Where the mummies are

Where are the royal mummies now?

At the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization (NMEC) in Fustat, Old Cairo. They moved from Tahrir on 3 April 2021.

The move was a show. The Pharaohs' Golden Parade carried 18 kings and 4 queens about 5 km through Cairo at night, each mummy in its own decorated vehicle, in order of reign, starting with Seqenenre Tao and ending with Ramesses IX. The mummy hall at NMEC opened to visitors on 18 April 2021.

The Royal Mummies Room at Tahrir closed for good when they left. Any tour that charges a "Mummy Room" fee at the Egyptian Museum is quoting an old price list, and that includes the exclusions on the private half-day tour, whose ticket covers everything Tahrir sells.

Which mummies are at NMEC?

The 22 from the parade: 18 kings and 4 queens of the New Kingdom and just before it, from Seqenenre Tao to Ramesses IX.

The big names:

The full list also includes Ahmose-Nefertari, Amenhotep I, Meritamun, Thutmose I and II, Amenhotep II and III, Thutmose IV, Merenptah, Seti II, Siptah and Ramesses III, IV, V, VI and IX. Each lies in its own case, with the coffin nearby.

How much is the NMEC ticket, and is the mummy hall included?

550 EGP for a foreign adult and 300 EGP for a foreign student. The mummy hall is included; there is no separate mummy ticket any more.

The Ministry's NMEC page lists 550 EGP for foreign adults, 300 EGP for students and free entry under 6. Egyptians pay 90 EGP. Blogs that quote a base ticket plus a 180 EGP mummy supplement are out of date.

Watch for one more old number: the Egyptian Museum and NMEC day still lists the Civilization Museum at 600 EGP in its exclusions. The Ministry's price is 550 EGP, and that is what you pay at the door. Big bags (over 40 by 40 cm) go to the cloakroom, and flash and tripods are banned, as at Tahrir.

When is NMEC open, and does it open in the evening?

Daily from 9 am to 5 pm, with the window closing at 4 pm. The Ministry also lists evening hours from 6 pm to 9 pm, last tickets at 8 pm. In Ramadan it closes at 4 pm.

The evening session is the quiet one. Enterprise's September 2026 guide to Cairo after dark lists it for Fridays, so check the day before you plan around it. A Friday is a good day for this pairing anyway: one NMEC tour guest wrote that their guide "suggested changing the order for the day to make the most of the roads being very quiet until lunchtime."

Our pick: Tahrir at 9 am, lunch, then NMEC in the afternoon. Or Tahrir in the morning and NMEC's evening opening, with Coptic Cairo in between.

A private guide for Tahrir, NMEC's mummy hall, the Citadel and Coptic Cairo in one day. Tickets are optional, so you can pay them yourself.

★ 5.0 · 7 to 8 hours · from $50

Explore the Egyptian Museum and NMEC day → Tour details

Are there any mummies left in the Egyptian Museum?

Yes. Yuya and Thuya, the parents of Queen Tiye, are still upstairs at Tahrir, and there is a room of animal mummies.

Yuya and Thuya were not royal, so they stayed when the kings left. Their tomb, KV46, was found nearly intact in 1905, and their faces are some of the best preserved from ancient Egypt. They lie with their gilded masks, coffins and furniture, and a Book of the Dead about 19 m long, as Cairoscene listed in 2025.

The animal mummy room has crocodiles, baboons, cats and fish. It is small and easy to miss. The highlights guide fits both into a route.

Where is Tutankhamun's mummy?

In his tomb, KV62, in the Valley of the Kings at Luxor. It has never been in a Cairo museum.

Tutankhamun's mummy lies in a climate-controlled glass case in the antechamber of KV62. His gold mask and coffins, which were at Tahrir until late October 2025, are now at the Grand Egyptian Museum in Giza. The boy king is now split three ways: body in Luxor, treasure at the GEM, and nothing left on Tahrir Square.

If mummies are the point of your trip, NMEC is the place in Cairo. See Tahrir or the GEM for the rest of what moved.

How do you combine Tahrir and NMEC in one day?

Start at Tahrir at 9 am, then drive 15 to 30 minutes south to NMEC in Fustat. Coptic Cairo and the Citadel fit in between.

NMEC is about 7 km from Tahrir by road. An Uber is the easy way; there is no metro station at the museum door. Coptic Cairo, with the Hanging Church and the Ben Ezra Synagogue, is at Mar Girgis metro station on Line 1, close to NMEC.

A guest on the NMEC combo wrote in November 2025: "The opening of the GEM meant that the old Egyptian museum and Museum of Civilisation (containing the mummies) could easily be seen in a day as well as Coptic Cairo and the citadel." That is a full day, though. Give Tahrir two hours, NMEC an hour and a half, and leave the bazaar for another day.

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