The Egyptian Museum in Tahrir Square, Cairo's original antiquities museum, is working on a new strategy to redefine its role after losing its star Tutankhamun collection and most of its visitors to the new Grand Egyptian Museum in Giza, according to Al-Monitor.
Daily visitors to the Tahrir museum have fallen from a historic average of 7,000 to 8,000 to between 1,000 and 2,000, Al-Monitor reported. A separate visit described by The National found only 200 to 300 visitors on one recent day, a stark contrast with the tour-bus crowds of previous decades, the outlet said.
Objects from Tutankhamun's tomb have moved to the Grand Egyptian Museum, and the royal mummies collection has moved to the National Museum of Egyptian Civilisation, Al-Monitor reported. The Tahrir museum still holds about 100,000 artefacts on display and another 100,000 in storage, the outlet said.
"The museum is a witness to two historically important developments," said Magdy Shaker, a senior archaeologist at the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, referring to the museum's role in the history of ancient Egyptian civilisation and of Egyptology itself, according to Al-Monitor.
Hussein Bassir, a prominent Egyptian archaeologist and director of the Antiquities Museum at the Bibliotheca Alexandrina, said the issue is not the number of museums Egypt builds but how they work together. "The real challenge is not the building of new museums, but ensuring a museum ecosystem where institutions don't work against each other," he said, according to Al-Monitor. He added: "If the Grand Egyptian Museum is Egypt's gateway to the future, then the Tahrir museum is the memory of the museum itself and the memory of Egyptology."
Proposed changes reported by Al-Monitor include limited building upgrades to lighting, security, fire suppression and climate control, along with digital ticketing, smartphone apps and augmented-reality tools, evening opening hours, and wider efforts to revitalise the neighbourhood around Tahrir Square.
Antiquities and Tourism Minister Sherif Fathy said the museum "retains an exceptional and unique historical value despite the opening of the Grand Egyptian Museum," and that "maintaining and developing the museum is a maximum priority for the ministry," according to The National.
Egyptologist Monica Hanna told The National the museum "should not continue to be just a collection of display cases for foreign tourists to look at. Its philosophy is outdated. It needs a new one. We need a new vision for it." Tour guide Ahmed Mustafa suggested the most realistic path forward "…may be to close and renovate," the outlet reported, while other ideas raised included expanding the museum's role as a community space, with school trips and programmes for orphans and people with special needs.
The current debate follows an earlier, partial renovation. In February 2023, Egypt's then tourism and antiquities minister, Ahmed Eissa, said, "Today we announce the completion of the first phase of the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir Square's renovation," according to Africanews. The reopened wing's centrepiece was a newly discovered papyrus scroll of 150 columns in black and red hieratic script, containing around 113 spells from the Book of the Dead. Mostafa Waziri, secretary-general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, called it "…the tallest, the longest, the strongest, the best quality papyrus ever discovered in Egypt…" Africanews reported.
The museum opened in 1902 and is approaching its 125th anniversary in November 2027, according to Al-Monitor and The National's reporting on its age. The Grand Egyptian Museum, by comparison, took roughly 30 years to develop and can accommodate up to 18,000 visitors a day, The National reported.
The square outside the museum has already been made over once this decade: Cairo's governorate and the then Ministry of Antiquities were completing a renovation of Tahrir Square itself in February 2020, with 90 percent of the works done, installing a 17-metre, 90-tonne obelisk from the reign of Ramses II and four ram-headed sphinxes relocated from Karnak Temple in Luxor, according to a report from that period. That project turned the square itself into a kind of open-air display, distinct from the indoor museum's current renovation debate.
Taken together, the reporting from Al-Monitor, The National and Africanews describes a museum in transition rather than in decline: a 123-year-old institution that has already completed one renovation phase, lost its single biggest draw to a purpose-built rival across the city, and is now weighing a second, broader round of changes to give Tahrir Square a reason for visitors to return.
Frequently asked questions
Why are visitor numbers falling at the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir?
Because its best-known holdings, including the Tutankhamun collection and the royal mummies, have moved to the new Grand Egyptian Museum and the National Museum of Egyptian Civilisation, drawing most tourist traffic away from Tahrir Square, according to Al-Monitor and The National.
How many artefacts does the Tahrir museum still hold?
About 100,000 artefacts remain on display, with another 100,000 held in storage, according to Al-Monitor.
What changes are being discussed for the museum?
Proposals reported by Al-Monitor and The National include building upgrades such as better lighting, security, fire suppression and climate control, digital ticketing and augmented-reality tools, evening opening hours, an expanded community role, and in one tour guide's view, a full closure for renovation.
When did the Egyptian Museum open, and what is its next milestone?
It opened in 1902 and is approaching its 125th anniversary in November 2027, according to Al-Monitor and The National's reporting on the museum's age.
Has any part of the museum already been renovated?
Yes. In February 2023, Egypt's then tourism and antiquities minister, Ahmed Eissa, announced the completion of the renovation's first phase, centred on a wing displaying a newly discovered 150-column papyrus scroll of Book of the Dead spells, according to Africanews.
