Middle East - Anthony Ham [104]
There are many rooms to see, but those that are particularly noteworthy are described here.
Ground Floor
Rooms 32, 37 & 42 – Old Kingdom Rooms
Room 32 is dominated by the double statue of Rahotep & Nofret. The simple lines of this limestone sculpture make the figures seem almost contemporary, despite having been around for a staggering 4600 years. Also in here are panels known as the Meidum Geese, part of a frieze that originates from a mud-brick mastaba at Meidum, near Al-Fayoum. Room 37 contains the tomb of Queen Hetepheres, mother of Khufu, builder of the Great Pyramid at Giza. Room 42 holds what some consider to be the museum’s masterpiece – a larger-than-life-size statue of Khafre (Chephren), builder of the second Pyramid at Giza.
Room 3 – Amarna Room
This room is devoted to Akhenaten (1352–1336 BC), the ‘heretic pharaoh’ who set up ancient Egypt’s first and last monotheistic faith. Compare the bulbous bellies, hips and thighs, and the elongated heads and thick, Mick Jagger–like lips of these statues with the sleek, hard-edged norm of typical Pharaonic sculpture. Also very striking is the delicate, but unfinished, head of Nefertiti, Akhenaten’s wife.
1st FLOOR
Room 2 – Royal Tombs of Tanis
This is a glittering collection of gold- and silver-encrusted amulets, gold funerary masks, daggers, bracelets, collars, gold sandals, and finger and toe coverings from five intact New Kingdom tombs found at the Delta site of Tanis.
Rooms 3, 7 & 8 – Tutankhamun Galleries
The exhibit that outshines everything else in the museum is without doubt the treasure of this young and comparatively insignificant pharaoh, who ruled for only nine years. About 1700 items are spread throughout a series of rooms. Room 3 contains an astonishing death mask made of solid gold, while rooms 7 and 8 house the four gilded shrines that fitted inside each other and held the gold sarcophagus of Tutankhamun at their centre.
Room 56 – Royal Mummy Room
This darkened and somewhat ghoulish gallery houses the bodies of 11 of Egypt’s most illustrious pharaohs and queens, who ruled Egypt between 1552 and 1069 BC, including Ramses II. There’s a separate mummy room you can enter on the same ticket, off room 46 across the building, where you can see the chickenpox-scarred remains of Ramses V.
Islamic Cairo
KHAN AL-KHALILI BAZAAR
The best place to start exploring this ancient part of the city is in the medieval cacophony of the great bazaar, Khan al-Khalili (Map). Here, a Byzantine maze of alleys meander their way past archaic gates, packed with shopkeepers selling everything from antiques to gaudy trinkets to pungent spices and everyday household wares. Note that bargaining is required, and expected, in most of the tourist-oriented shops.
After wandering around the bazaar and fending its eager touts, there’s nothing better than sheltering for a while in Khan el-Khalili Restaurant & Mahfouz Coffee Shop (Map; 2590 3788; 5 Sharia Sikket el-Badistan; snacks E£13-23, mains E£35-60; 10am-2am; ), a quiet space with a luxurious Moorish-style interior. Perfect for a tea (E£10) or Stella (E£8) and a sheesha (E£9), it’s also good (but pricey) for snacks and meals. Click here for details of the bazaar’s most famous and atmospheric coffeehouse, Fishawi’s.
While you’re here, it’s worth taking time out to visit one of Cairo’s most historic institutions, Al-Azhar Mosque (Map; admission free; 24hr), which is not only one of Cairo’s earliest mosques but also the world’s oldest surviving university. Even though admission is free, pushy attendants will demand baksheesh.
The bazaar is easy to find if you’re walking from central Cairo: from Midan Ataba walk straight along Sharia al-Azhar under the elevated motorway, or along the parallel Sharia al-Muski. Alternatively it’s a short taxi ride (E£5) – ask for ‘Al-Hussein’, which is the name of both the midan (city square) and the mosque at the mouth of the bazaar.
NORTH OF KHAN AL-KHALILI
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