Cairo’s Egyptian Museum to be restored

Cairo's Egyptian Museum is to undergo a major upgrading project to enhance the display of artefacts and improve the facilities of the institution located in the central Tahrir Square.

Egypt's minister of state for antiquities Mohamed Ibrahim ordered the upgrade which will be completed in three phases and is scheduled for completion by 2015.

The first phase, which will be funded from the Association of Lovers of the Egyptian Museum, involves the development of Hall 32, home to a large collection of Old Kingdom artefacts; and Hall 37, which displays the funerary collection of Queen Hetepheres I. The development is to provide visitors with a better view of the artefacts on display, according to the museum's director Salwa Abdel-Rahman.

The director also said that the museum's main dome will be cleaned and all the windows that were broken during the revolution in early 2011 will be replaced. A new sensitive lighting system has already been installed.

During the civil unrest surrounding the revolution several of the Egyptian Museum's artefacts were vandalised, including two mummies. The museum subsequently made headlines when a human chain was formed to protect the institution from looters.  

The museum contains over 120,000 items spanning 5,000 years of Egyptian history. Many of the artefacts are in storage, with the rest spread out over the building’s two floors and 100 rooms.