The Mummification Museum is an

archaeological museum An archaeology museum is a museum that specializes in the display of archaeological artifacts. Many archaeology museum are in the open-air museum, open air, such as the Ancient Agora of Athens and the Roman Forum.David Watkin. ''The Roman Forum ...

Luxor Luxor is a city in Upper Egypt. Luxor had a population of 263,109 in 2020, with an area of approximately and is the capital of the Luxor Governorate. It is among the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest continuously inhabited c ...

Upper Egypt Upper Egypt ( ', shortened to , , locally: ) is the southern portion of Egypt and is composed of the Nile River valley south of the delta and the 30th parallel North. It thus consists of the entire Nile River valley from Cairo south to Lake N ...

. It is dedicated to the art of

Ancient Egypt Ancient Egypt () was a cradle of civilization concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in Northeast Africa. It emerged from prehistoric Egypt around 3150BC (according to conventional Egyptian chronology), when Upper and Lower E ...

ian

mummification A mummy is a dead human or an animal whose soft tissues and organs have been preserved by either intentional or accidental exposure to chemicals, extreme cold, very low humidity, or lack of air, so that the recovered body does not decay furt ...

Location

The museum is located in the city of Luxor, the ancient Thebes. It stands on the corniche in front of the Mina Palace Hotel, situated to the north of the Luxor Temple overlooking the

Nile The Nile (also known as the Nile River or River Nile) is a major north-flowing river in northeastern Africa. It flows into the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile is the longest river in Africa. It has historically been considered the List of river sy ...

river.

Aim

The museum is intended to provide visitors with an understanding of the ancient art of mummification. The Ancient Egyptians applied

embalming Embalming is the art and science of preserving human remains by treating them with embalming chemicals in modern times to forestall decomposition. This is usually done to make the deceased suitable for viewing as part of the funeral ceremony or ...

techniques to many species, not only to dead humans. Mummies of

cats The cat (''Felis catus''), also referred to as the domestic cat or house cat, is a small domesticated carnivorous mammal. It is the only domesticated species of the family Felidae. Advances in archaeology and genetics have shown that the ...

, fish and crocodiles are on display in this unique museum, where one can also get an idea of the tools used.

History

The story of this museum began when the Egyptian president decreed that the responsibility of the former visitor centre building was to be transferred from the tourism ministry to that of culture (and, specifically, the

Supreme Council of Antiquities The Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA; ) was established in 1994, responsible for the conservation, protection, and regulation of all antiquities and archaeological excavations in Egypt. From 1994 to 2011, the SCA was a department of the Egyptia ...

). It was opened by President Hosni Mubarak in 1997.

Halls

The museum, located in the former visitor center, covers an area of 2035 m² and contains the following elements: *Hall of artifacts *Lecture hall *Video room *Cafeteria The hall of artifacts is divided into two parts, the first one is ascended corridor through which the visitor could have a look on ten tablets were drawn from the papyri of Ani and Hu-nefer that displayed in the

British Museum The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...

in London. Most of these tablets throw lights on the funeral journey from death to burial. The second part of the museum began from the end of the corridor and the visitor could see more than sixty pieces, which are displayed in 19 well-advanced cases. In those 19 display cases, the artefacts are concentrated on eleven topics: * Gods of ancient Egypt *Embalming materials *Organic materials *Embalming fluid *Tools of mummification *

Canopic jar Canopic jars are funerary vessels that were used by the Ancient Egypt, ancient Egyptians to house embalmed organs that were removed during the mummification process. They also served to store and preserve the viscera of their soul for the afterl ...

s * Ushabtis *

Amulet An amulet, also known as a good luck charm or phylactery, is an object believed to confer protection upon its possessor. The word "amulet" comes from the Latin word , which Pliny's ''Natural History'' describes as "an object that protects a perso ...

s *Coffin of Padiamun *Mummy of Masaharta *Mummified animals

References

External links

Mummification Museum: First in the world
History museums in Egypt Luxor Archaeology of death Museums established in 1997 1997 establishments in Egypt {{Egypt-museum-stub

Location

Aim

History

Halls

See also

References

External links