Egyptian Museum

The present Egyptian Museum was designed in 1896 by the French Architect Marcel Dourgnon in the neo-classic style that suits the ancient and classical monuments, but does not compete with the still standing ancient Egyptian architecture. The inside galleries are spacious and the walls are high. Natural light comes from the diffused glass panels on the ceiling and from the windows of the first floor. The middle atrium is the highest part of the museum where the monuments were installed as in ancient Egyptian temples. The T-shaped plan of the building took into consideration any future enlargement and met the requirements of an easy flow of visitors from one gallery to another. The artifacts are distributed in two main floors. The lower one contains the heavy monuments such as stone sarcophagi, statues, stelae, and wall reliefs. The upper floor contains the thematic exhibits: manuscripts, statues of deities, royal mummies, objects of daily life, mummy portraits, unfinished sculptures, Greco-Roman statuettes and vases, and artifacts of the afterlife, among others.

The Coptic Museum

The Coptic Museum lies behind the walls of the famous Roman fortress of Babylon in the ancient district of Cairo (Misr Al-Qadima). The area surrounding the museum abounds in lively monuments in an 'open museum' that depicts the history of the Coptic period in Egypt. Marcus Simaika Pasha founded this museum in 1910 to collect material necessary to study the history of Christianity in Egypt. At that time there were several museums in Egypt: the Cairo Museum for pharaonic antiquities, the Greco-Roman Museum in Alexandria, and the Museum of Islamic Art in Cairo. The Coptic Museum was founded to fill the gap in the records of Egyptian history and art. The largest collection of Coptic artifacts and the most significant collection of Coptic art in the world are found in this museum and include 16,000 pieces. The Old Wing of the museum is a fine piece of architecture consisting of a series of large rooms. In 1931, the Egyptian government recognized the importance of the Coptic Museum and attached it to the state. In 1947, a large New Wing was opened, its style similar to that of the Old Wing. President Mubarak opened the restored museum in 1984. The old wing of the museum houses a collection of wood furnishings and inlaid doors. Of special note is the sycamore wood sanctuary screen from the Church of Saint Barbara. The panels are recognizable as having been crafted in the Fatimid period during the eleventh or twelfth century. The collection housed in the new wing contains objects decorated with geometric designs, scrolls of acanthus and vine leaves, and friezes inhabited by rabbits, peacocks, birds, and rural activities. These styles and themes were passed from the Hellenistic and Coptic legacy into the Islamic artistic vocabulary in Egypt.

Giza

Giza was chosen by King Khufu and his successors, Khafra and Menkaure, to erect their funerary complexes. Besides the three Great Pyramids, the funerary boats of Khufu, and the Sphinx, the site also contains the tombs of the courtiers of the Fourth Dynasty and those of the workmen who built the royal pyramids and private tombs.

Arts and Crafts

The ancient Egyptian arts such as sculpture, drawing, and inscription were closely connected to architecture. None of them were an independent art, but were used to decorate temples or tombs. This has greatly affected the general features of such arts, their themes, and the way they were used. The ancient Egyptian artist perceived the hereafter as the true, eternal life that he would enjoy and was inspired by this concept in his works. His objective was not to stress the aesthetics of the art form or make it prominent to viewers because these works of art were enclosed in sealed tombs. The ancient Egyptian artist had a deep perception of life, which he tried to portray as symbolic figures that express the community's prevailing values and concepts, such as the gods, king, man, woman, and family.

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