The Egyptian Museum is as good for its building and displays as it is for its collection; walking through the doors is like stepping back in time 100 years, because I do not think it has changed much at all in that time. Almost everything is unprotected, cluttered, up close, and personal. The museum itself is an antique. I liked the museum as much as the contents, because rather than feeling anachronistic it could not have been a better match to what I had imagined.
Even though I have studied some Egyptology, I was truly astounded at the sheer numbers of sarcophagi both wood and stone in the collection. Of course the best part was the collection of grave goods from King Tut. It is spectacular for the quantity, size of items, and quality. In general Egyptian antiquities out class most other civilizations as far as interesting items go (IMHO), but King Tut’s things are in a class by themselves. It is obvious that they actually believed he was a god. Wow. That was really something to see.
The most modern areas of the museum are the mummy rooms, and even so, the mummies merely rest in carefully lit, simple glass cases. All climate control equipment or other electronics are hidden. The mummies vary from peaceful and pleasant looking to pure twisted agony frozen in dehydrated time. Spooky! I have seen enough horror movies that I can easily imagine them coming alive and trying to eat my organs! AAAHHHHHHhhhhhhhhh………
FYI: The mummy in this picture was not from the Cairo museum.
