Mummification Museum

What to expect at Mummification Museum

Egypt's only museum entirely devoted to mummification is a small underground gallery on the Corniche. It walks you through the 70-day embalming process step by step: the tools (bronze hooks, obsidian blades, natron), the canopic jars with their four sons-of-Horus heads, and displays of mummified cats, ibises, crocodiles and fish. The centerpiece is the well-preserved mummy of Maserharti, a 21st-dynasty high priest of Amun.

It's a compact one-hour stop that fits perfectly with a walk along the Corniche or as a companion to Luxor Museum next door. The gallery is fully air-conditioned, which makes it an excellent midday refuge in summer. Kids find it either fascinating or slightly horrifying — the animal mummies are usually the winning exhibit for younger visitors.

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