Page 42 - WDT Magazine Egypt

CAIRO EGYPTIAN

MUSEUM

efore we left for our Egypt adventure, a major
exhibit of King Tut artifacts opened in Los An-
Bgeles. Bummer, we thought; we’ll be in Egypt,
and all the Tut stuff will be in our own backyard.
Fortunately for us, the Egyptian Museum in Cairo had
more than enough items to admire – some 3,500
artifacts compared to the 150 in the LA exhibit, KING
TUT: Treasures of the Golden Pharaoh.
Even if you’re not a museum enthusiast, the
Egyptian Museum, located in the heart of Cairo, is a
must-see. The imposing salmon-colored museum,
commissioned in 1835, was built to help stop the
rampant looting of Egypt’s archeological sites as well
as to preserve and display priceless artifacts. Today it
is home to more than 120,000 items although only a
fraction is on shown to the public at any one time.
Tourism may be down, but the museum was
packed as we moved through the ticket line and
passed guards and metal detectors. We purchased a

42 WDT MAGAZINE SUMMER 2018