The Supreme Council of Antiquities has announced the completion of development works on the Cachette Hall at Luxor Museum, ahead of its upcoming opening. The Luxor Cachette includes a distinguished collection of royal and divine statues, along with a number of other artifacts reflecting the evolution of ancient Egyptian art across different eras.
Sherif Fathy, Minister of Tourism and Antiquities, stressed that this project is part of the ministry's strategy to modernize museum display methods and offer visitors an integrated cultural tourism experience, noting that the Cachette Hall will offer an advanced model of displaying artifacts through a realistic simulation of the moment the cachette was discovered.
For his part, Dr. Hisham El-Leithy, Secretary-General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, explained that the importance of the project lies in the fact that it is the first time the Luxor Temple cachette will be displayed in full in its own hall at the museum, comprising 26 diverse artifacts, in order to modernize the museum display and enhance the visitor experience by presenting the pieces in a visual context simulating the moment of their discovery and their historical circumstances, giving visitors an integrated knowledge and visual experience.
In the same context, Moamen Othman, Head of the Projects and Restoration Sector at the Supreme Council of Antiquities, said the development project included a number of construction works inside the hall, including removing the old marble floors and skirting and replacing them with marble, building a new arched gypsum board ceiling, replacing part of the staircase with a ramp to ease visitors' movement, replacing the wooden cladding with natural stone partitions, as well as adding two display cases at the hall's entrance.
Dr. Ahmed Hamida, Head of the Museums Sector at the Supreme Council of Antiquities, explained that the development works included preparing an integrated museum display scenario drawn up by the higher committee chaired by Dr. Ali Omar to highlight the historical and artistic value of the artifacts and reflect the context of the cachette's discovery, along with introducing artistic elements inside the hall that simulate the discovery scene.
Dr. Mahmoud Mabrouk, a member of the museum display scenario committee, noted that the number of pieces on display has been increased to 26 instead of 17, by adding new pieces and redistributing some to showcase them better, along with completing the cobra statue and restoring a number of pieces, and equipping the hall with modern display bases, information panels, a specialized lighting system and interactive display screens.
It is worth noting that the Luxor Cachette was discovered in 1989 during soil testing works in the courtyard of King Amenhotep III at Luxor Temple, when a deep pit was found by chance beneath the courtyard floor containing a collection of royal and divine statues dating from the 18th to the 25th Dynasty. It was uncovered by a mission of the Egyptian Antiquities Organization headed by Dr. Mohamed El-Saghir, and the pieces were carefully documented and restored before being moved to secure storage.
Coinciding with the upcoming opening of the Cachette Hall, the development of the museum's explanatory labels has been completed and new labels have been prepared, which are now being installed inside the display cases. This development is part of the keenness to improve museum display methods, helping provide a distinguished, clearer and more attractive tourism experience for visitors, as well as keeping pace with the standards followed in the world's major museums in terms of accuracy of information and ease of presentation.
The Scientific Office at the Minister's Office, headed by Dr. Hoda Khalifa, prepared and wrote the scientific content of the labels, relying on the latest scientific references and specialized catalogues, as well as the museum's records, in cooperation with the museum's curators, ensuring the accuracy of the information displayed. The display labels were also written in a modern museum style that takes into account the clarity of content and ease of presentation for visitors.
The information labels at the various archaeological museums across the country will be gradually developed and updated, as part of the Supreme Council of Antiquities' efforts to modernize and develop the museum display system.
