Nubian Museum

The Nubian Museum opened in 1997 to hold what the rising waters of Lake Nasser displaced — the archaeology and the culture of a region now largely under the lake. It is the best-designed museum in Egypt outside Cairo.

Overview

UNESCO backed it as the counterpart to the temple rescues, and the building of local sandstone won an Aga Khan award. Displays run from prehistory through the Kingdom of Kush to Christian and Islamic Nubia, ending with an ethnographic section on villages that no longer exist. The point is not treasure but continuity, and the labelling is unusually good.

Highlights

The colossal statue of Ramses II in the entrance hall sets the scale; the Kushite material beyond it is the part rarely seen elsewhere. The reconstructed Nubian house in the grounds is the section visitors remember. Allow ninety minutes, and come in the afternoon when the light through the atrium is best.

Overview

Highlights

Location