The National Museum of Egyptian Civilization is the first of its kind in Egypt and the Arab world, which provides a comprehensive view of the Egyptian civilization from prehistoric times to the present day, by highlighting the interaction between the Egyptians and the land on which they lived throughout history through cultural topics chosen to shed light On the tangible and intangible heritage of Egypt, the Museum of Civilization is an important educational and research center for visitors, whether Egyptians or foreigners.
The National Museum of Egyptian Civilization is located in the heart of the historic city of Fustat in the ancient region of Cairo. The choice of the city of Fustat to be the headquarters of the museum was well thought out, as its geographical surroundings include traces of different civilizations. It is the best evidence of tolerance of religions in Egypt, the cradle of civilizations.
The Pharaohs took it as a place for a big city, which the Babylonians made as a place for their settlement when they landed in Egypt, then the Romans took it as a headquarters for their defense, connecting the sea and tribal faces, and repelling from it every external aggressor against Egypt, then the Jews and Christians took it as a place to establish their rituals as well, and after the Islamic conquest Amr ibn Amr took it Al-Aas is the capital and a place of immigration for Muslims. The site of the museum is distinguished by the fact that it contains a rare natural lake, Ain Al-Sira Lake, which is the only remaining lake in Cairo after the disappearance of many lakes.
The idea of establishing the museum:
The idea of building it dates back to the era of King Farouk in the period from 1938 to 1949, and because of King Farouk’s insistence on building a museum similar to the museums of Europe documenting the various civilizations of Egypt. antique.
After many years had passed, the idea of establishing the museum was renewed in 1982, after an international campaign led by the “UNESCO” organization to establish the National Museum of Civilization. And culturally, scientifically and researchly.. In addition to becoming a center for local, regional and international community communication in order to work to preserve the ancient Egyptian cultural heritage, and protect it from looting and extinction, and it accommodates 50 thousand various artifacts from pre-dynastic times until the modern era.
Museum design:
The museum is characterized by unprecedented designs in Egypt in the field of architecture and modern technology on an area of 33.5 acres. It was designed by the engineer, Dr. Ghazali Ksiba, whose project to design the museum won an international competition in 1984, and the exhibition spaces were designed by the Japanese architect Arata Isozaki.
It consists of several floors, topped by a pyramid-shaped hall, called “Hall of the Pyramid” or “Hall of the Top Panorama”, which includes 9 3D screens, installed on its walls, through which Egyptian history and pharaonic antiquities are displayed, sound and image, and in the middle of the hall there is on the floor A stereoscopic maquette of the entire museum and its various halls, entrances and exits as well. The wall of the hall was also designed with sound-deadening gypsum, in order to isolate the visitor from external influences and sounds, and make him enjoy his time inside.
The museum includes 9 large halls that display the civilization of Egypt from the prehistoric period until the current era. , beliefs and ideas, will be opened in succession. Its holdings will be within the framework of a historical sequence through eight basic periods: prehistory, the ancient era, the Pharaonic era, the Greco-Roman era, the Coptic era, the Islamic era, the modern era, and then the contemporary.
The museum also includes extensive temporary exhibition spaces, an auditorium and center for education and research, as well as an exhibition related to the development of the city of Cairo, and will serve as a venue for a variety of events, including film screenings, conferences, lectures and cultural activities.
Royal Mummies Hall:
The hall includes 22 royal mummies, and 17 royal coffins coming from the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir, in a majestic procession, which started on the evening of Saturday, the third of April 2021, and security coincided with the royal mummies procession. To the era of the 17th, 18th, 19th, and 20th families, including 18 mummies of kings and four mummies of queens, among them: the mummy of King Ramses II, King Saqnan Ra, King Thutmose III, King Seti I, Queen Hatshepsut, and Queen Mert-Amun, wife of King Amenhotep. The first, and Queen Ahmose-Nefertari, the wife of King Ahmose.” The mummies of the same family are collected together, in addition to the mummy of Pepi I, from the Saqqara antiquities area.
The scenario of the show includes the development of the idea of ”burial” in the ancient Egyptian civilization, and the methods of mummification and its differences, starting with wrapping and embalming the corpse, as well as displaying some holdings of artifacts that belong to the same time period of rule, including funerary furniture. In a specific unconventional path accompanied by dim lighting, to the point where the visitor feels that he is inside a real cemetery, and the hall is equipped with identification boards and guiding signs, and mummies are displayed through “multi-media” screens and graphic panels, where they will be displayed in a unique way accompanied by interactive displays and “ 3D hologram.
The most important holdings:
The group of pottery pots, known as pots with a black edge, is one of the most prominent acquisitions that the museum will display. It dates back to the pre-dynastic era, that is, to about 7,000 years, and it still maintains its shape, quality, and luster, as well as a group of “faines”, which is ceramic coated with a layer of bright green shades, which was engraved on it and then burned again, and that group dates back to The era of the New Kingdom.
The Museum of Civilization is also unique in presenting the first and oldest clock in history known to the ancient Egyptian, the first water clock, another solar one, a staircase to know the times, and a number of agricultural tools to measure distances, lands and areas to determine the borders of the neighbor, as well as the first gauge of the Nile that determined the height of the river. The Nile was responsible for the warning at the time of the flood, and there are also exhibits of Islamic and Coptic art, as well as the shape of a loaf of bread from the Pharaonic era to the present day, makeup tools in every era, and also part of the Kaaba’s covering.
The main hall also displays contemporary works of people who influenced our lives with their works in the modern era, such as Mahmoud Mukhtar, Saeed Al-Sadr, Hassan Fathi, and others. Thus, the visitor follows the stages of the development of Egyptian civilization through the ages between the corridors of the museum, and sees before his eyes a presentation of the achievements made by the Egyptians in the fields of Different life from the dawn of history until the present time.
