Luxor Museum

Luxor Museum is a small museum with a very high standard of objects, and it is often the place where the monuments you have seen during the day start to make sense. It opened in 1975 in a two-storey building on the Corniche designed by the architect Mahmud El Hakim, roughly halfway between Karnak and Luxor Temple, and its galleries are calm, uncluttered and carefully lit.

The highlight for many visitors is the group of 26 statues found in 1989 beneath the floor of the Sun Court at Luxor Temple. Buried in antiquity, they emerged in excellent condition, and among them are figures of the goddesses Hathor and Iunit and a 2.5-metre quartzite statue of Amenhotep III standing on a sledge. Other important pieces include a seated scribe statue of Amenhotep son of Hapu, Horemheb kneeling before Atum, a granite head of Senusret III and a statue of Thutmose III.

Upstairs, a reconstructed wall from Akhenaten's temple to the Aten at Karnak uses 283 painted sandstone blocks, known as talatat, and runs for about 18 metres; it is one of the best places in Egypt to see the lively style of his reign. Objects from the tomb of Tutankhamun include a gilded head of Hathor as a cow and shabti figures. Since 2004 an extension has displayed the mummies of Ahmose I, founder of the New Kingdom, and one identified as Ramesses I, though the identification of the latter is not certain.

The museum suits anyone who wants a break from the heat of the open-air sites, and it is easy to see in one to two hours. The quiet, air-conditioned rooms make it a good option for families with older children and for anyone visiting in the middle of a hot day. Labels are generally clear, but a guide or good guidebook will add a great deal.

You can walk along the Corniche from Luxor Temple in about twenty minutes, or take a horse-drawn carriage or taxi. The Mummification Museum is further south along the same riverside road, and the two together make a good half-day programme on the East Bank.