Cairo Day 2, Egyptian Museum

The Egyptian Museum is very old…in keeping with the theme of housing very very old things, I suppose. The descriptions of the objects are typed (think of an old black typewriter, I’ve heard they didn’t even plug in) on now-yellowed index cards, lending an air of fading sophistication. Many objects don’t even have descriptions, either lost over the years or the blank placard is a way of saying, “We found this, it’s old, your guess is as good as ours, we’ll look into it after we finish cataloguing the other 946,000 things we have.” There are things everywhere…pottery, sculptures, tools, busts, many stuck into corners or behind other things. One of our guide books noted that if you took the time to see every single object in the museum it would take you eight hours a day for nine months. There are wooden shipping crates in some aisles, giving the impression that they are still unpacking, maybe still recovering some of their belongings that were looted and pillaged centuries and decades ago from other countries.

The art and sculptures and objects in the museum defy description, words like “old” and “impressive” and “beautiful” and “awe-inspiring” seem insultingly inadequate to use. As Jodie Foster said, “They should have sent a poet.”

We made a special point to hit the animal mummy room before we left, as weary and overheated as we were. There were dog and cat and baboon and snake mummies, some done for beloved pets and some as sacrificial offerings. There was an enormous crocodile mummy and some cow and horse bones. The little baboon was my favorite. We didn’t go see the human mummies because it cost a lot extra, we were exhausted, and we’d both seen a lot in the British Museum, thanks to the aforementioned looting. But the British Museum was free, so it’s not like were supporting the practice.

Photos weren't allowed inside the museum, and unlike at most other tourist attractions in Egypt, they actually meant it here. So you'll have to be satisfied with this photo of our new dearest friends, Tamer and Mohammed.