Egyptian Museum in Tahrir celebrates 121st anniversary with new exhibition, activities

Nevine El-Aref , Thursday 16 Nov 2023

The Egyptian Museum in Tahrir marks its 121st anniversary with the “Antiquities from Giza to Tahrir” exhibition and cultural activities.

Egyptian Museum in Tahrir
Egyptian Museum in Tahrir

 

Egyptian visitors are offered free guided tours on the occasion.

“The exhibition is displaying the tools that Egyptologists and restorers used during the transportation of artefacts from the museum in Giza to the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir,” said Director-General of the museum Ali Abdel-Halim. 

The exhibition will open on 19 November and runs through the end of the month, he added.

The museum will offer educational and artistic activities for children and lectures on the history of the museum.

The Egyptian Museum in Tahrir was inaugurated in 1902 by khedive Abbas Helmi II. It was designed by French architect Marcel Dourgon who was selected following a competition in 1895.

Previous renovations were carried out by an Egyptian scientific committee in collaboration with five European museums: the Turin Museum in Italy, the Louvre in Paris, the British Museum in London, the Egyptian Museum in Berlin, and the Rijksmuseum Van Oudheden in Germany.

As part of the present renovation work, the rooftop windows were replaced with glass that prevents UV radiation from entering the museum. 

A new drainage system is being installed in the fountain of the open-air display of the museum’s garden. Originally, the fountain's internal walls had been painted in red and light green, while its floor tiles, designed to look like limestone, had been decorated with particular patterns.

The installation of a new lighting system and introduction of new explanatory labels for the artefacts were also part of the development process. In addition, the Daily Life Hall was renewed in collaboration with the Australian Embassy in Cairo.

The position of some of the more significant pieces has been changed to make them more conspicuous. These pieces include the statues of the kings of the Old Kingdom Dynasty such as Djoser, Senefru, Khufu, Khafre and Menkawre; the Meidum Geese painting; and the blue tiles of the Step Pyramid.
The museum also witnessed the inauguration of a new hall for the treasured collection of nobles Yuya and Thuya, the grandparents of king Akhenaten.
 
The Egyptian Museum is the oldest archaeological museum in the Middle East. It houses the largest collection of ancient Egyptian antiquities in the world showcasing an extensive collection of artefacts from the Predynastic Period to the Graeco-Roman era.

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