Tuesday 19 February 2019

Travel Tuesday: Treasures of the Egyptian Museum

Shabtis were put in tombs to act as servants in the afterlife.

As I mentioned in my previous post, I got back from Egypt last week, which means I have plenty of pictures for Travel Tuesday posts!

When I'm in Cairo I always reserve a couple of afternoons to wander around the National Museum. It's absolutely huge and no matter how many times I go there, I always see something new. A new National Museum is being constructed on the Giza Plateau near the pyramids. I passed the building the last time I went up there. It's a sleek, modern building that's even bigger than the existing museum. As with many government projects, it's behind schedule, but when it finally opens it promises to be stunning. In the meantime, we have the old museum to enjoy.

Stela of the Buchis Bull, showing one of the Ptolemaic pharaohs giving offerings to the sacred bull in their burial place in Armant. The Buchis bulls were manifestations of the god Ptah.

Two male figurines made of gold during the Late Predynastic period. Yep, these two guys are older than the oldest pharaoh!
Column of painted limestone carved to look like a lotus flower.

2 comments:

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Now you'll have to go back and see the new museum when it opens.

Sean McLachlan said...

Alex, Not a problem!

Looking for more from Sean McLachlan? He also hangs out on the Civil War Horror blog, where he focuses on Civil War and Wild West history.

You can also find him on his Twitter feed and Facebook page.