Our Visit To The Egyptian Museum

Our Visit To The Egyptian Museum

Barbara at the Egyptian Museum Cairo.

One of the main reasons that people are interested in visiting Cairo’s Egyptian Museum is due to the fact that all of the artifacts and treasure that was found in Tutankhamun’s burial chamber at the Valley of The Kings is located here at the museum.

So, as you can probably imagine, the curators of the museum leave the “best till last”. In other words you work your way around the museum until eventually you reach the section that is dedicated to the “Boy King”, Tutankhamun.

Insight Guide to Egypt

And…I have to be honest, it really is quite amazing. You will see the jewellery, precious stones and gold that was found in the tomb along with the outer casings of the mummy. By that I mean that the mummified body was placed into wooden “suits” decorated with gold and precious stones. The “suits” were essentially images of Tutankhamun’s body.

But there wasn’t’ just one, there seemed to be a number of them and they fitted into each other just like Russian dolls do.

There were also huge wooden boxes, (I just cant’ remember what they were called) that the mummy was placed into. Huge boxes, again covered in gold leaf and semi-precious stones, and again, the boxes fitted into the previous one, like Russian dolls.

They were pretty big and looked very heavy so goodness knows how they did it. Mind you that’s the same question you ask yourself throughout Egypt. In the enormous temples and sites, at the Pyramids and here at the Egyptian Museum. How on earth did they do it? Continue reading “Our Visit To The Egyptian Museum”

The Valley of The Kings

Over the next few days I am going to be adding posts about the various sites and temples that you will visit on your Nile Cruise.

Barbara and Colin at Tutankhamun's Tomb, the Valley Of The Kings
Barbara and Colin at Tutankhamun's Tomb, the Valley Of The

I am going to start with The Valley of The Kings.

One of the most jaw-dropping sites you will visit is the world famous Valley of The Kings on the Westbank of the Nile. The first few times we visited the Valley we took a small boat across the Nile and then a short mini-bus journey to reach it but the last time we visited we were taken all the way by coach. It’s only a short journey, maybe 20 minutes, but it is a little easier than taking the boat and mini-bus.

Situated opposite Luxor, the Valley of The Kings is really a giant complex of burial chambers of tombs, including that of the “Boy King” Tutankhamun. These were tombs or burial chambers reserved for royalty.

Continue reading “The Valley of The Kings”