MUSEUMS

OF

CAIRO
Arab Academy For Science AASTMT
College Of Engineering And Technology
Architecture and Environmental Design
Department

Spring Semester April 2017

Pre-Master Course AR-727

Egyptian Regions and Architecture

Dr Shaimaa Ashour
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. Abdeen Palace Museum 08

2. Air Force Museum 16

3. Air Force Museum 22

4. Child Museum 30

5. Gayer Anderson Museum 38

6. Museum of Agriculture 46

7. Museum of Islamic Arts 58

8. National Police Museum 64

9. Railway Museum 70
 1

9
6

5
 2 3
4

7
8
ABDEEN PALACE MUSEUM
NOHA OSAMA
ABDEEN PALACE
Abdeen palace is considered one of the
most famous palaces in Mohammed Ali
pasha phase. It is located in El-Gomho-
reya Square, Rahbet Abdeen, Abdeen,
Cairo Governorate. The palace was or-
dered to be built bythe khedive Ismail
and completed by 1872 to become the
official government headquarters instead
of the Cairo Citadel. It was designed by
the French architectRousseau along
with many decorators from Egypt, Italy,
France and Turkey who wisely created
strong rich palace. (BoShehab, 2014).
8
NOHA OSAMA
The palace witnessed many important
historical events such as the Orabian
revolution where Ahmed Orabi stood in
front of the khedive Tawfeek requesting
some demands for Egypt and its army.
It consists mainly of 500 rooms, the his-
torical defender square and 5 museums
with one video show room displaying the
palaces interior rooms, only 4 museums
are opened for the visitors to explore.
(Shahin, 2016). Also, there are wide open
spaces with different fascinating kinds of
trees, flowers and landscape features,
The entrance Lobby is rich in its archi-
tecture details starting from the entrance
facade, doors and decorations together
with the palace map which facilitate the
visitor destinations. The first space that
will cross your vision upon entering is the
historical defender square, it is an open
wide space containing many Cannon For-
tresses back to the 18th century wars
together with their ammunition.
Moving with the palace flow, you will find
the distribution lobby that includes some
historical information about the palace
owners presented by some info-graphic
maps and contains some statues of them.
Starting with The museum of weapons,
you will find many rare swords, shields
and daggers collected from wars, bought
from auctions or were just personal gifts
from other rulers displayed with some
military suits, another section contains
the Khedive Ismail and Napoleon fire-
arms back to the 17th and 18th century.
As you continue walking, you will find the
Museum of Decorations and Niachen
containing many Niachen awarded to
the rulers of the royal family on different
occasions, some decorations were exclu-
sively awarded to the women named the
Decoration of perfection.
9
Moving to the other building, you will find
the Presidential gifts museum contain-
ing all the gifts dedicated to the Egyptian
presidents from other presidents all over
the world. Also there, you can find the
video show room that displays a short
movie about the palace and its rooms, the
palace is closed except for the museums
and so its rooms details are only showed
to the visitors in this video.
The last opened museum is the Silver
museum. It contains many silver and
gold plated silver eating utensils and dec-
orative antiques used by Muhammed Ali
pasha or bought from several events or
auctions. This museum also contains sev-
eral Giliates rich in their details made
by the French artist Emiel Giliates.
All the exhibits are shown behind a glass
screen with alarm system to prevent bur-
glary and some spot lights to adjust the
light as desired.

10
After finishing your tour and sitting in
front of the wide open gardens, you will
be amazed how the palace is rich in its ar-
chitectural details and its collectibles and
how they are preserved in a safe well dis-
tributed entity with an European touch.
The building, museum details, expensive
collectibles together with the gardens
with its vintage trees, rare flowers and
beautiful landscape organization shows
how the designers and the palace rulers
focused on the richness of the palace,
they spent much time and effort collect-
ing the world wide palace furniture and
exhibits and stored them till the muse-
ums was opened for visitors.
Only if you are wandering alone exploring
the palace content, you may be annoyed
that some maps, signages and labels tell-
ing the collectibles stories are missing for
those who are trying to perceive the pal-
ace whole story.
The artworks were rigidly displayed be-
hind the glass screens not allowing the
audience to interact with them, you will
find yourself lost in the beauty of some
single artworks without getting the big
picture for the reason of their connec-
tion or why they are organized in that
specific way. There is a strong message in
the arrangement of the museum, starting
with the power shown in the weapons
11
museum continuing with the prestige of
the decorative and the presidential gifts
museum and ending with the rich image
of the silver museum .
The rulers really focused on how Egypt
should look shin y and organized for all
the palace visitors, it is fascinating for
whoever coming and focused on the
strong powerful rich phase of the Egyp-
tian era without mentioning any draw-
backs happening outside its walls, it suc-
ceed in Imitating the European way of
thinking. However, nothing in the muse-
ums content states the Orabian revolu-
tion and how it was a critical posture in
the Egyptian history, or the 1952th revo-
lution that mainly rejected the royal rule
in Egypt and started the republic era and
so, it is strongly obvious how history is
always written by the stronger. The rul-
ers painted Egypts colorful image in this
phase and printed it in the palace details.

12
References:
- BoShehab, A. (2014). Abdeen Palace from inside and treasures and restoration [Video
file]. Retrived from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TntN8r6hCtM.
- Shahin, E. (2016). 10 facts you dont know about the palace Abdeen. huffpostarabi.
Retrived from: http://www.huffpostarabi.com/2016/05/08/story_n_9858264.html. (Ac-
cessed 8 April 2017).

13
AIR FORCE MUSEUM
MONA SAKR
AIR FORCE MUSEUM
One of the huge Egyptian military mu-
seums but also on the Middle East .It is
supervised by the Department of Military
Museums. The official opening date was
at 31,may 2016.The Museum located in
front of the Military Academy at Salah
Salem street ( el Aroba), behind el Galaa
Complex in Almaza Airport. The muse-
um offers a panorama of the history of
the Egyptian Air Force. when you visit
the museum it make you proud of our
history and the way of organizing it . It
is divided to two parts external part and
16
MONA SAKR
internal one. The journey started with
a guide to explain what we see with an
easy way for kids and adults . The guide
started with the outdoor area which
contained airplanes and helicopters with
its time line arrangement and with its
information data like name , type , date
, type of rocket used , the type of en-
gine and the manufacture country all this
data on a metal sign in front the plane. It
is divided to two parts external part and
internal one. The indoor area divided to
four places with another guide.
with another gaide.He talks about the
history and the space how it works .
the guide started with the hall of Glory
which explain the War of Attrition and
the 6 of October War by presenting a
stereoscopic film and then a real docu-
mentary soundtrack in that time on the
wall of this hall pictures to all the Pres-
idents and inisters who are involved in
military aviation and finally their where
interactive digital screens to know more
informations about air force captains.The
second hall was the library with its old lo-
cal journals ,books , magazines , pictures
on wall for wall types of airplanes which
we can learn more if we used the digital
screens and the more interactive it there
was a small screens for kids.On front of
the library a great wall with drawing and
paints talks about the history of airplane
with a model of Pharaohs plane and the
story of each one of the Scientists and
researchers who tray flying and end with
balloons how it works. The main hall
starts with the end of the wall it display
the history of Egyption Air Forse its old
letters , pilots suit, the suits of students
and captains ,air planes engines ,egyption
air force achievment air force base and
its needs and simulation for diffrent job.
17
the great things in this hall is models it
make the place interacted with the visi-
tors . After finishing this hall there are a
simulation room which is very creative in
Activating tourism through the vision of
Egypt and its landmarks. The great idea
in this hall is models it make the place
interacted with the visitors . After finish-
ing this hall there are a simulation room
which is very creative in Activating tour-
ism through the vision of Egypt and its
landmarks. The last hall was the martyrs
hall which include all names of the Egyp-
tian Warriors with full data on the screen.
This great museum present Egypt in past
and present by displaying the history with
new ideas of presentation starting from
the form of the museum and structure
.The outdoor area used frame trusses
with large spans to be Suitable for the
function (large airplanes). tation and com-
mitment. This museum represents Egypt
in the period of its victory and defeat in
a distinctive and organized way i think
the main reason for this is that the mu-

18
seum is under military patronage, which References:
represents the system, accuracy, speed Tour guide ( personal communication,-
of implementation and commitment. The march 13,2017)
distinctive view in the display of infor- note:All the guides in the museum are
mation, date and explanation is suitable graduates from the College of Tourism
for all ages from the interactive screens, and Hotels (Guidance Section) and all
which vary lengths to fit children with the information from them or labeled in the
distinctive presentation of the tools used museum.
in the war until the end simulation .
After the end of the tour of antiques
there was a souvenir shop which con-
tains various gifts at different prices and
different ages. After leaving the building
there are large green spaces, play areas,
restaurants and there is also a safe car
park.

19
AIR FORCE MUSEUM
NOURAN MOHAMMED
AIR FORCE MUSEUM
After passing by Al-Gala military med-
ical complex in Sal-ah Salem street, to
Cairo airport direction, you will find a
huge iconic gate with enormous monu-
mental wings. Firstly, you wont recognize
what does that gate represent or even
what does it symbolize. Is it an airport
gate? Or it is just a new residential com-
pound gate? Surprisingly, a huge sign will
rescue you from this confusion - it is the
Egyptian Air Force Museum. One of the
newest military force museums which
has been opened recently on thirty-one
of May 2016 under the chairmanship of
Egyptian air force institution. Its main
goal is offering a panoramic view on the
role of Egyptian air force over the past
decades. However, you wont decode this
22
NOURAN MOHAMMED
vision without the help of a professional
tour guide, who will be waiting for you at
the ticket booth. But in order to reach
this ticket booth, you have to go along
a boring straight roadway, which is your
only way to start the actual journey.
The Journey starts with a friendly pub-
lic space, which contains a cafe and kids
playing area.Then, you will find two forms
of museum displays, external & internal
display, where each one represents Egypt
differently. Firstly, the external gallery
which exhibits a sequential real display
of the most popular & powerful airplanes
used across the history of Egyptian air
force. Secondly, the internal display which
represents the role and victory of Egyp-
tian air force in six of Oct 73 war.
Do you remember Antar w Lebleb
film? This airplane was used by Ismael
Yassin in that film said by the tour guide
during the external gallery journey. The
tour guide will try to keep linking dra-
matically the displayed airplanes with
their role in the mega events happened
in Egypt and how those airplanes repre-
sent Egypt in the war. Also, he will show
you the first Egyptian airplane which has
been manufactured completely in Egypt,
the largest transportation helicopter in
the world with capacity for 50 soldiers,
and the utility helicopter which used for
bringing down the fire.
For more additional information about
airplanes/helicopters, you will find infor-
mation signs stand in front of each display,
contain type of each airplane, manufac-
ture country, date of entering and leaving
the air force, and basic Information about
each airplane/helicopter.You could recog-
nize the development of the Egyptian flag,
which marks the tail of each airplane/heli-
copter, with the time-line arrangement of
the airplanes/helicopter.
After finishing the external display, you
will recognize that you have been rotat-
ing around a powerful center where the
most technological and powerful three
airplanes in Egypt are displayed.
23
 Then, its time to complete the
9
6 journey inside museum building
9 where you will find a detailed
2
7
Maquette for the whole muse-
1 um in front of the entrance. In
5 addition, you will find a library
11 and four halls which are: Hall of
3 9 Glory, Martyrs Hall,VIP Hall and
main Exhibition Hall.

1.Entrance Lobby. 2.Musuem

4 9
Maquette. 3.Hall of Glory.
12
4.Martars Hall. 5.VIP Hall. 6.Li-
brary. 7.Main Exhibition Hall.
7 8.Airplane Simulator. 9.Service
Room. 10.interactive screen.
8 12 11.Airplane Engine. 12.Simula-
tion Room.

24
 By entering the circular-shape hall of
Glory, you will find time-line of personal
portraits for Air Force Captains, placed
along hall circumference. Also, you could
know more information about each cap-
tain through Interactive digital screens. A
short 3D movie about Oct 73 war will be
seen with several emotional scenes. This
hall represents the other center within
the museum, where the role of Egyptian
air force in Oct 73 war appears.

And never think of those who have been

killed in the cause of Allah as dead. Rath-
er, they are alive with their Lord, receiv-
ing provision Al-Omran. This verse was
placed along the Martyrs Hall, where
portraits for wars martyrs are immortal.

Within the library, you will find some of

the old local journals which have been
published during Oct 73 war. Also, wood-
en shelves contains several old books and
magazines. On the front wall, you will find
photos for all airplanes, which have been
served in the Egyptian Air Force, and two
interactive digital screens for more infor-
mation about each airplane.

The main halls journey starts from the

museum lobby, where a wall portrait
about the history of the airplane, start-
ing from the Pharos primary tool till the
most technological airplanes now, are
placed in front of the hall entrance. The
L-shaped hall contains different collec-
tions of Egyptian Air Force stuff.

25
The journey among those collections
could be divided into three parts. Firstly,
historical part which will show you the
history of Egyptian Air Force, starting
from the Royal Air Force 1932 till now,
through old royal letters and pictures
from the thirties. Then several specific
stuff of Egyptian Air Force, among them:
a maquette for a whole Air Force base,
Air Force students, soldiers, captains and
pilots suits development over the years,
airplane simulation and its elements, sim-
ulations for tasks distribution room and
operation room for Oct 73 war. Finally,
a complete zone for Egyptian Air Force
achievements where you will find several
medals of honor, and even ruins of Israel
airplanes which represent the victory.

26
From the emotional experience above, i
can record the success of this museum in
influencing the visitors to feel the victo-
ries of the Egyptian Air Force. However,
it can represent a dictatorial process for
not being a neutral exhibition. A specific
perceived message was directed to the
visitors, and aimed to be engraved in the
Egyptian history.

REFERENCES:
Egyptian Air Force Museum. Facebook
Official Page. Retrieved May, 2017 from
https://www.facebook.com/museum.eaf/.

Tour guide within the museum was a pro-

fessional flight engineer, not a tour guide
from the ministry of antiquities.

27
CHILD MUSEUM
ABEER ADEL
CHILD MUSEUM ABEER ADEL
The Childrens Civilization and Creativi-
ty Center -or Child Museum- is located
in Heliopolis, Cairo, Egypt. First opening
was in 1996, and then continued for 12
years to reach the maximum capacity.The
museum is covering 4,000 square metres
landscape. It was built by the Heliopolis
Society for all the children of Egypt. The
museum was designed by experts from
Egypt, UK and the USA and built by mu-
seum specialists -mainly KD+P, as the
exhibition designers, were teamed with
Mallinson Architects for consultation on
30
the exhibit development and museum
operations . It aims to assist children to
learn through an interactive multisensory
experience representing the history of
science in Egypt. The museum won the
UKs Museum and Heritage International
Award In May 2012. My visit started while
heading to the museum in Abo Bakr EL
Seddik Street, Heliopolis, with the spec-
tacular coloured entrance gate that rep-
resents a pyramid centralized by many
planets orbits representing the cultures
of Egypt ancient and modern.
First, I made a tour in the huge garden
which is designed as outdoor exhibition.
The Museum Garden provides an inter-
esting space where the children can do
activities and explore the landscape with
a journey through time and space.
The Nile path is a huge sculpture that
represents how the Nile has changed and
formed Egypt in a giant mosaic. The jour-
ney begins at the fountain that is symbol the Nile. Next the path leads to the
of the source of the Nile in Nubia, with beginning of the drying out of the Nile
some animal statues like dinosaur, hippo Valley, savannah formed, Lion and giraffe
and crocodile, then the journey continues appear along the river bank. Continuing,
to reach the early period of settlement the Nile path reaches the pharaonic pe-
by man, the river banks were still humid riod, the surrounding landscape becomes
jungle and elephants appeared beside desert, an oasis forms a small Egyptian

31
garden with lotus and papyrus. Then, the
path leads to the medieval Nile village
and the modern landscape of Heliopolis
where the new Museum building and the
cinema is placed. Finally, on passing the
Museum the path leads to the Delta land-
scape, with the Alexandria seaside, and
a covered Roman theatre for outdoor
performances. The garden also has some
living displays, of birds, butterflies and
peacocks. Outdoor classrooms provide
crafts and musical activities, while the
Cinema provides a 3D learning films, and
conference facilities.
After I finished my outdoor journey, I re-
ally was excited to start the indoor one!
The Interior exhibition the museum
building - is divided into four floors with
four different themes and they are con-
nected by a central spiral staircase - the
time ramp - that provides a path from the
basement to the roof. The four themes
are: Where am I from? In the basement how Egyptian culture began in the three
floor, where visitors can explore the hid- seasons of the Nile (flood sow har-
den treasures of Egypt, Who am I? in vest), Where am I going? In the first
the ground floor, where visitors learn floor, where visitors explore the future of

32
modern Egypt and how you choose to Next, children learn about 2D art and
make a difference, and finally, How can Pharaohs drawings on the walls of tem-
I make a difference? In the roof the ples and obelisks through tracing and co-
dome - Where visitors learn how Egypt louring samples of them. In addition, they
has contributed to modern science and learn about 3D art through huge physical
discovery. model of the temple and putting together
I started with basement floor which some statues.
represent the history and the hidden
treasures of Egypt. First, children watch
a short movie about who the pharaohs
are and how the pyramids were built.
Then they go through a stone corridor
like that represents the pyramids corri-
dors and lead them to a connected small
exhibition halls, where children can learn
about different pyramids names and loca-
tions through physical model, interactive
screens and puzzle map of Egypt.

33
Finally, children watch a movie about
Tomb of Tutankhamen and learn about
mummification process, ending their
journey in the excavation area where
they can dig up for hidden treasures
Unfortunately, my visit ended before ex-
ploring the other floors of the museum
due to its opening hours which ends at 2
pm, and I wish I could visit all the exhibi-
tion halls as it is really an amazing experi-
ence for all the family.

34
REFERENCES:
Kraemer Design + Production. Retrieved April, 2017 from http://www.kd-p.com/
projects/childrens-civilization-and-creativity-center/.

Mallinson Architects & Engineers . Retrieved April, 2017 from http://mallinsonae.

com/Museums/ChildrensMuseum/ Retrieved ( April 2017)

Childrens Civilization and Creativity Center (Child Museum). Retrieved April, 2017
from https://www.facebook.com/CivilizationCreativity/ Retrieved ( April 2017)

35
GAYER ANDERSON MUSEUM
SUMMER SHOUKRY
GAYER ANDERSON MUSEUM
Gayer Anderson Museum is located with-
in a historical context that includes the
mosque of Ahmed Ibn Tulun (263 - 65
A.H./876 - 879 A.D) - located in AlKhali-
fa - and the Mosque of Sarghatmish (757
A.H./ 1356 A.D.). The museum is divided
into two houses which were later con-
nected through a bridge at the third level
and they now share the name of Bayt.
Al Kritlyya. Both of them have an open
courtyard where rooms and halls are be-
ing distributed among it. The two houses
were restored by the Egyptian Govern-
38
SUMMER SHOUKRY
ment during the early 1930s. In 1935, a
retried English doctor who had served
in the British army, Major R.G. Gayer An-
derson, was allowed to occupy the house
under the condition that he leaves all his
substantial art collection to the nation
upon his death, which occurred in 1945.
The house contains Harmlek and
Salmlek Halls - like any other Islamic
house in Cairo - in addition to a celebra-
tion hall, bride room where the bride
used to get ready for her wedding, birth
room, office room, painting room, a large
library and a dining room Anderson ta-
ble . Moreover, it contains a Sabil - one
of the main building types that used to
appear in the Islamic Architecture. The
museum displays interior furniture from
different styles, each room is named af-
ter its style; Indian, Persian, Turkish, En-
glish, Pharaonic, Byzantine and Damascus
room. Gayer Anderson Museum have also
some art collection displayed in different
rooms within the two houses; Old Indian
portraits, some Quranic verses, Chris-
tian crosses and photographs of the old
house. Most of these art collections are
being displayed in a wooden boxes with a
glass surface on the top of it. Other an-
tiques such as the interior furniture are
being displayed in each room separately.
Each room has its own decorations and
furniture according to the style. No one
is allowed to touch or use these furni-
ture. There is a sign in front of each rom
that provide anyone to enter. Moreover,
for each group of antiques one can find a
chart that describes each item. This chart
is either hanged on walls or being put be-
side the piece of art. One of the most
unique antiques that is presented in the
museum is a table made of marble and
having some Quranic verses being carved
39
on the edge of it. Reaching the top of
the house the Roof - one of the most
amazing places having this unique view
of Ibn Tulun mosque - is a room for dis-
playing some Greek and roman antiques.
An old solar clock is hanged as well on
one of the walls where it used to be used
years ago. On the other side of the roof,
the view is fascinating where one can see
the minarets of both AlSultan Hassan &
AlRefaiee mosque. Not only the view
from the roof is overwhelming but also
the accurate details of the Mashrabyya
over there. The roof of Bayyt AlKritlyya
has a combination of Mashrabyyat that
anyone would love to go there. Beside,
the written quote of La Ellah Ella Allah
- No God except Allah gives it a unique
value and makes the view much more at-
tractive than any other Mashrabbya. that
used to be in other Islamic houses (ka-
mel, 2010).

40
One of the main components of the mu-
seum is the presence of a Sabil inside
the house. This reflected the culture of
the Egyptian at that time. It also shows
that people were keen to give charity.The
house has witnessed the shooting of two
famous Arabic Films; Bayn ALAsreen &
Wa Islamah. Asater Bayt AlKritlayya
is a published book that talked about
the house. I have seen a cultural layer of
Egypt in a specific era inside the museum.
How the bride used to get dressed and
have her makeup, where would she cele-
brate her wedding and at the same time
enjoy her privacy. Tools being used during
birth. A large library were there as well
in the museum with a variety of books.
The smell of this room had the old smell
of things that ages a bit old. The smell re-
minded me of the old houses in Egypt, like
the one you smell in your grand mothers
old stuff (Noshokaty, 2016).

41
42
Before entering the Museum, a lot of se-
curity steps are being taken in terms of
asking too many questions about the rea-
son of the visit. This reflects the secruity
state in Egypt espically in the historical
places. Moreover, no one allowed to have
a walk in the outdoor space of the muse-
um as these spaces were storage rooms
and seating areas for the workers and the
ladies who are in charge of cleaning. The
house is considered to be a treasure of
arts and antiques that shows a layer of
the Egyptian culture and traditions. On
the other hand, one can not gather all
these arts and antiques under one type
and give it a specific title. or a theme.
Only a collection of arts that were col-
lected by Gayer Anderson.
References:
- Howell, M. (2010, November 20). Gay-
er-Anderson Museum: Preserving Egypts
Cultural Artefacts. Retrieved April 20,
2017, from Cairo 360: https://www.cai-
ro360.com/article/arts-culture/gayer-an-
derson-museum-preserving-egypts-cul-
tural-artefacts/
- Kamel, S. (2010). Egypt Feature Story
The Gayer Anderson Museum in Cairo.
Retrieved April 20, 2017, from Tour Egypt:
http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/
gayeranderson.htm
- Noshokaty, A. (2016, August 25). Is-
lamic Cairos Gayer Anderson House
and Museum: The house of 14 legends.
Retrieved April 20, 2017, from Ah-
ram online: http://english.ahram.org.eg/
NewsContent/32/138/241624/Folk/Pho-
to-Heritage/Islamic-Cairos-Gayer-Ander-
son-House-and-Museum-The.aspx
43
MUSEUM OF AGRICULTURE
SALMA BELAL
MUSEUM OF AGRICULTURE
P assing by it, I always wondered what
was that building with vegetative
ornaments? The corn crop motif has
always been an amuse to my eye with
its kernels detail. To my surprise, the
Agricultural Museum of Egypt was not a
single museum as guessed, but an abundant
complex, housing several museums, all
related to the agricultural nature of
Egypt, including the Cotton Museum, the
Museum of Ancient Egyptian Agriculture,
the Agriculture Museum proper, and the
Museum of Scientific Specimens, which
this article is dedicated to.
46
SALMA BELAL
Designed initially as a palace, the building
was formerly the palaces of Princess
Fatma Ismael, till King Fouad I initiated the
idea of building the largest Agricultural
Museum in the world in 1929.The palace
was commissioned to be re-designed
to accommodate the exhibition needs
of a musuem by a team from Hungary,
(Meyer, 2015). Unfortunately King Fouad
passed away before the realization of the
museum, and it was officially opened by
his successor son King Farouk in 1934.
Interestingly, the museum could be
divided into two museums according to
 Inaccessible
Staircase
Scientific Collections

Sheep +Birds Insects

Fish

Reptiles
Cattle + Camels Dairy Production

Inauguration
Board

Major Irrigation
Main Nile Valley Model Wedding Procession
Projects
Entrance

Wedding
Room

Ethnographic Content

its displayed content on both its floors.

The ground floor, from which visitors
enter is mainly dedicated to the depiction
of rural life in Egypt along the Nile valley.
That basic piece of information was given
to me by the only staff person I was able to
find, after spending some time searching
for any guide from where to start.

Most socio-cultural rituals and traditions

are portrayed in life-size dioramas,
preceded with an elongated wooden
model of the Nile Valleys rates of
production of wheat, corn, rice, cotton,
and beans. The second floor is basically
a Natural History Museum, with an
enormous collection of mummified
specimens, models of production and
manufacturing processes.

47

The diorama-tic models are used to
portray pictures from everyday life in
most of Egyptian rural villages. Familiar
scenes such as the coffee-shop is present
in full stage, using furniture, fashion, facial
expressions, and enhanced with painted
backgrounds on the walls that are meant
to provide the scene with aesthetic depth.
Also, rituals that have become taboos in
our days, like Tattoos. They are present as
a historic tradition, and is treasured as a
an authentic Egyptian profession.
48
Weddings and other traditional
celebrations such as Al- Mouled -the
Islamic celebrations of the Birth of
Prophet Muhammed- are also depicted,
and even occupy larger space in display
than everyday scenes.
The wedding procession is exhibited
along the hall, in the center of the ground
floor, and naturally lit by the light catchers
in the roof. On the side of this huge
setting is a closed door to a mock-up to a
village house, acting as a colorful stage for
the wedding ceremony, and named Farah
Ibn Al-`Omda, translates to; The Mayors
Son Wedding. The house is divided into
several rooms, each with different actors.
This setting clearly represents the gender
spatial segregation between males and
females in Egyptian society, where the groom, the brides father, and the witnesses are
places in the reception part of the house. Meanwhile the bride, her mother, and all the
other women including the belly-dancer are situated in the inner rooms. The house
model is furnished in floral furniture and painted in colorful walls which are all a way
of representation of the influence of the agricultural nature of the Egyptian villages on
its inhabitants.

49
Coming to an end of the ground floor
exhibit, a change of character appears,
instead of molded human models,
enormous wooden models occupy
the last hall. The last part of this
anthropological smell is coined with
models of the most prominent water
and irrigation infrastructure projects the
Egyptian region has witnessed including
the High Dam, the Aswan Dam, Al-
Qanater Al-Khayriyya and others.

The question came directly to my mind, if these projects models have been imposed as
nationalized development proofs on the museum in a later stage, probably in the fifties?

50
51
Going up the first floor, you are greeted
by horns on heads, and mummified
hazel eyes staring at you, Hanged above
solid, closed doors. It is like entering a
hunters treasury.You are no longer in the
ethnographic museum, but rather into
Egypts Natural History museum, where
everything animal-related is exhibited.

In the open hallway of the first floor, which

is more visually open, and continuous
than the previous floor, there was a large
group of students, occupying the ground,
sketching and capturing the still-life of the
soulless creatures. Walking through the
seated sketchers, amusement takes over
my gaze with the variety and collectives
of the displayed animals, with a shake-off
though of; what does this has to do with
the rural life of Egypt, that was modeled
in the level below?
Abbeying to the palaces original design,
Just before passing the pointy horns, you this floor preserves its continuous
meet a situated model/statue of a dark- configuration of rooms, all interconnected
skinned man cross-legged over his camel, internally, with direct access as well
Sending caution alerts of the possible to the outer hallway. The doors of
imperialistic vision imposed on the some rooms were locked, but had glass
museum, as an idea, and transcending windows, from which you can sneak peak
through its exhibited objects. to what is probably inside. With curiosity

52
raised up high, finally an attempt to
access one of the rooms succeed, after
finding one of the closed side secondary
doors unlocked. The door unleashed a
wide series of sunny rooms, all packed up
with mummified animals in glass boxes
and charts on every part of every wall.
Classified by groups; sheep, poultry birds,
cattle, camels and horses, and insects.
Each room housed a category.
No clear route is assigned to how you
should see the exhibits. Order is absent..
Despite that everything seems so orderly
organized, a sense of direction is missed
to guide you through the compactness
of display. The rooms resembled more
of an archive of every living species in
the Egyptian premises. Each with its
own derivatives, assisted with a full
documentation of origin, variations,
habitat, productivity, and, even diseases. It
was the first time my eyes are exposed
to artifacts documenting the modern
agricultural scene of Egypt, which do not
belong the times of the ancient Pharaohs.
After a long interval of unsensed time
passing subsequently from room to
room, the wander is interrupted by the
call of closing down the museum doors
for the day in fifteen minutes. Rushing
out of the door to catch up with what
could be remaining, to find a humongous
dinosaur-like whale skeleton standing
along the rest of the hallway.
53
The out call to clear the place from
visitors was more of a wake-up call to
realize and capture what really amused
me from the beginning. Not it being
the specimens collection, but more
importantly what display-fully held it.
An enormous part of the museums
greatness belongs to its detailed furniture
crafts-ship. A wide range of tailored
display methods orchestrate the space.
Each seemingly designed specifically to
perfectly frame its content. From fixed
to movable fixtures, all display installation
provided unique readability whether it be
object, information related to it, or both
together. In a bigger picture, the manual
charts with numbers and percentages
representing the Nile Valleys wide range
54
of production stood as evidence of a
nations once glorious development -or
painted to look glorious, who knows?
Info-graphics played a fit role in catching
the eye. By the size, colors, and, symbols
used, it felt like the currently computer
generated info-grams but more
interestingly in analogue form.
From the numbers these charts beheld,
I can only question how all these once
been the crop rates, infection control
systems, diseases prevention strategies,
and production methods have all fell to
extinction from the Egyptian agricultural
profile. The Museum of Agriculture is a
witness to history. A frozen moment of
what a nation once beheld, aimed for and
thrived to surpass.
REFERENCES

Davies, C. (2008) The Anatomy of Melan-

choly, Cairos Lost Agriculture Museum. Bi-
doun Magazine, Issue 14.
Retrieved April 9, 2017 from http://bi-
doun.org/issues/14-objects

Gordo, A.M. (2010) Untitled3 WAM (World

Agriculture Museum).
Retrieved April 2017, 2017 from http://
worldagriculturemuseum.blogspot.com.
eg/

Meyer, S.D. (2015) The dimly lit marvels of

Cairos Agricultural Museum.
Retrieved April, 2017 from http://www.
madamasr.com/en/2015/05/14/feature/
culture/the-dimly-lit-marvels-of-cai-
ros-agricultural-museum/

Wilkins, O. (2009) The Agricultural Muse-

um, Cairo, Egypt, Est. 1930.
Retrieved April 2017 from http://mor-
bidanatomy.blogspot.com.eg/2009/04/ag-
ricultural-museum-cairo-egypt-est.html

55
MUSEUM OF ISLAMIC ARTS
AHMED ABDELRAOOF
MUSEUM OF ISLAMIC ARTS
Located in the heart of Historic Cairo
in Bab Al-Khalq square, is the largest Is-
lamic Art museum in the world. It was
established in 1903 by Khedive Abbas
Helmy II, and it houses a large collection
of objects near to a hundred thousand of
Islamic antiques and artifacts of various
types collected from India, China, Iran,
all the way to the Arabian Peninsula, the
Levant, Egypt, North Africa and Andalusia.
The museum is considered to be a bea-
con of Islamic Art and Civilization for all
times, due to the breadth of coverage of
58
AHMED ABDELRAOOF
its collection covering all the branches
of Islamic Art throughout the ages. The
museum has two entrances both on the
main facade, the side entrance is for ad-
ministration part of the museum and it
has wheelchair access. While the main
entrance is centered between show halls.
The show halls have a chronological ar-
rangement along the path of the visit.
This path has a spiral journey around the
main spine that extends throughout the
buildings width and intersects with axes
of Islamic periods stations in Egypt.
In the plan and in facade with a high arched
tower and large doors aligned with axis of
Entrance indicating the begging of Islamic
era in Egypt (1st Station). The first hall fac-
ing the entrance is meant for introducing
collection of artifacts and in the center
of the hall the visitor can see the key to
Kabaa door in a glass box accompanied
with an important invention work like
a compass Qibla finder made of wood
and painted with lacquered finish show-
ing scene of Holly Masjid of Makkah and
pilgrimage. The next hall is dedicated to
Umayyad and Abbasid period, while the
following three halls were dedicated to
Fatimid period (2nd Station) which was a
crucial period for Egypt, as it was a capital
for their rule.

59
The next three halls were dedicated to
Ayyubid period (3rd Station) which was
a noticed shift in Egypt role as a leading
capital for large part of islamic region. Af-
ter this section the visitor can see the see
the door that leads to second entrance
and side courtyard garden which also
houses some of show objects. Following
is the (4th Station) Mamluk period with
three halls also dedicated for this period.
The following section is transitional from
Mamluk to Ottoman one hall and from
Ottoman to Muhammad Ali three halls.
This lead to the last crucial section (5th
Station) which is the intersection be-
tween the main path and the oblique axis
representing a shift in the leading role
again for Egypt during the colonizing era.
The remaining show halls were dedicated
for diverse collection of artifacts from
various parts of the Islamic world and
Eastern islamic world. Crafts in general

60
have developed continuously during the
successive Islamic periods, this develop-
ment was clear in techniques and the
range of materials used in creation of
tools. However, the sources of inspiration
were developed and changed remarkably
through the course of time. They varied
between flowers ornaments, geometrical
shapes, stories and events. Islamic pottery
also witnessed a noticeable development.
Adopting the traditional methods and
techniques of the Chinese family Tang
in the early periods and the following pe-
riods, ceramic was used in many different
uses like dishes, pots, jars, tiles and deco-
rative antiques.
References:
Museum Of Islamic Art, Cairo. (2016). Museum Fly-
er [Brochure]. Author. Retrieved April 3, 2017, from
http://www.miaegypt.org/en-us/museum/visiting/
visiting

61
NATIONAL POLICE MUSEUM
AHMED ESSAM
NATIONAL POLICE MUSEUM
The National Police Museum is located
inside Salah El-Din El Ayyoub Citadel, The
museum houses collections that aim to
highlight the history of the police from
the earliest ages until our modern history,
The museum starts from the flag gate to
the right, including the castle prison and
to the left the second wing of the prison,
The first of these halls is the police hall
in ancient Egypt, which includes weapons
(arrows, shields, arches, ballets and ca-
liphate), as well as paintings highlighting
the activity of the police in ancient Egypt.
64
AHMED ESSAM
The second hall was devoted to the his-
tory of the police in Islamic Egypt, where
weapons of various eras were displayed
and the police slogans were shouted at.
The museum also features stereoscopic
models representing the struggle of the
police against colonialism in the January
25 Mausoleum in Ismailia. The museum
also contains reports of police and police
in the most famous crimes committed by
the police in Egyptian history, including a
report on the story of Ria and Sakina, as
well as pictures of Raya and Sakina
as well as the story of the Upper Egypt
and pictures of El-khot and pictures of
Egyptian police after his death, The mu-
seum also displays the tools used by the
Egyptian police through the various ages,
from the Pharaonic era through the Gre-
co-Roman era to the modern era.
It also offers some archeological seizures
by the police.
The Police Museum contains many Egyp-
tian security apparatuses, as well as tools
used in the police and police depart-
ments, police uniforms and some pho-
tographs of famous police officers and
criminals. Region selected for the estab-
lishment of the Police National Museum
in the North West of Salah al-Din Citadel
in the area, which was dubbed the Square
name of science is characterized by this
site that has many historic buildings, civil
and military, set up a museum of police
as the area contained artillery center set
up by Muhammad Ali Pasha in the nine-
teenth century, As revealed in this area
on the tower of Sebaa, which was based
on the existence of the upper frieze,
which shows the forms of carved and at-
tributed to the statue of Peppers, which
was erected in 1260 AD.
65
Summary of the role of archaeological
investigations and legislation for the pro-
tection of archaeological heritage, as well
as a brief description of Adham Sharqawi
and his activity in the region and some
counterfeit currency and machines used
in forgery and the section of political
assassinations and the battle of Ismailia,
Political assassinations (assassination at-
tempt Gamal Abdel Nasser Pistol brand
Walter - assassination attempt Ahmed
Pasha Khazandar 9mm Barta pistol - as-
sassination attempt of Lord Moyne 9-mm
Luger pistol shot empty - assassination
attempt Ahmed Pasha Maher 9mm Barta
pistol), The most common crimes in the
history of the police The most famous
crimes in the history of the police (a ma-
chine to counterfeit money from steel -
a bag with a collection of plant extracts
and narcotic substances and drugs and is
divided from the inside to eight sections
- the killer / Mahmoud Amin Mahmoud -
Ria and Sakina - Upper khot - the battle
of Ismailia January 25, 1952). The muse-
um displays the development of the po-

66
lice from the Pharaonic to the modern
era. The museum also includes a group of
halls, Each hall is dedicated to presenting
the history of the police in each age (The
first of these halls is the police hall in an-
cient Egypt containning Weapons dating
back to the Pharaonic era-The second
hall was dedicated to the history of the
police in Islamic Egypt, where weapons
of various eras were displayed and the
police slogans were chanted-and also to
show case modern weapons and police
activities). Napoleon Bonapartes weapon
is similar to a flint-fired firearm from the
crater. The pipe is decorated with gold
ornaments and the other parts are pit-
ted with silver, A silver plate is attached
to it, and another layer is placed below
the handle. The Museum of the Police is a
witness to sacrifices and a repository of
historical secrets Among its walls are ev-
idences documenting covenants and bat-
tles in the mind, The Egyptians are proud
of them and boast of internal security.
They speak of the years of defense by the
security men of their profession and their
oaths. In order to learn more about its
contents, in view of its historical impor-
tance, and the efforts of the Ministry of
maintaining security over the past years.
References:
Accessed to . 25/4/2017. 10:45. https://sites.goo-
gle.com/site/policemuseums/
Accessed to . 25/4/2017. 10:45. https://elnass-
welshorta.com
67
RAILWAY MUSEUM
MOHAMED HEGAB
RAILWAYS MUSEUM MOHAMED HEGAB

Located in Ramses railway station, the

first railways museum in the middle east
and the second railways museum in the
world,
The museum was founded by king
Fouad the first for the celebration of
the world railways conference which
was held in Cairo on the 3rd of January
1933

After about a decade since it was closed the museum reopened it doors on the 1st
of march 2016 after renovation under the supervision of the ministry of transport
with a budget cost 10 million EGP

70
The first part of the museum shows the
history the facilities used for
Transportation since the ancient Egyptians
till the start of the railways system in Egypt.
Each era is shown by scaled models, repli-
cas of real things and pictures. One of the
most important pieces was a scaled model
for the first plane to land in Egypt coming
from Europe on 1930 and a replica for an
airplane motor with its real scale.
The second part is specified for railways
and the trains, it shows the mechanism of
the train and how it work by mechanically
working models, then it shows the scaled
models for the old train cars special the
nine cars of Al Khedewi Ismail,models
for the rotating bridges of the railways
and the lanterns used in the either in the
train or in the stations , models for the
new trains and finally some scaled mod-
els for the some of the main railway sta-
tions around Egypt.
two real photocopiers were also dis-
played, these photocopiers were used to
print train tickets and brochure related
to the trains
71
The next part is the large scaled model for
different functions done through the rail-
ways, the model was formerly a toy made
for Farghaly Pacha since he was so ob-
sessed with railways, and the he gave it to
the museum.
The last part has two real train cars one
was of Abbas Pacha and the other was
a sectioned engine car to show how the
mechanism was working

The contents were either real models,

scaled models, replicas for some papers
and catalogues shown in glass boxes pic-
tures, or replicas of real things such as the
contract of the project and the tools used
by the conductors of the train which were
displayed in glass boxes.

As for the info graphs it is depending only

on the brief information show under each
object.

72
The museum also has a library having a
lot of books and catalogue which may
supply anyone interested to go through
old information about the railways.
The experience wasnt not very good the
scenario needs to be rearranged this is
related to the bad supervision of the mu-
seum, all the people i saw we either secu-
rity or janitors of the museum so even if
i wanted to ask about something no one
was there to answer.
I think people working there are not
keen on this place and do not know how
precious this place is.
On the other side i was positive with ev-
erything that said that Egypt was so beau-
tiful during this era and how we were very
corresponding to the world we were truly
the leaders of the middle east.
Did the Egyptians change? Do they real-
ly were like this or we are looking from
someone else need to point of view?
73
Arab Academy For Science AASTMT
College Of Engineering And Technology
Architecture and Environmental Design
Department

Presented to
Dr Shaimaa Ashour
Presented by
Abeer Adel
Ahmed Abdelraoof
Ahmed Essam
Mohamed Hegab
Mona Sakr
Noha Osama
Nouran Mohammed
Salma Belal
Summer Shoukry
Design and Compile by
Ahmed Abdelraoof - Salma Belal