Long before Cairo’s collections spread across newer museums, this building beside Tahrir Square was their best-known home. Opened in 1902 and designed by Marcel Dourgnon, it provided a purpose-built setting after earlier collections had moved between several locations. The building also tells a chapter in the history of archaeology in Egypt.
Its galleries move between royal sculpture, coffins and objects of everyday life, spanning prehistory to the Graeco-Roman period. The central hall and surrounding galleries retain the character of a historic museum, with each side room changing the scale and rhythm of what you encounter.
