Apollon
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That's the beauty of Egypt, with the incredible history, and the steady influx of modernity.
In due time, when the new capital will be open and completely functional, it will be fascinating because there will truly be two capitals, one old and one new, something that I'm not sure exists anywhere else, MashaAllah.
I also mentioned all the places you did and you're right about Alexandria. The Corniche is one of the best places to be at in the world. The only problem for our friend is he's only there for one week and he really needs 3 months if he wants to absorb 1/8th (lool) of what should be seen. I think he's spending too much time with planned pyramids days activities. Especially if he'll be seeing them out of his hotel balcony all the time! But that's just my opinion. One full day to see the Giza pyramids, go into Khufu and see the Sphinx and later that night catch one of the night shows and that's it. Move on to other places. But 3 days just on pyramids in one week? I understand Sakara is attractive, but once you've seen Khufu (Cheops as it's also named) and the Sphinx, you've seen the best of the best and now it's better to move on from pyramids to see the other vast historical sites.
It's tough to tell what's been moved or what hasn't yet TBH. Last April with the moving of the mummies marked a milestone, but it was also delayed because of the pandemic and other things, so it's hard to tell unless you've visited the old museum or had someone in the travel industry who is familiar let you know. Your guide and whatever company he's with should give you that information ahead of time so you know.
Despite the trove of treasures in the museum, from Ramses' incredibly preserved mummy to all the golden artifacts to the sculpting and engraving tools they used to carve all the magnificent relief scrolls and drawings and original papyrus paper to so many other incredible artifacts, you'll really need to know exactly what is still there or if it's been moved and maybe there is limited access to the new museum.
Not to deflect, but the UK should get its act together and give us back the Rosetta Stone as well as Germany should send back the statue of Nefertiti's bust, amongst so many other immeasurable treasures that don't belong to anyone else but Egypt. But I digress.
But one thing you definitely do not want to miss seeing (despite his magnificent golden chariot has already been moved) is King Tutankhamun's mask. To me, this is the #1 item that you should have on your list. It is mesmerizing with all the gold and the extraordinary blue lapis lazuli amongst several other gemstones. But the gold workmanship is beyond imagination considering their knowledge of working the precious metals as well as recognizing its value. Also knowing the different ideal temperatures to work the gold as in this case, it was mostly worked on cold. Knowing a lot of this information before seeing it will help you really appreciate it and many of the other treasures, more than if you didn't.
This is a must. If there is anything you need to see in Egypt as a first time tourist, this is it.
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Well lets hope the mask is still there when we are there and not in the GEM yet. ^^ i have the feeling the GEM is still closed when we are there. Our tour company said they might be able to get a sneak preview for us but thats not sure yet.
As it stands now its mostly a pyramide tour. My mother studied archeology at university to its a big thing for her to also see Saqqara and Abusir and so on. ^^*
As for artifacts...the british stole half of the images of the acropolis in Athens and refuse to give them back. If they denie Greece, a european country, to give back stolen artifacts, i have little hope they will give anything to Egypt.