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Overview
Egyptian Museum
The Egyptian Museum in Tahrir Square is the oldest and most encyclopedic museum of ancient Egyptian art and artifacts in the world, containing over 120,000 objects spanning from the Predynastic period through the Greco-Roman era. Opened in its current neoclassical building in 1902 and occupying the symbolic center of Cairo adjacent to Tahrir Square, the museum has been the primary repository of Egyptian antiquities for over a century and remains the largest single collection of ancient Egyptian material anywhere on earth, even as some of its greatest treasures have been transferred to the new Grand Egyptian Museum in Giza.
The museum’s galleries range across two floors organized roughly by period and type — the ground floor for large statuary and architectural elements, the upper floor for smaller objects, papyri and jewellery. The density of the collection is extraordinary: virtually every corridor and room contains objects of museum-quality significance, and a comprehensive visit in a single day is not possible. Highlights include the Narmer Palette (the earliest surviving historical document from Egypt), the royal statuary of the Old and Middle Kingdoms, the gold and silver treasures of the royal tombs at Tanis, the tomb group of Yuya and Tjuyu, and the Amarna Period gallery with its distinctive artistic style.
Two famous collections have left the building: Tutankhamun’s treasures, including the gold mask, are now at the Grand Egyptian Museum in Giza, and the royal mummies moved in 2021 to the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization in Fustat. The galleries are quieter as a result, and objects still move between the museums from time to time.
Photo Gallery
Interesting Facts
The Egyptian Museum contains over 120,000 objects — the largest single collection of ancient Egyptian material anywhere in the world
The Narmer Palette, displayed in the museum, is the earliest surviving historical document from ancient Egypt, dating to approximately 3100 BCE and recording the unification of Upper and Lower Egypt
The museum displayed Tutankhamun's treasures for almost a century after the 1922 discovery; in 2025 the whole collection, including the gold mask, moved to the Grand Egyptian Museum
The museum has been in its current Tahrir Square building since 1902 — designed by French architect Marcel Dourgnon and unchanged in its essential structure for over 120 years
The royal mummies, including Ramesses II and Hatshepsut, left the museum in April 2021 in the televised Pharaohs' Golden Parade to the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization
History & Significance
Egypt’s first formal antiquities museum was established by French Egyptologist Auguste Mariette in Bulaq in 1858, using a converted building in the Nile Delta port to house the growing collection of excavated objects. The collection moved to Giza in 1890 before its permanent home in Tahrir Square opened in 1902, designed by the French architect Marcel Dourgnon. The building, with its pink neoclassical facade and domed central hall, was specifically built to house the Egyptian collection and has not been fundamentally altered since.
The museum’s founding director system, initially French-dominated, was gradually Egyptianized through the 20th century. The discovery of Tutankhamun’s intact tomb (KV62) in 1922 brought the museum’s most spectacular new accession — over 5,000 objects from the tomb were catalogued and displayed over subsequent decades and became the museum’s most-visited attraction.
With the inauguration of the Grand Egyptian Museum in 2023, the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir has begun a process of reorientation — some objects have been transferred, others remain, and the museum’s long-term role as a ‘legacy collection’ institution for scholars and as a visitor destination in central Cairo is being developed alongside the new facility in Giza.
What to See
Treasures of Tanis
Gold funerary masks and the silver coffin of King Psusennes I, found intact at Tanis in 1939 — the museum's great royal treasure now that Tutankhamun has moved to Giza
Narmer Palette
The earliest surviving historical document from ancient Egypt — a carved slate palette from c. 3100 BCE recording Narmer's unification of Upper and Lower Egypt in the world's first political narrative image.
Old Kingdom Statuary
The Seated Scribe, the Rahotep and Nofret painted limestone group, and major Old Kingdom royal sculpture — the most significant concentration of early pharaonic royal portraiture in any single museum.
Amarna Gallery
Objects from the reign of Akhenaten in the distinctive elongated Amarna style — including royal statues, relief fragments, and the haunting naturalistic portrait heads from his atelier.
Middle Kingdom Jewelry
The Dahshur Treasure jewelry belonging to 12th Dynasty princesses — gold, lapis lazuli, and carnelian pectorals and crowns representing the peak of Middle Kingdom goldsmithing.
The Egyptian Museum in 2026: What Has Changed
The Egyptian Museum on Tahrir Square, opened in 1902, is still open every day, but two of its most famous collections have moved:
- Tutankhamun's treasures, including the gold mask, are now shown in full at the Grand Egyptian Museum in Giza.
- The royal mummies, including Ramesses II and Hatshepsut, moved in 2021 to the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization in Fustat.
What remains is still one of the richest collections of ancient art in the world, with far fewer crowds than before, which makes the old museum a pleasure to visit for anyone who loves Egyptian history.
Egyptian Museum Tickets and Opening Hours (2026)
Prices below are the official ones for foreign visitors, as listed by the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities in October 2026.
| Ticket | Adult | Student |
|---|---|---|
| Egyptian Museum, Tahrir | EGP 550 | EGP 275 |
The museum opens every day at 9:00 AM, with last entry at 4:00 PM (3:00 PM during Ramadan). Students need a valid student card and must be 24 or younger; children under six enter free. Phone photography is free. Bring a bank card, as payment at the major sites is now mostly by card.
What to See Now
- The Narmer Palette: the carved slate that records the unification of Upper and Lower Egypt around 3100 BC.
- Old Kingdom masterpieces: the diorite statue of Khafre, builder of the second pyramid at Giza; the painted pair Rahotep and Nofret, with their glass eyes; and the wooden "Sheikh el-Balad".
- The tiny ivory statue of Khufu, the only complete portrait of the king who built the Great Pyramid, just 7.5 cm tall.
- The treasures of Tanis: gold masks and the silver coffin of King Psusennes I, found intact in 1939 and as rich as Tutankhamun's but far less known.
- The tomb of Yuya and Tjuyu, Tutankhamun's great-grandparents, with gilded coffins and furniture.
- The Amarna rooms: the strange, elongated statues of Akhenaten and the art of his short-lived religious revolution.
Objects are still moving between Cairo's museums, so a few pieces may be away on loan; your guide will know what is on show that week.
How to Get There and How Long You Need
The museum is on Tahrir Square in downtown Cairo, next to Sadat metro station. Allow two to three hours for the highlights with a guide.
Which museum should you choose? If you have one day, the Grand Egyptian Museum is the one to see, ideally with the pyramids on our Giza Pyramids and Grand Egyptian Museum tour. With more time, add the Tahrir museum for the Old Kingdom and Tanis collections, and the royal mummies on our NMEC and Old Cairo tour. See all our Cairo and Giza tours.
Egyptian Museum: Common Questions
Is Tutankhamun's mask still in the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir?
No. The Tutankhamun collection, including the gold mask, has moved to the Grand Egyptian Museum in Giza.
How much is the Egyptian Museum ticket in 2026?
The ticket for foreign visitors is EGP 550, or EGP 275 for students.
Where are the royal mummies now?
At the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization in Fustat, Old Cairo, since April 2021.
Is the Egyptian Museum still worth visiting?
Yes, for anyone with a real interest in ancient Egypt. The Old Kingdom statues, the Narmer Palette and the treasures of Tanis are still here, and the galleries are much quieter than before.
Egyptian Museum Tours
Our Egyptian Museum tours bring an Egyptologist to the Tahrir galleries, home to the royal mummies' story and thousands of objects, and are easy to pair with Islamic or Coptic Cairo on the same day.
Packages travelling to Cairo, where The Egyptian Museum is located.
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