Al-Manyal Palace Museum

The museum was set up by Prince " Mohammad Ali Tawfiq " in 1899 in the middle of a thirty - feddan garden. The garden has a group of rare trees which the Prince had brought from various parts of the world. The palace's architecture, interior decorations and furniture are all modeled on the Arabesque style. The museum's collection is the most complete representative set of the " Ottoman " art. In addition, the museum contains early Islamic manuscripts and rare collections of embroidered textiles, carpets, crystal vessels and candelabra.

The Palace was built to commemorate and eternalize Islamic Art. It is considered amongst the most important and historic museums since it represents a crucial period in modern Egyptian history and portrays in detail the life of the Royal Family. The architectural designs distinguish it from other museums because of its Modern Islamic art carrying the essence of Moroccan, Persian and Syrian styles.

 

 

 

The Palace is situated in the east of the River Nile along the island of Manial El-Roda. It covers an area of 61711 square meters, as buildings occupy 5000 square meters, 34,000 square meters for gardens and 22711 square meters for inner roads and garden constructions.

The Palace is divided into 11 sections; the gate which was built in the style of middle age castles gates, has terraces for guards.

The palace facade resembles that of Iranian Mosques and Schools of the 14th C. The reception palace was designed for receiving official guests and is of two stories. The first story has two rooms, the ceremony room and the reception one for those who offer Friday prayers with the Prince, the second story has two halls; the Moroccan and Syrian halls.

The Saa (clock) Tower lies between the Reception Palace and the Mosque, which Prince Mohamed Ali built after the Andalosian and Moroccan fashions.

The fountain lies between the tower and the great Mosque, the Mosque despite its small size is considered an unmatchable architectural and ornamental antique.

The Hunting Museum is a long hall annexed to the east gate overlooking the garden. It displays possessions of King Farouk and Prince Youssef Kamal who loved hunting. This Museum was finished long after the death of the Prince and was opened to the public in 1962.    The two-story residence is the oldest building in the palace and has a tower overlooking sights of Cairo and Giza. The first story consists of al-Shakma, the mirror lobby, harem room, blue saloon, dining room, arabesque saloon and the fireplace room. The second story consists of the jewelry room, arabesque room, Princes bedroom, maid’s room and a balcony overlooking the mirror hall. The Throne palace was designed after the Ottoman style in the form of a "Kosha"

The private Museum is situated in the southern part of the palace and consists of 15 halls divided by a yard with a small garden. The palace garden is a rare plant museum, where the Prince collected a lot of plants unknown in Egypt and was able to adapt them to the soil and environment. It is a real example for the modern Egyptian history. 

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Bowl decorated with blue lotus flowers

Bowl decorated with blue lotus flowers

 

A large pottery bowl decorated with blue lotus flowers, there are red details and black outlines.The corolla encloses the lower half of the bowl while the border above consists of pendant petal-rays.

The bowl imitates the form of the white lotus. Blue painted pottery seems to have been made only at royal residences and was therefore produced by a small number of master craftsmen at a few workshops. It was used in religious contexts, in tombs and also for decoration in the home.

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Gold Signet Ring depicting Bes

Gold Signet Ring depicting two dancing figures of the god Bes

A fine gold signet ring depicting two dancing figures of the god Bes, he wears a wide flaring headress and carries a knife in each hand. The figures are engraved between two ankh-signs.The ring is oval in shape and has a plain shank.

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The Funerary beds of Tutankhamun

The Funerary Beds

In the tomb of Tutankhamun 7 beds were discovered: 3 of them were categorized as funerary while the remaining four were classified as ordinary or conventional beds (including one folding bed).

The Funerary beds were found in the antechamber placed lengthwise against the west wall in front of the entrance facing the burial chamber, arranged from smallest to largest. Each one was put lengthwise with the head facing the tail of the one in front of it. At the time of discovery, they were laden with offerings and other objects.

 

 

Description:

They are all similar in construction and each bed consists of four detachable parts as follows:

(1) Two animal side-sections
(2) The mattress in between or the place on which the body of the deceased was placed (the bed itself)
(3) The footboard between the tails of the animals.
(4) The rectangular hollow pedestal, upon which the feet of the animal used to stand

Each part was made separately and then they were assembled and attached together by means of long thin rods of wood tied together with copper rings.

Material:

They are all constructed of wood, stuccoed, gilded and some parts covered with black resin or blue glass.

  

How did we know that they are funerary beds?

From the formula containing the title “mAa xrw” meaning true of voice referring to the king, inscribed upon the rail part between the animal heads, also the king is described as “Osiris”.

-These funerary couches were the first complete examples to be found of the kind, but similar beds are represented in the scenes of the tombs of Seti II and Ramses III, and from fragments found in earlier excavated royal tombs. Also there are other scenes which represent Anubis performing the last stages of mummification on similar beds, but we have to understand that these are not real embalming beds. 

 

 

What do real embalming beds look like?

Real embalming beds are low beds made out of stone with a basin attached to one side in order to contain the liquids resulting from the mummification process. Priests used to embalm the bodies sitting on their knees in front of these beds.

 Measurements:

The Leonine Couch measures 1.56 m in height and 1.8 m in length.

The Bovine Couch measures 1.5 m in height and 2.2 m in length.

The Hybrid Couch measures 1.3 m in height and 2.3 m in length.

• The funerary beds are depicted here with different heads of goddesses such as:

The Ritual beds or The Funerary Bed of King Tutankhamun,Representing Goddess Mehet-weret 

 The Ritual beds or The Funerary Bed of King Tutankhamun, Representing Goddess Mehet

The Ritual beds or The Funerary Couch with the Head of Hippopotamus of Tutankhamun

Function of the three couches:

The laying of the body of the deceased upon these three couches during the funeral ceremonies had the function of bringing the deceased in contact with the three deities (Mehet, Mehet-weret, Ammut), and thus guaranteeing the opportunity for rebirth each could offer.

When the deceased is laid on the leonine couch, he would be in contact with the goddess Mehet who permits the regular arrival of eternal flooding of the Nile (seasonal return of the Nile flood symbolizing rebirth), and this water is coming from Nun (primeval ocean) since the ancient Egyptians thought that the borders of the universe and the depth of the underworld is Nun, from which all things came.

Then from the primeval ocean came out the goddess Mehet-weret in the Legend of Destruction of Mankind and carried the god Re upon her back from this world to heaven.

And as for the goddess Ammut, she could personify the sky, which swallows the sun-god at dusk in order to give birth to him once again at dawn. The same cycle is done with the dead people, however reversed. When they ascend to the sky, Ammut swallows them at dawn to give birth to them the following dusk and they become stars in the sky, thus guaranteeing eternity for the dead people. So when the deceased king is laid on the hybrid couch, Ammut will swallow him at dawn and becomes a star at dusk, thus guaranteeing the opportunity for rebirth.  

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Beautiful Pectoral of Mereret

This necklace with a pectoral had once adorned the figure of Queen Mereret, the daughter of King Senusert the Third and sister of his successor Amenemhat the Third. It is made out of gold, turquoise, lapis lazuli, and other materials

 

 

 

 

It bears a cartouche containing the coronation name of Amenemhat the Third as decoration. Represented as two falcon-headed sphinxes, the king smites his enemies. Above, the vulture-goddess, Nekhbet, is shown spreading out her wings to protect the figure of the king and his name.

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Best pictures of king tutankhamun

These are some pictures of King Tutankhamun

To see more about king tut visit

Tutankhamun

Tutankhamun Exhibit

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To see more about king tut visit

http://pharaonic-egy.blogspot.com/

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Qasr Al-Eini Museum

Qasr Al-Eini Museum

The idea of founding the Qasr Al-Eini Museum was first initiated in 1976 by Dr. Mohammed Almenawi, the surgeon gynecologist and obstetrician who was general secretary of the Faculty of Medicine and responsible of the Museum.

The first stage was inaugurated on March 8, 1998 in the presence of representatives of the world faculties of medicine; the second stage in March 1999 . The Museum was eventually established in the adequate form appropriate to the oldest Faculty of Medicine in the Orient.

The Museum narrates the history of medicine in the Arab Machreq, confirming the historical role played by the Qasr Al-Eini School of Medicine as a linkage between medicine in pharaonic Egypt and modern medicine.

The library of the Museum houses the following:

-Numerous rare books and references.

-An encyclopedia on "The Wise Men of Qasr Al-Eini" or the biographies of 154 professors who lectured in Qasr Al-Eini, with their photos. Some 64 amongst them go back to the 19th Century.

-Various documents and manuscripts.

-Tableaux of marble.

-Photographic pictures.

-Different statues.

-An original copy of the book " Description de l’Egypte " which was written by the French scholarswho accompanied Bonaparte during his campaign on Egypt (1789)

 

 

 

 

The Story of Medicine in Egypt:

The first School of Medicine in Egypt was inaugurated in Feb.1827 following the decision of Mohammed Ali Pacha, Wali (Ruler) of Egypt to introduce the European techniques in the Egyptian army through the assistance of French officers ; he called Klute Bey from France in 1825 to be the first surgeon in the Egyptian army assisted by a number of physicians and pharmacists. The School and the hospital were annexed to a training camp at Abu Za’abal ( in the outskirts of Cairo ). It was joined by one hundred students from Al-Azhar (the oldest theological university ) under Klute Bey , the headmaster of the School during 1827-1837.

They studied seven subjects: chemistry/physics, anatomy, physiology, pathology, medicine, hygienics, and pharmacology; they were lectured by seven foreign physicians assisted by skillful interpreters.

In 1832 Klute Bey selected 12 graduates of the School to study in France . They travelled wearing their turbans, jubbahs and caftans. They were highly praised by the head of the French Society of Medicine for their primacy and merit " being the descendants of Ibn-Sina, Al-Razi, and other Arab Scholars" as he described them; similar missions were annually sent to France.

In 1837 the School of Medicine and the hospital were transferred from Abu Za’abal to Qasr Al-Eini (named after Ibn-Al-Eini who founded it in 1466 over a wide space on the bank of the Nile to be a rest house for the Egyptian Wali or Ruler. It was used to receive princes and dignitaries, and for holding the meetings of the Mamelukes.It was later used as barracks, then a military school until 1837 when it was transferred to the School of Medicine as aforementioned)

 

 

 

 

 

The studying period was, then, five years; the number of students was 300 fully subsidized by the Government which paid for their housing, living, dressing, education and pocket money.

The School made a great progress and Qasr Al-Eini became famous all over the Arab countries; patients came from all parts for medical treatment in Qasr El-Eini. Many books were translated from French into Arabic language and copies there-of were sent to Istanbul and Arab countries. Egypt also offered 10 scholarships to students from the Levant to study in Qasr Al-Eini at the expense of the Egyptian Government.

One of the prominent devotees, Dr.Essa Pacha Hamdi, father of the modern school of medicine was Director of the School of Medicine in the ‘80s of the 19th Century. He was forced to resign under the pressure of the British occupation which decided to transfer the studies from Arabic to English language. But Essa Pacha Hamdi, endorsed by the Minister of Education, could introduce modern techniques to the School and renovate its labs.

Starting 1887, students lived outside the School and paid for their living and educational fees.

The first International Conference on Medicine held its sessions in Qasr Al-Eini in Dec.1902, to be inaugurated on Dec. 18 by the Khedive at the Opera House with the participation of physicians from Germany, America, Britain, Austria, France, Italy, Swiss and Spain. In his inaugural speech , the Khedive stressed the importance of holding the Conference in the Nile Valley due to its specific geographic position as a link between the East and the West. The Chairman of the Conference , Ibrahim Pacha Hassan , speaking in Arabic, referred to the holding of the Conference in the land of the Pharaohs who attained a high degree in medical knowledge.

In Oct., 1926, the School was transferred to a Faculty associated to the Egyptian University. The Schools of Dentistry, Pharmacology, Nursery and mid-wifery were joined to the Faculty of Medicine. In 1928 , female students were admitted to medical studies.

The International Conference on Tropical Medicine was held in Cairo on Dec.1928, celebrating at the same time the centenary of founding the School of Medicine, and the laying of the foundation stone of the new Faculty of Medicine and its hospital at the vicinity of Qasr Al-Eini on the Rawdah Island.

In 1929, the genius surgery professor Ali Pacha Ibrahim, disciple of Essa Pacha Hamdi, was elected Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, and by virtue of his efforts, the degrees of the Faculty were recognized abroad, and the Egyptian University created higher specialized degrees in medicine matching with the highest similar degrees in European universities.

And, back and deep into history, the famous historian Herodotus wrote that ancient Egyptians practiced medicine at an outstanding skill; nobody was allowed to practice just one specialized medical branch-one had to study all medical branches. Physicians in the pharaonic Era enjoyed a sacred status. There was special temples for delivery, and the mid-wives were called " The Gods’ Mothers ". The priests of the deity Sekht were famous in medicine. Her son Amhoteb was renowned in medicine to the extent that he was considered God. His father was the deity Betah. Amhoteb’s statue is now at the Museum of Berlin.

 

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A trip to Luxor

The city of Luxor dubbed the sun city and this city that combines past and present associated with the modern era at one time not prejudice place in Luxor from impact spokesman  of the greatness of the ancient Egyptians BC thousands of years . Luxor has a lot of Antiquities

 Luxor is a tourist city so as to attract tourists coming to Egypt and Store for the Ancient Egyptian civilization wherein more than 800 archaeological shrine area. The Luxor Remained the capital of Egypt until the beginning of the sixth dynasty Pharaonic, when the capital moved to Memphis in the north.

  Luxor knew by across different eras by many names In the beginning it was called the city of wast and then Thebes released by the Romans . And named it as well as the city cent door as described by the poet Greek Homer in the Iliad and renamed as well as the city of the sun , the City of Light and the City of Mace and after the Arab conquest of Egypt called this name "Luxor".

The province of Luxor many Characterized by tourist and entertainment attractions that distinguish them from others, such as :

  Karnak Temple.

Luxor Temple

Luxor Museum

  .Temple of Hatshepsut.

A statue of the Sphinx.

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