Whatever it is you think you're going to find inside the Egyptian Museum of Antiquities in Cairo, well, it surely doesn't compare to having the chance to see it with your own eyes.

What do I mean by this? I mean that as soon as you enter the building you'll feel like you're time travelling to the past of which we believe we know a lot, but actually know almost nothing about.

Okay, but not so fast. Let's go from the top, the beginning of the day, the first sights and impressions and the outside world where this world-class museum is located. Cairo Museum is right next to Tahrir Square, considered to be the center of both geographically and administrative Greater Cairo, because it is surrounded by important buildings such as the Mogamma government building (where paperwork is done, such as getting your driver's license or issuing a visa), the Egyptian Foreign Ministry, the Headquarters of the Arab League, the downtown campus of the American University in Cairo, to name some. Important landmarks are located here too, such as the Egyptian Museum, Cairo Tower, The Nile Hotel and the Cairo Opera House. 

 It was almost midday of tuesday, my third day in Egypt. The sun was strikingly warm on this day, as the weather was starting to change. During the egyptian summer, temperatures average between 26 and 32 °C, and it lasts from May until August (with temperatures on the Red Sea Cost hitting the 44°C mark). For example, during these months egyptian policemen have a uniform change. They go from wearing a black uniform to wearing white, which absorbs better the heat during hot summer days.

We parked near the Museum and had to cross the street, which is almost a kamikaze action near a busy traffic circle like Midan Tahrir. As we walked towards the museum, the first thing that caught my attention was the barbed wire surrounding the edifice's perimeter and the tanks from both the police and anti-riot police stationed just outside the building. My uncle quickly explained that this is due to the strategic location of Tahrir: from this spot they can quickly move to wherever it is that a riot or protest is occurring. 

After we passed the checkpoint, we walked towards the entrance alongside a bunch of indian tourists, who had just got off their massive tour bus.  As I tried to photograph the tanks stationed outside the museum, a couple of guards told me to put my camera away, to what my uncle said "Don't worry, they just want your attention". As a matter of fact, the strong presence of the police in this area is no coincidence: during the protests of the Egyptian Revolution the museum was broken into and reportedly two mummies were destroyed and several artifacts were damaged. Who did this? I guess we will never know, but I believe it was an action by a group of people who wanted to create a negative image of the protests and protesters. Let's not forget that when the protests began, the police was sent home and prison gates were opened, so thugs and criminals and other police bodies were let loose to attack homes and businesses thus creating a state of chaos in the country.

Anti-riot police just outside the Eyptian Museum.

Cairo Tower on the background.

The impressive pink-toned building that houses the world's most extensive collection of pharaonic antiquities.

The courtyard of the museum is decorated with monuments and obelisks that belong to the collection of the museum.

The two-story pink-toned edifice designed in Neoclassical style was the chef d'oeuvre of french architect Marcel Dourgnon,  and consists of 107 halls of artifacts from the prehistoric era to the Roman period, focusing on the pharaonic era.The original collection was established by the french Egyptologist Auguste Mariette in the 19th century, who was also the founder of the Egyptian Department of Antiquities, now called the Supreme Council of Antiquities.

The main entrance to the Egyptian Museum of Cairo

Reflections on a clear-sky day.

As you're not allowed to take pictures inside the museum, you have to hand over your camera at the entrance and place it inside one of the many lockers they have available for visitors. About visiting the museum, I must say it's totally fascinating! Walking through the halls of the building gives you the feeling that you're going over all of history just by walking. On the other hand I must say that I didn't download or cared much to get a museum plan, which is why I pretty much strolled through the halls staring only at the artifacts and monoliths that called my attention. It is always better to make a list of the objects that interest you, like my uncle did. He wanted to find the sakkara bird, which is a small bird-shaped artifact, pressumably a toy; controversial ideas explain that it represents an evidence of the ancient egyptian's knowledge about aviation. He was also on the search of a cursed monolith, but we dind't find it! Perhaps the next time he visits the museum, he'll find it.

The museum's ground floor takes you on a chronological tour that explains you when and where the Kingdoms of Ancient Egypt existed. All explanations are both in arabic and english. The upper floor is divided by tombs or category. It will take you forever to observe the 160,000 objects contained in the museum, that's why at some point you just sigh and continue to marvel at the wonders of Ancient Egypt. One thing I have to say, is that at some parts you almost feel like walking through a warehouse, because there are many artifacts placed inside boxes in the halls, and some monoliths are covered in a thick layer of dust.

My favorite part was, of course, the tomb of Tutankhamun. It is without a doubt the most amazing part of the museum, even more than the corridor containing the royal mummies of the New Kingdom. How come? Well, let me tell you that the treasures hidden inside the tomb of King Tut are on display in its totality, for it was one of the only tombs that was found intact. Located in the Valley of the Kings near Thebes (modern Luxor), the tomb of the 'boy king' was discovered by british egyptologist Howard Carter and his crew in November of 1922. Everything, from the tomb to his chariot, from his jewelry and his mask, are images that you'll never forget, firstly because they are great legacy for humanity; these objects represent how life was for our ancestors and what they believed in. It's really interesting, not just for egyptologists or historians, but for mankind as well.

Another sights I will never forget were the giant monoliths and sarcophagi in the main hall and  the monuments of King Akhenaton, who liked to portray himself with the body of a woman and the head of a great Pharaoh.

The entrance to the building is not only guarded by the police, but by monuments like this one.

Everytime I see palmtrees and clear skies I feel I'm in paradise...My own egyptian-style paradise.

Details of the facade

Now here we see something as interesing as the history contained inside the Museum. On the background you can see the former headquarters of the NDP, Mubarak's party, set ablaze during the protests of 2011. They were left there as a symbol of the Revolution.

The former headquarters of the National Democratic Party remain a silent witness to one of the most groundbreaking events in recent History: the revolutions across arab countries whose main goal was the removal of decades-long leaders.

According to what I heard, the building is supposed to be demolished very soon to expand the grounds of the Museum.

My visit to the Egyptian Museum was great, not only because I learned a lot about our shared past, but because I could also see History in the making, and how egyptians are still shaping their future that maybe no one can predict accurately. What we can clearly affirm, is the great past of what can only be a great nation.

Lauren, Ulises and I in front of the entrance of the Egyptian Museum.

As an opposite to what one may think, some places come to life once it gets dark. So is the case of Cairo's Islamic district (or also referred to as Medieval Cairo). The star-covered night was made invisible because of the light coming from vegetable markets and small coffeehouses or ahwas, so traditional in the egyptian capital. Sometimes tucked away inside old buildings or right beside the bazaars, ahwas are also beloved getaways from the city's hectic lifestyle. 

For me, this is something unprecedented. Back home in Panama City it's actually rare to see so much movement in public spaces; the city's nightlife takes place inside buildings: bars, hotels, restaurants. But here in Egypt, everything seems to happen outside and with the participation of everyone! Even in Wurzburg you would never see this much people, unless it's summer or if the weather is appropriate enough to sip on your Frankenwein on the Old Main bridge. In Cairo you actually get the feeling that the day has just started for many, if not for all...

Before I could get a better idea of egyptian nightlife, my uncle Ulises and his wife Lauren took me to the Wikala al-Ghouri, a historic building which now functions pretty much only as an art center. A wikala or khan, as I mentioned in my previous posts, was an inn for traders coming from everywhere and also worked as marketplaces. These wikalas (khans or caravanserais) were very important to the development of trade routes and commerce. About Wikala El-Ghouri, it was built during the Mameluke reign and is made up of four floors which face a rectangular-shaped courtyard whose center is a lovely mosaic fountain.

This fantastic medieval monument serves as the perfect setting for the El-Tanoura Troupe, or the tanoura dance, which I also had the pleasure to observe earlier that evening during a street show probably organised by the Ministry of Tourism to attract tourists back to Egypt.  Tourism has been seriously affected due to the mostly negative headlines in newspapers worldwide that displayed the political instability and insecurity after the 2011 revolution and 2013 overthrow of President Morsi. The tourism industry is one of the most important sectors in egyptian economy in terms of high employment,  hence many people were left without jobs. 

El-Tanoura is a traditional egyptian folk dance performed by Sufi men. Sufism is the mystical side of Islam. This dance is mostly performed at Sufi festivals or to entertain tourists visiting the country. The Tanoura dance consists of several elements, one of them is the presence of musicians that play traditional instruments such as drums, flutes and cymbals. The most impressive part of this dance is the whirling of the tanoura dancers, who spin in a circular movement and in their own axis without feeling dizzy! The dancers remove up to 4 colorful skirts while they're spinning and their pace changes to match the enchanting music...

Sufi whirling is all about establishing a connection to God/The Creator. They belief that the circular movement represents the circle of life and the universe and the idea that the movement in our world starts at some point and ends at the same point. It is said that when the dancer turns himself around, he enters a trance-like state that connects him with his creator. 

As I was watching the Tanoura Troupe perform, I couldn't help feeling this connection, this need to contact with both our heavenly and earthbound sides. The music, the whirling and the whole experience is so rich and mystical. At some point, you forget you're just watching a show and you enter the realm of the unexplored feeling that we belong to a greater scheme, a greater plan, disregarded by us, but that governs our lifes and drives us to do or be what we are...

Enough said, these are the images I captured during the Tanoura dance at the Wikala El-Ghouri:

The last sunbeams filtrated a reddish-light that in my eyes seemed to come from another world. This energetic combination of colors was absorbed by the walls and cobblestone streets near Khan el-Khalili Bazaar, where the night slowly took over and a new vibrating side of Cairo came to life.

We found ourselves walking along Al-Muizz Street, one of the oldest streets of the egyptian capital, once the city center during Fatimid rule and according to a United Nations study, the greatest concentration of medieval architecture treasures in the Islamic world. It's simply stunning. You feel almost as if you were a part of this huge open air museum, with real life developing right in front of you. It's a magical scene, Aladdin style.

Out of the blue, we heard the sound of horseshoes stepping on the cobblestone streets and a huge crowd clapping and singing to a distant music that became louder and louder and more penetrating the closer we got. I forced my eyes to stay open while I witnessed one of the most amazing street life scenes I've ever had the pleasure to observe and be a part of. Two men sitting pretty much effortlessly on huge camels (quoting my uncle Ulises, "Sultan camels"), waved proudly the egyptian flag amidst the chanting of the multitude. Behind these camelriders, one man on a black horse escorted the musicians and a group of men holding very colorful skirts over their heads. And now to my favorite part, the musicians that gave rhythim to this incredible display of culture, placed themselves on the sidewalk and made way  to the Tanoura troupe, or tanoura dancers (The men with the skirts). While the audience (including us) gathered around them, I realized there was a stage on the other side of the street which had a banner with an inscription in arabic and Al-Sisi's face on the corner.

 El-Tanoura is an egyptian folk dance performed by Sufi men. Sufism is the mystical dimension of Islam, and the people who practice it are called Sufis. This dance is similar to the Whirling dervishes of the Mevlevi order, which I also had the pleasure to see in Cappadocia, Turkey (You'll be reading about this on my posts about Turkey). At that point, I stopped blinking and held my eyes open to what was a vibrant display of egyptian culture and pride. Photographers, journalists, politicians, passersby and a couple of tourists (mostly koreans and me) took part in a celebration of egyptian tradition held in the streets,where the ongoing enrichment of culture takes place everywhere around the globe.

After the show, two egyptian women approached me and started a conversation. All of a sudden, I was surrounded not by two, but by a large crowd of both men and women, some of them who were dressed really fancy for the occasion. They asked for my email and a picture! I was surprised by this and didn't miss the occasion to ask about the upcoming elections. After all, I had arrived three weeks before egyptians casted their votes to elect a new president. The response was unanimous: Al-Sisi should be elected president, according to my new friends of the egyptian press: "He is the only one that can restore the peace and tranquility to our country shaken by instability and help our economy get back on track". Of course, I think they were not only Al-Sisi supporters, but people that worked for his campaign. As a matter of fact, my uncle told me that this show was probably a part of a strategy to attract tourists that have stopped coming after the Revolution...

Here's a short gallery of the photowalk through the impressive Al-Muizz Street: