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11 Masterpieces from the Egyptian Museum: A Guide to Cairo’s Eternal Treasures

While the world awaits the full opening of the GEM, the original Egyptian Museum in Tahrir Square remains the undisputed custodian of the Old Kingdom's soul. This red-brick palace houses treasures that define history itself. Here, you will find the Narmer Palette (the first historical document in the world), the hauntingly realistic eyes of the Seated Scribe, and the only known three-dimensional image of King Khufu—a statue only 3 inches tall. These 11 masterpieces are not just art; they are the surviving witnesses of 3,000 years of civilization.
  • Updated: November 27, 2025

Masterpieces from the Museum of the Egyptian Antiquities

To start, you can discover the beauty of ancient Egyptian history through this list of masterpieces from the Museum of Egyptian Antiquities. Cairo today has several major museums, but the Museum of Egyptian Antiquities, near Tahrir Square, is the Middle East’s oldest archaeological museum. The building itself is the world’s oldest purpose-built museum, opening in 1901.

Furthermore, the museum houses thousands of unique ancient Egyptian artifacts. A Frenchman named Auguste Mariette, considered the founder of Egyptology, first proposed the idea of building a museum to hold these treasures. Unfortunately, he died before he could see his dream fulfilled. His students opened the museum in his place. Therefore, you can find a statue of Mariette in the museum’s gardens, surrounded by busts of his students.

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Top 11 Masterpieces of the Egyptian Museum of Antiquities

Museums in Egypt - Egypt Museum

The museum’s main structure is split into two levels, with objects presented in chronological sequence from the Predynastic Period to the Greco-Roman Period, going through the dynastic periods of the Old Kingdom, Middle Kingdom, and New Kingdom.

The ground floor houses the most important dynastic stone statues, including the Great Sphinx’s beard and cobra snake, as well as a special room for the heretic Pharaoh Akhenaten and his beautiful wife Queen Nefertiti, while the upper floor houses many of the coffins discovered in El Deir El Bahari’s cachet, the treasure of Yoya and Thoya, Greco-Roman mummies, and the animal mummies room.

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1. The Palette of Narmer

king Narmer's Palette

One of the most important masterpieces at the Egyptian Museum of Antiquities is the Palette of Narmer. It dates back to the 31st century BC and contains some of the earliest known hieroglyphic paintings, making it one of the world’s oldest historical documents.

A Historic Artifact

Artists fashioned the 23-inch-long dark green schist stone into a ceremonial shield-shaped tablet. The palette commemorates King Narmer’s rise to power. It depicts him winning the struggle for the union of Upper and Lower Egypt. You can see this sculpture at the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto, Canada.

2. King Djoser’s Ka Statue

King Djoser's Ka Statue - Egyptian Museum

Archeologists carved a magnificent, life-size statue of King Djoser from a single block of limestone. They discovered the statue in a chamber attached to his Step Pyramid at Saqqara, Egypt. The room, known as the Serdab chamber, is on the northern side of the pyramid near the entrance and has no door.

Description of the Statue

The king’s statue faces north inside the chamber. Two small openings in the northern wall give him a view of the northern star. The statue shows the king wearing a long, semi-transparent gown. He is barefoot, with one hand on his thigh and the other on his chest. A thick hair wig sits under his royal Nemes headdress. This image of the king comes from the Heb Sed celebration, a prominent ancient Egyptian festival.

Inscriptions and Symbolism

Hieroglyphic inscriptions on the statue’s pedestal list some of the king’s titles. His true name, “Nethri Ghit,” or “The divine body,” is also written here. The inscription translates to “King of upper and lower Egypt, the lord of the two ladies, the Volture & the cobra snake,’ the divine body.” The statue’s eyes are missing. They were most likely made of valuable materials.

3. Triads of King Menkawre (Mycerinus)

Triad of King Menkawre

An English excavator called George Reisner discovered 5 triad sculptures of King Menkawre accompanied by Goddess Hathor and nomes gods in the mummification temple of King Menkawre a.k.a. the valley temple in 1910. Grey-green schist is used to create the triads.

The Egyptian Museum has three of the triads, while the Boston Museum of Fine Arts houses the other two. The triad depicts the king in a very powerful, strict image, with his left leg stepping forward and the white silver crown of Upper Egypt above his head, while Hathor stands to his right, wearing her typical crown composed of the sun disc between two cow’s horns, and the other lady is wearing the symbol of her nome.

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4. The Beard and Cobra Snake of the Great Sphinx of Giza

Sphinx-beard-Egyptian-museum-treasures-egypt-fun-tours

I think this is the most important of all the Masterpieces of the Egyptian Museum of Antiquities. The Great Sphinx of Giza, which belongs to King Chephren, is one of the most renowned ancient Egyptian monuments, as well as the world’s biggest figure constructed of a single piece of stone.

It is part of Egypt’s legendary Pyramids. The nose, the cobra snake on the forehead, and the beard all tumbled down and fractured due to the poor grade of limestone used to make the Sphinx! The Great Sphinx’s beard and cobra serpent may still be shown at the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, and they are regarded as essential museum treasures.

5. Royal Seated Scribe

The Royal Scribe - Egypt Fun Tours

The excellent Royal seated scribe statue at the Egyptian museum exemplifies the ancient Egyptian craftsmen’s and artisans’ incredible expertise. There are no markings on the statue stating who it belongs to, hence it belongs to an unknown scribe.

The artist was incredibly skilled and confident. He freed the statue’s arms and created it without a rear pillar, breaking the artistic norms of the period. The statue has a light wig that leaves his ears free to listen. His eyes, inlaid with rock crystals and black nails, and a small smile on his face, tell us everything about scribes in ancient Egypt.

6. Statue of King Chephren (Diorite stone)

King Chephren's Diorite Statue in the Egyptian Museum

The Statue of King Chephren on display at the Egyptian Museum is one of the most remarkable Ancient Egyptian Artifacts since it was carved from a single piece of diorite stone, which is the second hardest stone on earth after diamond.

We don’t know how this statue came to be. It’s important to note that the ancient Egyptians utilized diorite stone to cut other hard stones for building projects, such as granite. A life-size statue of the 4th Dynasty’s third king. During his reign, King Chephren built a pyramid at Giza for himself, which is only second in size in the world to his father, King Khufu’s Great Pyramid of Giza.

For centuries, the statue was held under the foundation of Giza’s Valley temple of King Chephren, which is also the king’s mummification temple. Tourists congregate at the statue’s discovery site to throw money and make wishes.

7. The Statuette of King Khufu

King Khufu Statue

The 7.5-inch (3-inch) ivory statue of King Khufu is one of the smallest and most valuable artifacts ever discovered in ancient Egypt. Furthermore, it is the only known image of him. He is the king for whom people built the Great Pyramid of Giza.

Discovery

Archeologists discovered the statue on the southern corner of the Temple of Osiris in Abydos‘ ancient necropolis. It is now housed in Cairo’s Egyptian Museum. When they found the statue, it was headless. After two weeks of further excavation, they uncovered the head. A serekh name on the statue’s left shoulder confirms its identity as King Khufu.

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8. Meidum Geese

Meidum Geese - Egyptian Museum

An amazing painting from the early 4th Dynasty was cut from the tomb of Nefermaat and Itet at Meidum. You can see it among the Egyptian Museum’s treasures. The geese were once part of a larger scene in the burial chapel of Itet, the wife of the vizier Nefermaat. She was most likely King Snefru’s daughter-in-law.

As members of the royal family, they received a spacious mastaba tomb. It was near the king’s pyramid. They hired the most sought-after artisans to decorate it. The artists depicted the geese beneath a scene of men catching birds. They would catch them in a clap net and present them to the tomb’s owner.

Images of fowling in the marshes are common in Old Kingdom tombs. However, this painting is one of the oldest. It stands out for its exceptional quality. The artist paid close attention to the colors and textures of the birds’ feathers. They even included a serrated beak on the two geese that are bending down to graze.

9. Yuya and Thuya Collection

9. Yuya & Thuya Collection

Yuya and Thuya - Egyptian Museum Tour

One of the highlights of the Egyptian Museum is the collection of Yuya and Thuya. They were the great-grandparents of King Tutankhamun and the parents of Queen Tiye.

Discovery

In 1905, Quibell found their tomb in the Valley of the Kings. The tomb’s artifacts were all crammed into a single, undecorated room.

Artifacts and Mummies

The tomb’s contents included household objects and magnificent furnishings. We found Yuya and Thuya’s remains inside their coffins. Their bodies were in excellent shape. We also found two golden masks on the mummies.

The museum’s collection displays large wooden sarcophagi and painted wooden coffins. It also shows gilded wooden coffins and the mummies of Yuya and Thuya. Many other objects from their tomb are also on display.

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10. Rahotep and his wife Nofret

RaHotep and his wife Nofret - Egypt Fun Tours

In 1871, French archaeologist Albert Auguste Mariette discovered the life-like limestone sculptures of Prince Rahotep and his wife, Nofret. These are some of the most well-known private statues from ancient Egypt.

Discovery and Location

Archeologists unearthed the sculptures in Rahotep’s mastaba tomb. This was a rectangular platform tomb located north of Snefru’s pyramid at Meidum. The discovery took place during King Snefru’s reign (c. 2575-2551 BC). Today, the Egyptian Museum in Cairo houses them.

Artistic Style

The figures of Rahotep (121 cm) and Nofret (122 cm) are famous examples of the strict rules that governed the art of this period. Unlike Greek sculptures, which you can view from all sides, these sitting figures were sculpted to be seen only from the front.

11. Hathor’s Chapel of Thutmose III

Hathor's Chapel - Egyptian Museum - Egypt Fun Tours

The Chapel of Goddess Hathor is a masterpiece at the Egyptian Museum of Antiquities. It features a cow figure that symbolizes the goddess. Both the chapel and the figure date back to the 18th dynasty. They were created at the end of Thutmose III’s reign and the beginning of Amenhotep II’s.

Discovery

Excavators unearthed them in 1906. This was during an Egypt Exploration Fund dig at Deir el-Bahari. Workers found them hidden behind stone debris. This was between the temples of Mentuhotep and Hatshepsut. The foreman, Neville, told his workers to stop digging. He feared an avalanche.

An avalanche happened anyway. When the dust cleared, a digger found the entrance to the holy cow’s chapel. The chapel and statue were in excellent condition. Their vibrant colors were still visible. They are both made of painted sandstone.

The Chapel’s Details

The chapel’s front wall shows King Thutmose III. He makes liquid offerings and burns incense. He is offering these to the god Amun, who sits on a chair. Amun holds the Was scepter, which symbolizes prosperity. He also holds the Ankh key of life.

The Egyptian Museum of Antiquities holds countless masterpieces. It has about 120,000 pieces in its collection. You should visit the museum to explore more of these incredible artifacts.

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