Luxor Museum

Luxor Museum opened in 1975 and is often described as the best museum in Egypt for the quality of its display rather than the size of its collection: relatively few objects, each given space, lit individually against dark walls, with clear labelling. The core is Theban material, and the outstanding group came from a cache found in 1989 under the court of Luxor Temple, where twenty-six statues had been buried in antiquity and emerged in almost perfect condition, including a standing Amenhotep III in hard stone that is among the finest royal statues anywhere. There is also a wall of talatat blocks reassembled from Akhenaten's dismantled Karnak temple, two royal mummies, and material from Tutankhamun's tomb. The building is quiet and cool.

Highlights

• The Luxor Temple statue cache - twenty-six figures buried and found intact.
• Amenhotep III in quartzite - a royal statue of exceptional quality.
• A reassembled Akhenaten wall - talatat blocks from his Karnak temple.
• Two royal mummies - displayed in a separate darkened hall.

When to go

October to April. Evenings, when the museum stays open late and the lighting is at its best; it is also the coolest time. Two hours. It is never as crowded as the temples.

Things to know

It is small and visitors expecting the scale of Cairo will be surprised. Photography is charged separately or restricted. Ticket prices have risen sharply. The mummy hall is dim and some find it disappointing after the National Museum in Cairo.

Nearby

Luxor Temple is south along the corniche; Karnak is north.

Key facts