There have been several capitals of Egypt throughout history. And the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities of the country has decided to make them known in a didactic and impressive way to all travelers, through the Museum of the Capitals of Egypt. In this post we tell you the keys to this new museum that aspires to be one of the great tourist attractions of the new administrative capital of the country.
What is and where is the Egypt’s Capitals Museum
The Museum of the Capitals of Egypt is a large museum complex that pays tribute to the main capitals that the country has had. Recall that there have been many cities that have assumed this role since the birth of the country, a historical episode that is usually dated to the reign of Narmer, king-unifier of Upper and Lower Egypt in the 31st century BC.
The theme and construction site were not chosen at random: it is located in what will be the new administrative capital of Egypt, a city built from scratch in the middle of the desert and located about 30 km east of downtown Cairo. In fact, this great city still has no official name, although it is popularly known as New Cairo or New Administrative Capital.
What you can see in this museum
This Museum has decided to focus on the six main capitals that Egypt has had throughout its history and that have their respective exhibition space here. They are as follows
- Memphis considered the first of the capitals of Egypt. capitals of Egypt. It assumed this function during the Ancient Empire, that is to say, in one of the periods of greatest splendor of Ancient Egypt, when the Pyramids of Giza
- Thebes: capital during the New Empire, that is, at the time of such important pharaohs as Ramses II or Tutankhamun. The current city of Luxor
was built on its ruins - Amarna was a fleeting capital, but very interesting for what it entailed. It was the ruling city of the pharaoh Akhenaten, considered a ‘heretic’ for his religious changes. It occurred in the time of the New Empire and the original of this city was Akhethaton (The Horizon of Aton, supreme god during the reign of this monarch).
- Alexandria founded by Alexander the Great in the Mediterranean, it was the great city of the country in Greco-Roman times.
- Cairo Historical or Islamic: it was the city founded during the Middle Ages after the conquest of the country by the Arabs, who had already promoted the nearby Fustat (today integrated in the megalopolis of Cairo) as the capital.
- The Cairo of the Khedives: it is, in fact, the evolution and modernization of Historic Cairo. A project promoted in the 19th century by Mehmet Ali and his successors at a time of openness and new European-style urban development projects.
Visit the Museum of the Capitals of Egypt is, therefore, an original way to visit the past, present and future of the country through its main historic cities. If that is your desire and you wish to add this experience to your trip, just contact Egipto Exclusivo to arrange all the details.
