It is located right in the middle of down town Cairo, in Tahrir Square. It is the biggest treasure of ancient Egyptian artifacts. Whether it’s a wrapped mummy or a granite statue or pure gold, it’s all there in the Egyptian museum.  The space of the museum is huge and is as rich in history as the artifacts it houses. Apparently, by the late 19^th century and early 20^th, there was so many discoveries being made and artifacts collected that the Egyptian government established a museum in 1835 near the Ezbekeyah Garden. All artifacts were moved from one building to the other until 1902 when everything was finally settled right in its present location.

The best way to reach the Egyptian Museum is by Metro, it leaves you right in the middle of Tahrir Square then it’s just a matter of crossing over a few streets to reach that huge orange building.  Once inside its iron fence, there was a hustle and bustle and numerous tour buses parked all around. Once inside the museum, it was noisy and busy with tourist groups all over there.

The interior of the museum is gigantic with colossal statues inside.  There’s something displayed in every single corner and every single hall.  Even as we went up the stairs to see the Tut Ankh Amun’s collection, there were fantastic drawings with hieroglyphic writing and drawings of ancient Egyptian gods in burial and religious rituals. The beauty of the collection of King Tut was not disappointing either. The painted gold masks, jewelry and black and white photos of the tomb as it was discovered in the Valley of the Kings in Luxor, left us with an overwhelming feeling of adventure, discovery and mystery.

Then of course the mummies are a must see.  Well preserved and so real with hair, nails and facial features.  Well, a bit too long in the mummy room proved a bit too freaky for my taste, but it was well worth the visit! Time flew by amazingly quickly as there are large spaces to walk through and so much to see.  I think I’ll come again to discover more.

[/vc_column_text][/trx_content][vc_column_text]“If you are would like to learn Egyptian Arabic online, choose Arab Academy, the leaders in online Arabic education![/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

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As we started our walk through old Cairo, we came across el khayameya, or the “Tent Making Street”.  It was colorful and almost festive with all the joyful material hanging all over high and low in the bazaars. The history of the craft as well as the craft itself, in which everything is sewn by hand, seemed so interesting

The word khayameya comes from the word Khemah, means “Tent” in the Arabic language.  It was started when the Arabs, who lived in and decorated their tents, came to Egypt.  Of course no one lives in tents now in Cairo, but the craft still remains.  The street of tentmakers is full of appliquéd cloth patterns, usually with varying subjects such as calligraphy, or Egyptian/ Arab themes such as donkeys, camels, and geometric designs. It could a bit reminiscent of quilting in the way each design must first be drawn on a large paper, then the paper is pricked with a fine needle outlining each pattern in thousands of small holes.  Black carbon dust is then sprinkles over the paper leaving an outline onto the designated piece of cloth.  The process is repeated many times with different colored material, usually bright red, green, blue and black. Al Khayameya still remains one of the oldest bazaars in Egypt.  It’s a covered market near Bab Zuweila one of the Fatimid Gates of Cairo.  It is distinguished by the wooden cover with openings for illumination and ventilation.  However, I discovered that the Khayameya is endeared by Egyptians because a very special caravan used to depart from there every year.  It was called el Mahmal, and it carried the covering of the Kaaba, which was hand embroidered every year in Egypt in that area.  The caravan would depart from Bab Zuweila to the Hijaz and the procession would include snake charmers, people on horse and camel back.

Nowadays khayameyah people make all kinds of covers and wall hangings and it’s still one of the favorite spots to shop and visit.  It’s definitely a place to appreciate handicrafts.[/vc_column_text][/trx_content][/vc_column][/vc_row]

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