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The Coptic Museum

  The Coptic Museum, founded in 1908 by Marcus Simaika Pasha, contains the largest collection of Coptic monuments in the world. The building surrounds an inner courtyard, and has been equipped over the years with doors, windows, ceilings, and floors from nearby houses and churches. Its exhibits include all kinds of architectural sculptures from churches and monasteries (apses, friezes, and capitals), funerary stelae and figures, items of wood, ivory, and metalwork, frescos and icons, as well as many kinds of textiles going back to the period of late antiquity. Particularly notable is the Museum’s extensive archive of manuscripts, including the Gnostic codices of Nag Hammadi (4th / 5th centuries), invaluable to the history of early Christianity.

The monastery of St. Jeremiah was built in Saqqara in the 4th century A.D., near the Unas causeway, and destroyed by the Arabs around 960 A.D. Even today the ruins are still impressive, but most of the decorated blocks of masonry have been moved to the Coptic Museum. Recently, researchers from the DAI (the German Archeological Institute in Cairo) have studied the monastery again. The frieze shown here has a characteristic motif, consisting of a cross with guilloche decoration and trefoil acanthus leaves in the angles between the arms. It is surrounded by a large circular band in four segments connected by curving knots. Fronds of leaves flank the cross to right and left.
 
  Large wickerwork capital  
  6th century A.D., Alexandria, marble, H. 83 cm  

This large rectangular capital is covered with deeply carved basket-weave ornamentation, rising above a floral band with leaf and loop motifs.

Each of the sides has a large, square pictorial area with a highly stylized floral motif which goes back to ancient Egyptian principles of design in its clear, symmetrical organization. Similar capitals are also known outside Egypt (for instance in San Vitale, Ravenna).
The capital was obviously hollowed out to be used for some other purpose later; it may, for instance, have acted as a font. The material also indicates the value of the capital, since marble had to be imported from abroad. But most likely the stone block originated from a building of Greco Roman times and was later rebut into its present form.

 
 
  Pages from the Nag Hammadi Codices  
  Late 4th century A.D., found at Nag Hammadi, papyrus, H. 28.2 cm   The famous Nag Hammadi Codices were found in 1945 in a jar at the foot of the Gjebel el-Taref. However, it was several years before anyone realized that this was a find of Gnostic scriptures and thus an international sensation.

Something was known from the sermons and letters of the early church leaders about the “harmful influence” of the Gnostics, whose view of the world was pessimistic and who saw salvation as recognition of our origin in an immaterial world of light, but hardly any original texts has previously been found. The double page shows the title of the apocryphal book of St. John, placed at the end of the text in the usual way.

 
  The Ascension of Christ  
  6th / 7th century A.D., Bawit, monastery of St. Apollo, fresco on plaster ground, H. of niche 2.20 m  
The monastery of Bawit, situated between Hermopolis and Asiut in Middle Egypt, is well known for its fine frescos, including this famous niche painting. Jesus is shown enthroned in a mandorla; his right hand is raised in blessing, and his left hand holds an open book containing the world “holy” repeated three times.

He is surrounded by the four apocalyptic creatures (man, eagle, lion, and bull), and by the archangels Michael (left) and Gabriel (right).

The Virgin Mary sits enthroned in the lower part of the fresco with the Christ Child, who is holding a scroll. The twelve apostles and two local saints stand to left and right of her, all with halos and holding books under their left arms. Furthermore, the name of each disciple is clearly written in Coptic above the figures. St. Peter, on the right of the Virgin, also carries his attribute of the key, and St. Paul, on the extreme left, a long staff with a cross on top of it. The niche is bordered by a frame containing medallion busts.

 
 
The Pyramid of Cheops

The largest pyramid ever built in Egypt was known as the horizon of Cheops. This is building, astonishing in the precision of its execution

The Pyramid of Chephren

king Chephren had his pyramid built in Giza at a diagonal angle to the building erected by Cheops.

The Pyramid of Mycerinus

The modest height of the pyramid of Mycerinus, which formerly reached 216 ft (66 m), may have been a country...
 
The Great Sphinx

The figure of the great Sphinx was worked from a rocky out crop. The colossal sculpture (240 x 65 ft; 73.5 x 20 m)
 
The Solar Barque of Cheops

In 1954, yet another sensational find was in the necropolis area of Giza, already far from lacking in major discoveries. While work was in progress directly in front of the south side of the pyramid of Cheops.
 
Egyptian Museum

The first Egyptian Museum of Pharaonic antiquities was established in 1863 by the famous French archeologist, Auguste Mariette. Afterwards, because of the many Pharaonic treasurers discovered in Egypt .
 
Memphis

The present situation of the ancient capital of Egypt could hardly be put more cogently, for very little of the former glory of the metropolis remains. A few colossal royal statues, the great alabaster sphinx.

Saqqara

Beside the cemetery area of the western Thebes, Saqqara is the most extensive mortuary town in Egypt, and it is known to have been used from the early Dynastic period (First / Second Dynasties)

The Pyramid Complex of Djoser

The great burial district of King Djoser forms the lonely peak in the development of the royal burial sites of the early 3rd millennium B.C. which combine elements of the upper Egypt and lower Egyptian traditions.
 
Dahshur

Only a few miles south of Saqqara stretches the important and extensive pyramid field of Dahshur (opened to the public 1996). Immediately on the edge of the fertile land lie the brick buildings of tree rules of the Twelfth Dynasty.
 
The Coptic Museum

The  Coptic museum, founded in 1908 by Marcus Simaika Pasha, contains the largest collection of Coptic monuments in the world.

The el-Moallaqa Church

The church of the Virgin Mary was constructed above the two 59-ft (18-m) towers of the southern gateway of the fortress of Babylon

Jewish Monuments

The Moses Ben Maimon synagogue is an important historical and religious monument in Egypt, and its restoration will return a piece of Jewish heritage to Egypt.
 
Al-Azhar Mosque

No other mosque in Cairo surpasses Al-Azhar , "The Flowering," in tradition and importance. Soon after its foundation in 970 A.D. it became the site of university studies, which continued there to the present.
 
Ibn Tulun Mosque

Cairo owns one of its oldest and most beautiful mosques to Ahmed Ibn Tulun, founder of the short lived Tulunid dynasty.
 
Mosque of Sultan Hasan

The mosque built below the citadel by Sultan Hasan 91347-1361) is among the outstanding achievements of Islamic architecture.
 
Muhammad Ali Mosque ( The Citadel of Cairo)

The citadel of Cairo was built under Ayyubid dynasty between 1176 and 1207, and later extended to Mamluk and Ottoman pashas, Sultan Al-Nasir Muhammad (1294 - 1340) had a mosque as well as his principal palace built there.

Bab el-Futuh

In the lat 11th century Vizier Badr Al Jamali had a massive fortress laid out around the residence of Cairo

Mosque of Qait Bey

This complex is among the finest buildings in Cairo, It consists of a portal area with well, a minaret.
 
Discover Cairo

Cairo has been the living heart of Egypt for over 1000 years.As the capital of the country and the seat of government,....
Cairo Attractions 

Cairo attractions and sightseeing attractions in Cairo. Book Cairo attraction tours with Select Egypt
Cairo Holidays

special discount holiday packages offers for Cairo travel. We give you tailor made holiday deals for Cairo travel
Cairo Tours & Excursions

special discount holiday packages offers for Cairo excursions. We give you tailor made holiday deals for Cairo travel
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Cairo Hotels

Choose from over 89 Cairo hotels with huge savings. Whatever your budget, compare prices and read reviews for all our Cairo hotels
Cairo Map

Cairo is the capital of Egypt and the most important city in the land of the Nile. Greater Cairo, being the largest city in Africa,
Cairo Monuments

The best monuments of Cairo. Information about Cairo monuments, landmarks, historic buildings and museums in Cairo.
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