Museum's relationship to postcards

In this collection, 11 out of 200 postcards can be labelled as photos taken inside the Cairo Museum. On the obverse of one postcard (postcard 190) we find text "Musee du Caire: II(e) Serie N.9", which implies that there used to be at least one series of postcards focused specifically on Cairo Museum and its exhibits. Postcards can serve as both souvenir and advertisement, because postcards can attract more people to come to visit the museum. In modern days, postcards are even more important because tourists have to obtain a pass to take professional photos inside the museum, and are not allowed to take photos in King Tut’s Treasure Room and royal mummy rooms. Most of the postcards in this collection show exhibits in the museum, providing us a guess of what items might be popular at the time these postcards were published. For example, 8 out of 11 postcards present one or multiple statues, which may imply that statue was a popular topic when it comes to Cairo Museum. Such photos on postcards also serve as a historical resource for us to make a comparison with the exhibits nowadays. The following pages introduce some exhibits found on postcards and compare postcards to pictures taken recently.

In this collection, 11 out of 200 postcards can be labelled as photos taken inside the Cairo Museum. On the obverse of one postcard (postcard 190) we find text "Musee du Caire: II(e) Serie N.9", which implies that there used to be at least one series of postcards focused specifically on Cairo Museum and its exhibits. Postcards can serve as both souvenir and advertisement, because postcards can attract more people to come to visit the museum. In modern days, postcards are even more important because tourists have to obtain a pass to take professional photos inside the museum, and are not allowed to take photos in King Tut’s Treasure Room and royal mummy rooms. 
Most of the postcards in this collection show exhibits in the museum, providing us a guess of what items might be popular at the time these postcards were published. For example, 8 out of 11 postcards present one or multiple statues, which may imply that statue was a popular topic when it comes to Cairo Museum. Such photos on postcards also serve as a historical resource for us to make a comparison with the exhibits nowadays. These postcards bring people into the museum and show them all the exhibits as if they are actually there; however, at the same time, because postcards at that time are taken mostly to show the full body of the exhibit, they failed to show details that one can only observe at a close distance.

                                           

                                                                     POSTCARD 178

The “Statue of Khepheren”, printed on the postcard, is now named “Khafre Enthroned”. It is a funerary statue of the Pharaoh Khafre, who reigned during the Fourth dynasty of ancient Egypt (c. 2570 BC). This statue serves as a place for the Ka to rest after it leaves the body of the pharaoh. Compared to the postcard we can see the layout of the museum has changed, and this statue has been relocated. Now we can also see that there is a glass protection surrounding the statue.

 

 

                                                                     POSTCARD 185

This statue, the Shehk el-Beled, is a wooden statue of Kaaper (or Ka’aper), an ancient Egyptian scribe and priest who lived between the late 4th Dynasty and the early 5th Dynasty (around 2500 BCE). It is often cited as an example of the remarkable level of craftsmanship and realism achieved during the late 4th Dynasty. Nowadays, this statue is exhibited in a glass showcase, which is the same as presented in the postcard. 

 

                                                                     POSTCARD 194

At the time when the photo on this postcard is taken, the central exhibit was named as  “La Vache Hathor Deir el Bahari”. This exhibit now is relocated and known as “Hathor chapel of Thutmosis III in Deir el-Bahari”. Deir el-Bahari is a complex of mortuary temples and tombs located on the west bank of the Nile, opposite the city of Luxor, Egypt. Thutmosis III (or Thutmose III) was the sixth pharaoh of the Eighteenth Dynasty. Now this chapel is displayed in a large glass showcase in Egyptian Museum. We can also see how postcards at that time failed to show details of the object: the chapel on the postcard looks very unattractive, while the actual chapel is colorful and impressive. The postcard, taken from steps away, aims to show the full body of the exhibit, did not fully show the paintings on either the chapel or the cow statue. 

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