National Museum of Egyptian Civilization
Museum, Cairo and Giza · also called NMEC, National Museum of Egyptian Civilisation, Fustat museum, Royal Mummies Hall
The National Museum of Egyptian Civilization in Fustat is home to Egypt's royal mummies. For hieroglyph lovers it puts faces to the cartouches you read on temple walls, and shows how Egyptian writing changed over thousands of years.
The National Museum of Egyptian Civilization stands in Fustat, old Cairo. On 3 April 2021, 22 royal mummies, 18 kings and 4 queens, were driven here from Tahrir Square in the Pharaohs' Golden Parade. Above them, a main hall tells Egypt's story from prehistory to today.
Most of these mummies were reburied by priests around 1000 BC in two caches, at Deir el-Bahari and in the tomb of Amenhotep II. The priests wrote short notes in hieratic, the cursive form of the script, on coffins and linen, saying who each king was. These notes are how we know their names.
Inscriptions to see
Royal Mummies Hall
Each king and queen lies in a separate case in a dim hall below the main floor. Know their cartouches and you can link each face to names on the temples of Luxor.
Hatshepsut
Her names were cut out of many monuments after her death. That makes her one of the hardest rulers to read on stone, and seeing her here is a small reward for the search.
Writing in the main hall
Compare carved hieroglyphs with the quick hieratic and demotic hands, then Coptic, which writes Egyptian in Greek letters plus a few demotic signs.
Names you can find here
Signs to look for
- Cartouche V10 The cartouche encloses the names of every king and queen in the mummies hall.
- Ibis on a standard G26ḏḥwty The ibis on a standard (Thoth) begins the name of Thutmose III.
- Three fox skins F31ms The three fox skins (mes, 'born') appear in the names Thutmose and Ramesses.
- Adze U21stp The adze (setep, 'chosen') is in Ramesses II's throne name, User-maat-re Setep-en-re.
- Scribe's kit Y3zš The scribe's kit (sesh, 'to write') stands for writing itself.
Reading the hieroglyphs here
- Photography in the mummies hall is usually restricted: check the rules at the entrance.
- Write down the cartouches of the kings you want to see before you go, then match them to the labels.
- Hieratic is hieroglyphs written fast with a brush: many signs are still recognisable.
Point your camera at a wall Hiero Lens boxes the signs and names them, on your phone; nothing is uploaded. On worn stone, trace a sign over the photo.
Questions
Which pharaohs are in the NMEC?
Among them are Ramesses II, Seti I, Thutmose III and Hatshepsut, with Queen Ahmose-Nefertari. Each label gives the name you would read in their cartouche.
How was Hatshepsut's mummy identified?
In 2007 a team led by Zahi Hawass announced that a loose tooth, found in a box inscribed with her name, fitted the jaw of an unnamed mummy. Most scholars accept it, though some remain cautious.
Where it is
Open in OpenStreetMap · Written from published sources and not yet checked on site by our team: displays and open tombs change.