Luxor Museum, Luxor (must see)

The Luxor Museum is small when compared to the scale of the Cairo Museum, but houses some highly significant pieces. The selection of artifacts on display, dating from the predynastic period until the arrival of Islam, makes visiting a must during any trip to Luxor. Multilingual information and well put together displays make finding your way through the various artifacts pleasurable and entertainingly educational. Some of the items that are on show include goods taken from the tomb of Tutankhamen; 26 well preserved stone statues from the period of the New Kingdom, that were found buried in a cache at the Luxor Temple, and mummies of the pharaohs Ahmose I and Ramses I. One of the most striking pieces from the Tutankhamen collection is a large red granite head of Amenhotep III, the cow goddess.

On the second floor of the museum is an impressive installation of 283 painted stone panels that were taken from the Amenhotep IV temple at Karnak. There are also several highly decorated pharaoh sarcophagi, jewelry, pottery and statues from pharaonic times.