Old Egyptian Museum Include Masks of Yuya and Thuya Half Day Tour

The Egyptian Museum is the oldest archaeological museum in the Middle East, and houses the largest collection of Pharaonic antiquities in the world. The museum displays an extensive collection spanning from the Predynastic Period to the Greco-Roman Era. The architect of the building was selected through an international competition in 1895, which was the first of its kind, and was won by the French architect, Marcel Dourgnon. The museum was inaugurated in 1902 by Khedive Abbas Helmy II, and has become a historic landmark in downtown Cairo, and home to some of the world’s most magnificent ancient masterpieces. The mummies of Yuya and Thuya were discovered wearing these cartonnage masks covered with gold leaf. Yuya was the father of Queen Tiye, wife of king Amenhotep III, and husband of Thuya. Yuya came from the town of Akhmim, where he probably held estates and where he was a priest of the Egyptian god Min, the chief god of the area. Later you will be transferred back to your hotel.