A visit to the Egyptian Museum, Cairo

We were up earlier than planned this morning due to noisy neighbours! We got ready and went to breakfast at 8 so we had plenty of time before our trip was due to start at 9.

In reception at the appointed hour, Romani appeared with another guy who he introduced to us as Ray, our guide for today and tomorrow. We had a bit of a chat about the tour we have just done and about Nabil and then went to find our transport and driver.

Our first stop was the Egyptian museum in the centre of Cairo, a building purpose-built in 1897 to house Egypt's impressive collection of antiquities. There are plans to move the entire collection to a new site near the Pyramids. Indeed, the building is ready (Nabil pointed it out to us when we were there) and some artefacts have already been relocated. By all accounts, it will be a modern state-of-the-art facility which will rank as one of the great museums of the world when it opens to the public.

The current museum is rather dark and dusty with poorly-written explanations about the exhibits. It is, nevertheless, an impressive collection, despite the fact that so many antiquities were taken overseas by the archaeologists and treasure hunters who discovered them.

Ray showed us the highlights of the museum and explained their significance. He left us by the Tutankhamen room and gave us free time to explore by ourselves. It was quite a moment coming face-to-face with the young Pharaoh's mask and sarcophagus. I remember when the Tutankhamen exhibition came to the British Museum in London to mark the 50th anniversary of Howard Carter's discovery of the tomb. It was 1972. I was seven years old. My friend, Carolyn West, went to see the exhibition. It was a huge deal! She brought a commemorative programme into school to show us all. I can vividly remember seeing the pictures of the magnificent treasures, the like of which none of us had ever seen before. It sparked an interest in me that never went away. Now, just over 50 years later, today I saw them for myself! It was quite a moment!!

We weren't allowed to take photos in Tutankhamen's room, so I bought a couple of postcards instead.

We spent a further hour in the museum marvelling at the exhibits and wondering at the incredible talents of the Ancient Egyptians to have created such a huge quantity of outstanding artefacts.Baca lagi