of any kind inside the museum, and that's a tragedy. There are so many incredible pieces here, it's a tragedy that they're not better displayed. It is worthwhile bringing a guide to the museum (either a person or a book).

The most memorable and impressive display in the museum are the treasures of Tutankhamun. It's impossible to describe the great quantity of gold that he was buried with. His treasures were incredibly beautiful, and of immeasurable value.

Another neat display was the mummy room. The museum houses approximately 25 mummies, stored in two separate rooms. One admission price (100LE for foreign tourists) gets you entrance to both mummy rooms. Although that is a lot of money for an attraction in Egypt, it's probably worthwhile. It was incredibly humbling to see the mummy of Ramses II. We had spent the previous week looking at the amazing monuments that were built under his reign, and here he was! Someone else said that the goal of constructing their monuments was to achieve immortality. While they may not have gotten exactly what they expected, their legacy still lives on, thousands of years later.

No cameras or video cameras of any kind are permitted inside the museum. Tourists do not even have the option of paying extra to bring their cameras.

Cost

Entrance to the museum costs 50 LE for foreign tourists. Entrance to the mummy hall is an additional 100 LE for foreign tourists, or 50 LE for foreign students. The museum entrance ticket allows for re-entry at least on the same day.

Estimated Visiting Time

You could spend a lifetime here if you only looked at each piece for a couple of seconds. Most people will probably want to spend a couple of hours to a full day looking through the different artifacts. During the tourist seasons, the museum can be quite crowded. You may find yourself spending some time waiting in lines to see some of the more popular items.