Luxor Museum

Description:

• Though a lot smaller than the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, the Luxor Museum -- which was designed by the Brooklyn Museum in New York -- is a lot better put together and is worth at least an hour or two. It's hard to pick highlights from the stunning collection, but the 2.5m-tall (8-ft.) quartzite statue of Amenhotep III, found at Luxor Temple in 1989, shouldn't be missed (it's on your way to the exit), and I particularly enjoy the Wall of Akhenaten on the second floor. The wall is made up of small blocks known as talatat (which simply means "threes" in Arabic) that were used by Amenhotep III at Karnak Temple before he changed his name to Akhenaten and moved the capital away from Thebes (now Luxor) to Tel al Amarna. After his death, they were reduced to rubble, but they've been painstakingly pieced back together to form a tableaux that shows this rather odd Pharaoh and his wife. You should also see the pieces retrieved from Tutankhamun's tomb, which include three beautifully preserved chariots, some model boats, footwear, and a bow and arrows.

• © Frommer's 2013

Awards:

Frommer's

•  Highly Recommended 2010