06/02: Back to Cairo
Category: General
Posted by: The Agnew Family
Another 4 am morning. This time it was to catch a 7:30 am flight back to Cairo. A couple of groups were leaving early this morning so the hotel kindly opened the breakfast buffet 1 hour and 15 minutes early. I'm always surprised how early I can eat breakfast.
Once we were in Cairo we were driven to the The Museum of Egyptian Antiquities. This museum is in the downtown area of Cairo and was opened in 1902. It is a beautiful old building that is overflowing with over 120,000 antiquities. A humongous new museum is being built in Giza with a possible opening date of late 2020 (though the guides question that). I was happy to hear from our guide that this wonderful old building is currently under restoration so it will not be closing when the new museum opens. Apparently, there are enough antiquities to go around especially since they are finding more every year.
The first thing was saw in the museum was a copy of the Rosetta stone. It an one other piece are the only copies in the building. The Rosetta stone is stone tells a story in three languages ---- Ancient Greek, Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics and Demotic script (a language used by the people of Egypt). As scholars could read Ancient Greek it allowed them to interpret and learn hieroglyphics allowing them to study the ancient Egyptians.
The outside of the museum.
Amenhotep III and Tiye (I think), Tutankhamun's grandparents.
We did not see the Tutankhamun Exhibit when it came to Canada, so we were really awe struck when we saw a lot of items that were found in King Tut's tomb. Here are photos of a few that impressed us.
Another room had items found in the Royal Tombs of Tanis.
For some unknown reason these gold fingers and toes really caught Ed and my attention.
Ed thinks this is an interesting piece.
Once we were in Cairo we were driven to the The Museum of Egyptian Antiquities. This museum is in the downtown area of Cairo and was opened in 1902. It is a beautiful old building that is overflowing with over 120,000 antiquities. A humongous new museum is being built in Giza with a possible opening date of late 2020 (though the guides question that). I was happy to hear from our guide that this wonderful old building is currently under restoration so it will not be closing when the new museum opens. Apparently, there are enough antiquities to go around especially since they are finding more every year.
The first thing was saw in the museum was a copy of the Rosetta stone. It an one other piece are the only copies in the building. The Rosetta stone is stone tells a story in three languages ---- Ancient Greek, Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics and Demotic script (a language used by the people of Egypt). As scholars could read Ancient Greek it allowed them to interpret and learn hieroglyphics allowing them to study the ancient Egyptians.
The outside of the museum.
Amenhotep III and Tiye (I think), Tutankhamun's grandparents.
We did not see the Tutankhamun Exhibit when it came to Canada, so we were really awe struck when we saw a lot of items that were found in King Tut's tomb. Here are photos of a few that impressed us.
Another room had items found in the Royal Tombs of Tanis.
For some unknown reason these gold fingers and toes really caught Ed and my attention.
Ed thinks this is an interesting piece.