Museums of Cairo

After our full day of pyramids, our second day in Cairo was all about museums, filled with visits to the Egyptian Museum in Cairo and the brand new Grand Egyptian Museum. 

The Egyptian Museum in Cairo

THE EGYPTIAN MUSEUM IN CAIRO

The Egyptian Museum in Cairo (EMC) was first constructed in 1902 and houses over 150,000 artefacts inside the beautiful historic building. The museum sits in the downtown area of Cairo, right on Tahrir Square, the site of the major protests of the 2011 Egyptian Revolution. 

We did a bit of a whirlwind tour through the museum, but we still saw some of the most impressive pieces like the treasures of Tutankhamun’s tomb, including the golden death mask (it’s prohibited to take photos of it) 

Statue of Amenhotep III and Tiye

Sphinx in the entrance hall

The colossal statue of Amenhotep III and Tiye in the entrance hall of the museum are absolutely awe inspiring. Including their daughter Princess Henuttaneb, the monolith statue is the largest known dyad ever caved and originally stood in Mediate Habu in western Thebes (modern day Luxor). 

I was really interested to see more false doors (you can read more about my new found fascination with false doors in my previous post from our visit to Saqqara) and I loved seeing the statues of Pharaoh Akhenaten, who, in my opinion, is the most fascinating and mysterious Pharaoh. He introduced his own short lived monotheistic religion and was possibly the father of Tutankhamun

Tutankhamun’s Golden Throne

False Door

Statue of Pharaoh Akhenaten

We were surprised at how crowded this museum was, even though we arrived at opening time. Luckily Tarek suggested we head to the Tutankhamum section on the upper levels before the rest of the tour groups defended upon this area. Due to it’s age and magnitude of the huge collection, the Egyptian Museum had more of the feel of an old warehouse rather than a world class museum. Which is why I was so impressed to visit the brand new Grand Egyptian Museum afterwards. 

Front exterior of the GEM

THE GRAND EGYPTIAN MUSEUM

The Grand Egyptian Museum is simply incredible;  absolutely state-of-the-art. It’s situated right next to the Giza Plateau (and actually across the road from the Steigenberger Pyramid Cairo Hotel where we stayed) and it’s not even officially opened yet. The GEM complex is offering limited access to selected areas to test the readiness of the site ahead of the offical opening. 

Statue of Ramses III

Inside the GEM

The construction of the Grand Egyptian Museum has been in the works since 2002 and the main contract for the design of the museum was awarded to an Irish firm after an extensive international competition. 

The enormous 3200 year old statue of Ramses II that stands in the front hall once stood in a traffic circle known as Ramses Square in Cairo, but has been relocated to the musuem to preserve it against it from traffic polution.

Eventually, a large portion of the Egyptian Museum of Cairo will be transferred to the Grand Egyptian Museum, including close to 5000 treasures from Tutankhamun’s tomb.  It’s location, in close proximity to the Pyramids of Giza, will make sightseeing in Cairo so much more efficient. The view from the museum out towards the pyramids is amazing! So beautifully framed by the architecture of the museum. 

And not only that, there is a new international airport under construction, located in Giza - The Sphinx International Airport. And there is a new monorail in development that will link Cairo Airport to the Pyramids of Giza. Visiting Cairo will be so streamlined in years to come! 

Inside the Grand Egyptian Museum

The view out to the Pyramids

We felt so privileged to be able to visit the Grand Egyptian Museum before it was officially opened and we were so impressed by the sheer scale of it. It feels so vast and spacious - a very welcome upgrade from the Egyptian Museum of Cairo, which has stood the test of time but felt like it was buckling under the sheer volume of artecfcts and daily visitors. 

And extra note: both museums do have areas designed for children. The Childrens Museum at the GEM wasn’t opened yet and we didn’t get a chance to see the childrens area in the basement of the Egyptian Museum. But I’d recommend looking into it of you’re traveling with kids.

The Step Pyramid of Djoser at Saqqara

After our visit to the Giza Plateau, we travelled south in our mini van with our guide Tarek to Saqqara which was the necropolis of the ancient capital city of Memphis. The main site is the Step Pyramid of Djoser, which is an early example of pyramid building . It was constructed around 2660BC and predates the pyramids of Giza by several centuries. 

The Step Pyramid of Djoser

My favourite part about Saqqara was the Mortuary Temple that we first entered through to get to the Step Pyramid. The monolithic looking stone facade almost seems out of place, its architectural design almost looks modern, or sci fi even, something you might see in the movie like Dune. Inside are rows of huge columns, lining the way through to the vast archeological complex beyond. 

The Mortuary Temple of Djoser

We took the opportunity to go inside the Step Pyramid of Djoser and Tarek led us down the surprisingly spacious corridor deep into the centre of the Pyramid where we came to a vertical shaft that extends deep down into the ground and also rise up towards to the peak. We could also see another passage that extends off into the other side of the pyramid about half way down the shaft and at the very bottom we could see the impressive granite burial vault. 

Internal Shaft of The Step Pyramid of Djoser

Beyond the Step Pyramid there are many more temples, tombs, pyramids, albeit in more crumbled states, as well as mastabas, a flat style tomb that predates the Step Pyramid. Tarek took us into the Tomb of Idut, a princess who is believed to be the daughter of Pharaoh Umas. I was absolutely captivated by the false door that was still standing intact within the tomb. Ancient Egyptians believed that the soul of the deceased could freely enter and exit the tomb through a "false door," which are characterised by a recessed surface with a symbolic entrance in the centre. I find this whole concept so fascinating and not to mention how beautiful these carved stone ‘doors’ are. (We later saw more in the Egyptian Museum and the The Met in New York City.

The False Door inside the Tomb of Idut

I hadn’t been to Saqqara on my original trip to Egypt in 2007 and I was so happy we had the opportunity to to visit it on this trip. It was such an unexpected highlight, especially because our guide Tarek has so much knowledge from his recent archeological work at Saqqara. 

Even though we managed to avoid the crowds at Giza with our early start, Saqqara felt a lot less touristy than the Giza Plateau. Wandering around Saqqara felt like we were visiting an active archeological dig rather than a tourist attraction. The Step Pyramid of Djoser itself is an early prototype of pyramid building, one that bridges the gap between the very early Mastaba Tombs and the phenomenal pyramids that famously sit on the Giza Plateau so it’s well worth the trip for anyone who is interested in ancient Egyptian history. 

Lunch with an incredible view.

Inside the Mortuary Temple of Djoser

Inside the Tomb of Idut

Afterwards we headed back to the Giza Plateau where we had a delicious lunch at a restaurant that overlook the Pyramids. Dining at places like this is one of the benefits of arranging a tour with company like Memphis Tours. The restaurant was geared towards tourists and was included in our overall tour prices. We would have never been able to find a place with a view like this by ourselves and it’s so incredible convient to outsoruse alot of the daily sightseeing logistic to someone who was way more knowledgable.

Everywhere else in the world we’ve been, we have done all the researching, planning and logistical details and it’s been such a rewarding experience. But I’m so gald we splurged a bit (ok maybe a lot, hahah!) and saw Egypt with a tour company.

The Pyramids of Giza & The Great Sphinx

After Luxor, we flew to Cairo where we had two full days to explore the Prymaids and Museums. Unfortunately we did experience a bit of bad luck in the form of a cancelled flights, which saw us arriving at the Luxor airport at 6am only to discover we had been rescheduled onto a flight at 12pm. Sitting in the airport for 6 hours was less than ideal but in hindsight it was only a minor inconvienence. We all handled it well, a bit of ipad time for the kids and a few card games and quizzes saw the hours creep by without much discomfort. And thankfully we had nothing else planned for that day. We later found out that the flight was probably cancelled because of the thick fog that Cairo experiences in the winter months.

All transport to and from the airport and to the sights was arranged by Memphis Tours, which was so incredibly convenient. Driving through the streets and freeways of Cairo is unlike anything else in the world… except for, I assume maybe, in India. To the uninitated, the traffic of Cairo looks like pure chaos, but it seems to work for the Egyptians. Braino, who has been an absolute pro when it comes to driving all our hire cars, was glad to be a passenger for this leg of the journey.

We stayed at the Steigenberger Pyramids Cairo Hotel which is located in Giza, right near the Pyramids and the new Grand Egyptian Museum. We had a fantastic view of the Pyramids of Giza from our two ajoining rooms, which was a total bucket list thing for me - a room with a view of the Pryamids. Overall, we loved the hotel; the breakfast buffet was great and the pools were lovely too. The location was well and truly worth it.

The view from our room at the Steigenberger Pyramid Cairo Hotel

Our guide in Cairo was Tarek, who was also an Archeologist and Egyptologist, he had worked on an excavation in Saqqara were they unearthed numerous mumified cats. Fasinating stuff, I loved hearing about it. While the Step Pyramid of Saqqara was on our itinerary for later in the day, our first stop was an early visit to the mighty Pyramids of Giza, only a short drive from our hotel.

Our guide, Tarek, Archeologist, Egyptologist and enthusiastic photographer.

We entered the Giza Plateau at the northern end, at the base of the Great Pyramid of Giza, tomb of the Pharaoh Khufu, who ruled during the Fourth Dynasty of the Old Kingdom. Built c. 2600 BC, over a period of about 26 years, the pyramid is the oldest of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, and the only wonder that has remained largely intact.

Visitors are a allowed to climb up the lower blocks of this pyramid and are able to venture inside, down into the burial chambers. On my first visit to Egypt in 2007, I went inside the Great Pyramid. I remember it being a little claustrophic walking down and back up the narrow shaft with a very low ceiling. It’s an additional cost so we opted not to do it with the kids but I kind of regret not doing it. It would have been a very cool experiene for them.

A camel with the Great Pyramid of Khufu in the background.

On the lower blocks of the Great Pyramid.

The Pyramid of Khafre

Next, we drove in our mini van past the Pyramid of Khafre, the middle pyramid with the stone - cladding top to it, around to the panaromic view point. While it appears bigger than the Great Pyramid, the Pyramid of Khafre is slightly smaller in dimensions and only appears larger because it sits higher on the plateau than the Great Pyramid of Khufu. From the panoramic viewpoint we could also see the smallest of the three Pyramids, the Pyramid of Menkaure.

If you would like to capture the iconic view of all 9 pyramids, which includes the smaller step like pyramids that sit in front of the Pyramid of Menkaure, you have to travel south via camel across the desert, at an additional cost. This viewpoint isn’t accessable via car or by foot. As much as I wanted to get that classic postcard view of pyramids, I knew I wouldn’t be able to convience anyone else in the family to ride a camel with me. I’ll even admit that it’s a little scary when a camel goes from sitting to standing with you on it’s back.

The Panoramic Viewpoint of the Giza Plateau

Our next stop on the Giza Plateau was the famious Great Sphinx of Giza. It was still early in the morning, around 9am by ths stage, so we were able to beat the crowds and get some wonderful photos of the Sphinx. Before we reached the viewing platform on the right hand side of the Sphinx, we walked through the impressive Valley Temple of Khafre, which had a really mystical feel to it. The girls were probably most excited about seeing the Sphinx. while it does feel smaller than expected in person, its still a breathtaking sight to behold. A lot of mystery surrounds The Sphinx, my favourite theory being a Hall of Records is buried deep inside the Sphinx that contains lost knowlegde of Atlantis.

The Great Sphinx of Giza

The Valley Temple of Khafre

The Pyramid of Khafre with the Great Sphinx in front.

Our next stop of the day was the Step Pyramid of Saqqara which was a 30 minute drive south along the Nile - I’ll share photos in the next post. Looking back on these photos, its absolutely incredible that we were able to show the girls this wonder of the ancient world. It’s a priceless memory that will last forever and I’m blessed to have visited the pyramids for a second time with my husband and daughters.