How true. It is frustrating that so many priceless works are
presented so poorly - many of them deserve entire rooms to themselves - and the overall
lack of organization and information leaves one without any sense of context.
But at the same time, it is this same lack of organization that
allows you to get right up close to the artifacts and reach out and touch them. (Although
don't let the guards catch you doing that!).
One of the many guides-for-hire outside the museum assured us
that he could show us everything worth seeing in the museum in half an hour. Ha! On our
FIRST trip we got there at 11:00 in the morning and they (thankfully!) tossed us out at
closing. We managed to see about half.
The building itself was opened in 1902 and was built on a plan
submitted by a French architect, Marcel Dourgnon, to an international competition. The
total number of objects on display is over 100,000 and the basements are filled with more
awaiting display space. I guess we should be glad that at least inception of the Cairo Museum
finally put a stop to artifacts being legally stolen and shipped off to Europe. Apparently,
there are a number of modern museums in the works that will improve the situation.1
Our pictures from the museum are unfortunately limited and few.
Of course flash photography is banned, and it was a wasn't till well into the trip that I
figured out that it was possible to turn off the flash on my camera. And, of course, because
you can't use a flash, the shutter speed compensates and if you aren't really still
you end up with a whole lot of blurry pictures.
Upon entering the museum, you are immediately set upon by a number
of literally towering statues. Moving straight into the main chamber of the first floor,
probably the largest statue in the museum looks down at you from the far end:
It is a depiction of Amenhotep III and Queen Tiye. Unfortunately,
I don't know anything more about the statue such as where it's from cause, hey! It wasn't
adequately labeled either. Oh well.
There are a number of similar statues to this in the museum - all
of them depict Menkaure (the builder of the third pyramid) with two other figures, in this
case the goddess Hathor (left) and his queen. The statue is about 2' high and carved in
(I'm fairly sure) basalt. The detail of musculature and facial feautres in these, and indeed
most Egyptian statuary, is amazing. The sculptors responsible for these works of art were
clearly unparalleled masters of their craft. These triads in particular captivated me.
(For those that might actually try to find them, they are in room 47.)
These are fairly representative of the types of statues that make
up the majority of the collection at the museum. On the left is Chefren, builder of the
second largest pyramid - it's more or less life-sized. The center statue is
very interesting. Neither Pam nor I had seen such statues until we went to Egypt - basically
it is cube carved into seated form with the knees drawn up. These are probably the least
realistic of the statuary and unfortunately their symbolism and function were not documented.
The statue on the right is of the lion-headed goddess Sekhmet.
Most of the statues are of two forms - striding with arms at the side or seated with
hands on the lap. The style of hands and feet are notable - regardless of the skill or
detail used in the rest of the figure, the hands (and often lower arms) and feet are invariably
blocky with little detail. Clearly this is not for lack of skill, and so to my mind indicates
a symbolic meaning. Unfortunately, as with most of the symbolism of ancient Egypt, the meaning
is not clear and we probably will never know.
This is a statue of the pharaoh Akhenaten - probably one of the most
controversial figures in Egyptian history, and the originator of the most innovative style of
art in Egypt. The style "Amarna" art (after Akhenaten's capital city) is characterized by
almost grotesquely elongated forms and over exaggerated features. Despite this, there is still
an overwhelming sense of harmony and proportion and the style is uniquely beautiful. The
whole history and controversy of Akhenaten is far too detailed to get into, but suffice to say
he was not held in high regard by the Egyptians - he was labelled a heretic for advocating
the worship of a single god, Aten, and promptly after his death his capital was dismantled
and his name vilified all over Egypt.
The Cairo Museum is home to the infamous treasures of Tutankhamon's tomb
discovered by Howard Carter. This is the wooden statue of Anubis that was found in the tomb.
The final picture that I'd like to present from the museum is this
detail of Anubis taken from a red-granite sarcophagus. Anubis - the jackal-headed god of the
underworld holds a special place in both Pam's and my psyche and we thought that this was a
particularly well rendered depiction.
