The Luxor Museum

As soon as you arrive in Luxor, you're obviously going to want to start exploring the unbelievable archaeological sites: Karnak, the Valley of the Kings, Luxor Temple, and more. So it might seem superfluous to make a museum your first stop. Why visit a traditional museum, when this entire city is basically one big open-air collection of antiquities? But trust us: the Luxor Museum won't take a lot of your time, and serves as the perfect opener for your journey into Ancient Egypt.

The Luxor Museum opened its doors in 1975. And in contrast with Cario's massive new Grand Egyptian Museum, the focus here is on quality instead of quantity. The pieces have been carefully curated, thoughtfully arranged, and presented with just the right amount of context. Egyptian History is an overwhelming topic, convoluted and contradictory, but the Luxor Museum does an incredible job of introducing it, with unique and important artifacts.

It shouldn't be surprising that the main museum in one of the world's richest archaeological regions is so excellent. But we were surprised! We simply hadn't heard much about it, and were almost dismissive when we stepped inside. "Let's just move through this quickly, and get to a real attraction asap".

But the museum managed to suck us in almost immediately. We learned about the pharaohs, the dig sites, the various kingdoms, the hieroglyphics, and the gods. Hatshepsut, Amenhotep, Tutankhamun, Ramses, Seti, and Thutmose were just some of the names which we read about here, and would encounter repeatedly as we explored Luxor in the coming week.

The Luxor Museum won't overwhelm you but it slowly pulls you in. We spent a long time looking at the massive statue of Amenhotep III, the delicate gold jewelry, the alabaster jars, and the beautifully carved figures of the god Amun that once guarded the temples nearby. One of the most fascinating exhibits in the museum displays statues discovered beneath Luxor Temple in 1989: an underground cache filled with ceremonial sculptures that remained hidden for centuries.

And what would an Egyptian museum be without mummies?! There are two royal mummies on display, here, in adjacent rooms that seem to cast a spell of silence on everyone that enters. Standing face to face with the preserved remains of these ancient rulers was honestly a bit unsettling, especially since it's possible to make out facial features, fingernails, or patches of hair.

We absolutely loved our visit to the Luxor Museum. This was probably the only time we've emerged from a museum with more energy than when we entered. It wasn't overwhelming, and really whet our appetites to see discover the treasures of Luxor.

From our Travel Blog.

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