Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM) – A Traveling Fool

September 9, 2026

Egyptian Expedition 016: Day 7 – The King Khufu Solar Boats at the GEM

Once we finished our tour of the Tutankhamun Gallery, we had roughly an hour of free time. So, a friend and I went to see the Solar Boats that were once buried alongside King Khufu’s Great Pyramid. These are among the oldest wooden ships ever discovered and date back to approximately 4,600 years ago.

They are referred to as “solar boats”, “solar barges” or “solar barques”. These would have been ritual vessels believed to carry the resurrected king across the heavens with the sun god Ra. However, the first boat discovered and reconstructed does appear to have been used in water. So maybe it was once used as a funeral barge or maybe even by Khufu while he was alive to visit holy places and then buried for him to use in the afterlife.

Both boats were disassembled when found. The first boat was reconstructed back in the 1960s. It is considered to be the world’s oldest intact ship. It has also been described as “a masterpiece of woodcraft” which could still sail if put into a lake or a river.

The second boat is being put back together now in a space next to the first boat. It has some design differences from the first and is believed to have been created for a different function. Once its reconstruction is complete the two boats will remain displayed in their own special building side by side.

We were able to walk completely around the two boats, seeing them from every angle and from different levels. The second boat is currently just a skeleton. But the first boat looks like you could just walk onto it and sail off in it, if it were in water. It was remarkable to see something made of wood that was so old but looked so sturdy.

Although Khufu was the builder of the Great Pyramid, which is the only one of the ancient seven wonders of the world still in existence, there is only one, small ivory figure known to be of him. He apparently wasn’t like so many of the later pharaohs who had numerous massive statutes of themselves everywhere. His father is considered to have been Sneferu. His son, Djedefre, succeeded him to the throne. Djedefre’s brother, Khafre, succeeded him and built the second largest pyramid in Giza. More about him in the next post.

Making sure to have enough time to eat some lunch before heading to the Giza Pyramids for the afternoon, we next headed to the area with several restaurants, cafes and retail shops in the museum complex. We needed something that would keep us going through the afternoon but not be too heavy. A sandwich shop called Sandough seemed to fit the bill. I had a tuna sandwich with some fresh-squeezed orange juice. We were planning to have dinner at the Italian restaurant in the hotel that evening.

After lunch there was still some time before we needed to leave, so we checked out some of the shops. Didn’t see anything that I wanted to haul home and they didn’t have an online shop as of yet. So nothing was purchased there.

The first two photos are of the outside of the Khufu Boat Museum. The last photo is of a statue of Ramesses II that was encountered on our way out. All of the other photos were taken of the two boats (mostly the first one) inside of the museum.

The nautical term for Day 7 of the trip was “Pooped”. The poop is the stern section of a ship. To be “pooped” is to be swamped by a high, following sea. By the time this day was over, it described me quite well.

Next – Riding a camel at the Giza Pyramids & the Sphinx

September 4, 2026

Egyptian Expedition 015: Day 7 – GEM Tutankhamun Collection

As I said in the post just before this one, this is the first time that the entire 5,398-piece complete collection from the tomb of King Tutankhamun has been displayed all in one place. I distinctly remember squeezing through a tight space between his canopic shrine and another displayed artifact (I think it was his throne) back in 2008. This was when everything was jammed into the Cairo Museum in Tahrir Square. It really reminded me of somebody’s attic. So much stuff in such a relatively small space.

Some of the items found in his tomb were used in royal ceremonies and religious rituals, while others were more personal, including his jewelry, clothing, furniture, food and drink, vehicles and weapons. All of the items are grouped as follows in the Tutankhamun Gallery of the GEM:

Discovery – the story of how Tut’s tomb was discovered.
Lifestyle – Tut’s personal possessions.
Rebirth – regarding the Egyptian concept of the afterlife.
Funeral – how his body was preserved, dressed, placed in the three coffins, the sarcophagus, and the multiple shrines, plus the funeral rituals.
Identity –Tut’s family tree.

Tutankhamun was born as Tutankhaten in roughly 1342 BC. His reign was roughly from 1332 to 1323 BC. He was about nine years old when he came to the throne and about eighteen or nineteen when he died. It is thought that he might have died from a combination of malaria and a severe leg fracture.

Since he was born during the reign of Akhenaten, he was named Tutankhaten, which meant “living image of Aten”, because of a major religious shift during Akhenaten’s reign. Instead of worshiping multiple gods, Akhenaten decided that only one god should be worshiped. That was Aten. The Aten was the disc of the sun and originally an aspect of Ra, the sun god in the traditional Egyptian religion. After Akhenaten’s death, Tutankhamun changed his name and returned to the ancient multi-deity religion.

Although he is thought to be the son of Akhenaten by most Egyptologists, there is a debate as to whether Akhenaten was actually his father or maybe it was Smenkhkare. Smenkhkare was a co-ruler of Akhenaten towards the end of Akhenaten’s reign. He also reigned for a short time after Akhenaten’s death before he too died and Tutankhamun took the throne. Tutankhamun was definitely a prince and referred to as the son of a king, but it wasn’t really clear as to which king. DNA testing has confirmed that his father is a particular mummy, but there is a dispute as to whether the mummy is Akhenaten or Smenkhkare.

His mother was definitely not Nefertiti, Akhenaten’s chief wife. DNA testing has identified a female mummy known as The Younger Lady as Tutankhamun’s mother. Both she and Akhenaten are believed to have been children of King Amenhotep III and his chief wife, Tiye. Nothing complicated there.

Tutankhamun’s wife, Ankhesenamun (originally Ankhesenpaaten) was definitely one of Akhenaten’s daughters with Nefertiti. They had two still-born daughters who were buried with Tutankhamun in his tomb. His death was the end of his bloodline. Information about Akhenaten and Tutankhamun is sketchy because their successors tried to erase them from history and so there isn’t as much information about them as with other pharaohs.

The majority of the photos that I took and am sharing here are from the areas of Lifestyle (photos 001 to 008) and Funeral (009 to 017, plus 020 to 027), although the throne was in the section referred to as Identity (018 & 019).

Photo 001 has Tutankhamun’s footwear, which was mostly sandals. 002 is of various chests and other furniture that contained his belongings. Next come some beds in 003. They look pretty uncomfortable to me, especially with those headrests. A few headrests can be seen in the photo to the right behind one of the beds.

Photo 004 shows clothing and some jewelry. Those linen triangles were loincloths.

Several alabaster urns and figures are in 005. Some chairs in 006. Chariots in 007. And a closeup of a chariot in 008.

Moving to the Funeral section of the collection, we have the outermost of the four shrines in photo 009. This were all of gilded wood. The second shrine in 010 had a gilded wood frame on top which held a linen cloth with gilt bronze and rose-shaped sequins. This was called a pall.

Photo 011 shows the 2^nd, 3^rd, and 4^th shrines in a line. The sarcophagus, the base of which was carved from a solid block of quartzite (the lid is of painted granite), is still in the tomb. I have some photos of that which I will share in a later post when we visit that tomb.

There were three nesting coffins. Photo 012 is of the outermost coffin, which was of embellished gilded wood. The second coffin (013) was also of embellished gilded wood. The third coffin (014), however, was of solid gold. Tutankhamun’s mummy was inside of that coffin, wrapped in funerary wrappings (015) and wearing the magnificent solid gold mask shown in photos 025 to 027.

Photo 016 shows the funerary beds that were found in the tomb and 017 shows an Anubis statue also found in the tomb. The throne, is shown in 018 & 019. It was of wood, overlaid with gold and silver.

Photo 020 shows the garment mannequin of the pharaoh. It is made of painted wood. The Canopic Shrine is in photo 021, with the Canopic Chest and Jars in photo 022. Each jar held a specific internal organ (liver, lungs, stomach, intestines) and normally featured a lid shaped after one of the Four Sons of Horus, who served as divine protectors. In this case, the lids all resembled Tut himself.

The guardian statues of King Tutankhamun (023 & 024) are a pair of life-sized wooden sentinel figures that stood facing each other on either side of the entrance to the pharaoh’s burial chamber. You may remember the photo of these in the tomb when it was discovered from the post about the Griffith Institute at Oxford University in England.

I took numerous photos of the mask from every angle. Here, I have included photos of the back of the mask (025), a side view (026) which shows a bit of the inside of the mask as well, and a full frontal view. Tutankhamun’s mummy remains in his tomb in the Valley of the Kings and will not be moved. We visited the tomb a bit later in this trip and I will be publishing a post of that visit, complete with photos.

Next – The Over Four Thousand Years Old King Khufu Solar Boats at the GEM

August 28, 2026

Egyptian Expedition 014: Day 7 – The Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM)

We spent four hours at the Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM), from 8:30am to 12:30pm on our last day in Cairo before heading to our river cruise. What an amazing place. The first three hours were spent in the Atrium, on the Grand Staircase, in the Main Galleries, and in the Tutankhamun Collection. During free time, a visit was made to the Khufu Solar Boats. Then there was time left for lunch and a look at the gift shop before heading to where we would meet up to go and visit the Giza Pyramids, the Sphinx, and take a camel ride.

The GEM has so many wonderful things to see that I have split this morning excursion into three posts. This one is about the Atrium, the Grand Staircase and the Main Galleries. The second will be about everything Tut and the third will be about the Khufu Solar Boats.

When I visited Egypt the first time, the entire collection of artifacts had been jammed into the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir Square. It was packed so full of stuff that it was difficult to move, much less see things clearly. That museum is still open and definitely worth a visit. There are still many awe-inspiring pieces there.

The GEM is the largest museum in the world dedicated to just one single civilization. Have I said it is incredible? Amazing? Absolutely stunning?

It is just two kilometres (1.2 miles) from the Giza Pyramid Complex. Some people have been calling it the fourth Giza Pyramid. It contains over 100,000 artifacts ranging from the Predynastic Period to Roman Egypt (roughly 6210 BC to 642 AD. At least 20,000 of these artifacts are being displayed to the public for the first time. Another first is the display of the entire 5,398-piece collection from the tomb of King Tutankhamun.

Outside of the main entrance is the Hanging Obelisk of Ramesses II (photo 001). Carved from red granite, the obelisk dates back to about 1279 to 1213 BC and was originally erected in Tanis. It stands approximately 16 meters (roughly 52 ½ feet) high and weighs 80 – 100 tons. It is suspended on a four-column support system which allows visitors to walk beneath it and see the inscriptions there. It is currently the only suspended obelisk in the world.

Part of the façade around the entrance to the museum is decorated with the hieroglyph cartouches of the Egyptian kings and queens (photo 002). Just inside the entrance is the Atrium.

Visitors are greeted there by an 11 meters (roughly 36 feet) tall colossal red granite statue of King Ramesses II. Referred to by the ancient Greeks as Ozymandias, Ramesses II was the son of King Seti I and ruled from 1279 to 1213 BC, dying at the age of 96. I took several photos of this statue with both my phone and my camera from several angles. Four of them (003 to 006) are included here. In photo 004, you can see just how colossal the statue is by comparing it to the people. Photo 005 has a closeup of the dagger through his belt and the cartouche on the belt. Photo 006 shows a side view. If you look carefully, you can see a carving of one of his royal children between his legs.

As we headed to the travelator, we passed the Victory Column of Merenpetah (007) and statues of an unnamed Ptolemaic (Greek) king and his queen (008). The travelator was similar to the moving sidewalks in airports, but inclined upwards next to the Grand Staircase. It allowed anyone who didn’t want to or couldn’t walk up the Grand Staircase to ride to the top of it while still being able to see everything on it. Before getting onto the travelator, I put my phone away to make sure I didn’t drop it while taking photos of the items on the Grand Staircase. My camera has a strap that goes around my neck, so not too much chance of dropping it.

Photos 009 & 010 were taken of the Grand Staircase as I was walking to the travelator. Photos 011 to 014 were taken from the travelator as we rode up to the top. The first section of the Grand Staircase focuses on The Royal Image and so is all about statues of the Pharaohs.

In photo 010, on the left side, you can see two seated statues of a Middle Kingdom Pharaoh on either side of a standing statue of King Senusret III. Across from them to the right is a seated statue of King Thutmose III. Just to his right, you can see a couple of people on the travelator.

In the slightly fuzzy next photo (011) is another seated statue of a Pharoah. To his right is King/Queen Hatshepsut. She was the female pharaoh who represented herself as male. To her right is her successor Thutmose III. That statue was originally also of Hatshepsut but, since Thutmose was trying to erase her existence, he usurped her statue and added his own inscriptions and cartouches. Even though Hatshepsut’s statue is on a lower step, her plinth is bigger and so her statue is actually taller than Thutmose’s.

In 012, on the left we have King Seti II. There is a statue of King Ramesses III behind him, but he can’t be seen in my photograph. King Merneptah (son of Ramesses II) is the statue you can see next to Seti II. Just in front of the person in white, is a colossal head of King Akhenaten (King Tutankhamun’s dad). Behind him begins another section, focusing on the relationship of the King with the gods. These are mainly sculptures of architectural elements.

The threesome on the left in photo 013 consists of Ptah (Egyptian god of creation; patron of craftsmen, architects, and builders), King Ramesses II, and Sekhmet (Egyptian goddess of war, destruction, plague, and healing). At the far right, in front of the man in the white T-shirt, is what they call an Osiride statue of King Senusret I. An Osiride statue is one where a pharaoh is depicted as a mummy with crossed arms. This symbolizes their divine association with Osiris, the god of the afterlife, resurrection, and fertility.

The final section of the Grand Staircase contains Funerary Sculpture. The piece shaped like a pyramid in photo 014 is actually the pyramidion (capstone) of a smallish pyramid in Sakkara of an unknown king. Look up the stairs a bit to the man in a dark shirt and tan trousers. To the left of his shoulder you can see a brightly lit sarcophagus. This was for King Thutmose I and was found in his tomb (KV38) in the Valley of the Kings.

Upon reaching the top of the stairs (or travelator) the reward is this view in photo 015 of the Khufu (aka Cheops) Pyramid — the Great Pyramid — on the left and the Khafre (aka Chephren) Pyramid on the right. Khafre was Khufu’s son. Although his pyramid looks a bit taller than the Great Pyramid in this photo, it isn’t. Just a trick of the angle of the photo.

Next we entered the Main Galleries. These were in chronological order. Halls 01 through 03 covered the following: Prehistoric Egypt, the Predynastic Period, the Early Dynastic Period, the Old Kingdom era (including the pyramid builders of that era), and the First Intermediate Period.

Halls 04 through 06 covered the Middle Kingdom and the Second Intermediate Period. This would have included Mentuhotep III, Amenemhet I, Senusret III, and Amenemhet III.

Halls 07 through 09 covered the New Kingdom, considered to be Egypt’s imperial golden age. Ahmose I, Hatshepsut, Thutmose III, Amenhotep III, Akhenaten, Seti I, and Ramesses II would have been included in this era. Tutankhamun also. But he has his own gallery.

Halls 10 through 12 covered the Third Intermediate Period, the Late Period (including Nubian and Persian dynasties), and the Greek (Ptolemaic) and Roman periods. Cleopatra VII, the famous Cleopatra, was part of the Ptolemaic Greek dynasty as was Alexander the Great.

One of the first encounters I had in these galleries was with this striking-looking fellow in photo 016. His name was Mitri. He held several important titles during the 5^th Dynasty. This was a period of about 149 years, from roughly 2494 to 2345 BC, in the Old Kingdom. His titles included “Nome Administrator”, “Priest of the goddess Maat”, and “Overseer of Scribes”. Mitri’s life-sized statue is made of painted wood with eyes made with inlaid stone. He is roughly 4,371 to 4,520 years old.

The second photo I am sharing here (017) is of King Khafre and 018 is of King Menkaure. These are the kings with the other two large pyramids flanking the Great Pyramid of King Khufu. Photo 019 is of a sculpture of the god Osiris on his funerary bed. More about him in later posts when we get into some of the deity myths.

Photo 020 is of some heads and a headless statue in Gallery #5, which focused on the Middle Kingdom. Also from the Middle Kingdom galleries are photo 021 of several statues of Senusret I depicted as Osiris, 022 of King Sensuret I depicted as pharaoh, and a large group of troop models, dating back to the Middle Kingdom (circa 2000 BC) in photo 023. They were found in the tomb of a regional governor named Mesehti.

Photo 024 is of Queen Mutnofret, who was a wife of King Thutmose I and the mother of King Thutmose II. Photo 025 is of a really cool statue of Hatshepsut. I will have a lot more about her when I post about visiting her mortuary temple later on. For now, she lived from about 1505 to 1458 BC and was the 6^th Pharaoh of the Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt. She was the daughter of Thutmose I and Queen Ahmose. Thutmose II was her half brother and also her husband. Loads of inbreeding back then. Thutmose III, who succeeded her as pharaoh, was her stepson.

Photo 026 is of some packed lunches. Very interesting looking lunch boxes. Some musical instruments are shown in photo 027. King Amenhotep II, who was the son of Thutmose III is seen in photo 028. In 029 is Thutmose III. The last photo (030) I have included here shows a wig on the left.

Next – The Tutankhamun Collection at the GEM