Confessions of a Travel Nerd: What to Learn Before You Visit Egypt

My wife finds the story behind this photo hilarious. We had stopped at the Ramesseum—one of my favorite spots in Luxor (though I’ll admit, it’s not for everyone). The man showing us around pointed to this wall and explained that the hieroglyphs inside the ovals were the names of pharaohs, but he apologized and said he couldn’t read them.

“No worries,” I said. “I can.”

And then I proceeded—without shame—to explain that both cartouches (the one to the left of us that begins with the sun disk of Ra and is followed by the jackal-headed scepter, and the one behind where I’m standing—repeated above and below) were different names for the same man: Ramesses II.

My wife stifled a laugh and shook her head. “Nerd.”

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I have a habit of getting a little hyper-focused on things. Combine that with a lifelong love of ancient history and ancient languages (I’ve got a degree in classics, focused on Latin and Greek), and it probably won’t surprise anyone that I decided to start learning to read hieroglyphs before visiting Egypt.

Now, I didn’t become fluent. Not even close. But I got to the point where I could sound out the names of pharaohs—though that’s trickier than it sounds, since each pharaoh comes with a whole entourage of names. I couldn’t have read a paragraph about the weather, but I could read a sentence about the harvest. I wouldn’t have known how to say “cool sandals,” but I could read, “Ramesses, given life and stability, lord of Upper and Lower Egypt… blah blah blah... the pharaoh is great. But also dead.”

And to be clear: even my wife, who loves me deeply and is generally supportive of my academic rabbit holes, did not find it particularly sexy when I stood in a tomb murmuring my way through the funerary rites in Middle Egyptian. So yes—very little practical value.

For most travelers, learning ancient Egyptian is probably more effort than it’s worth. But here’s the thing: a little learning can go a long way in Egypt. You don’t need to memorize lists of dynasties or know the Book of the Dead by heart, but learning a bit about ancient Egyptian gods, tomb architecture, or symbolic art can turn a hot walk through dusty ruins into something that actually clicks.

Yes, of course—you can hire a guide. And in many cases, you should. A good guide can absolutely help you understand what you’re looking at. But there are a few things to keep in mind:

1. You won’t always have a guide with you.

2. There’s something deeply satisfying about recognizing something on your own—spotting Anubis or Nut or a royal cartouche without being told.

3. When you do have a guide, your background knowledge can open up a deeper, richer conversation—and most guides appreciate when travelers show up with genuine curiosity and a bit of prep.

So in this post, I’ll share five types of things you might consider learning—not because you have to, but because they’ll make Egypt more alive, more textured, and more unforgettable. Each section includes just enough to get you started… and maybe tempt you into your own rabbit hole. Because let’s be honest—a little pre-trip nerding out never hurt anyone.

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Hieroglyphs and Symbolism

Let’s be honest: most travelers probably don’t want to spend their evenings buried in Middle Egyptian grammar textbooks before their trip. And that’s perfectly fine. A basic awareness of what you’re looking at can still go a long way.

It would require a lot of study to read whole tomb walls. It doesn't take that much to be able to pick out names and themes here and there.

First, a quick note: the symbols used in ancient Egyptian writing are called hieroglyphs. Not “hieroglyphics.” That’s the adjective. (“Look at this hieroglyphic text,” is fine. But “I’m learning hieroglyphics,” will make the Egyptologists wince.)

Also, the writing system is not made up of characters like Chinese. Egyptian hieroglyphs are actually based on sounds, more like an alphabet. That said, it's not a strict one-letter-one-symbol alphabet like we’re used to. Some signs represent single consonants, others represent two or three. And there are lots of symbols that work more like emojis—conveying meaning rather than sound.

If you want to go deeper, I highly recommend The Great Courses class Decoding the Secrets of Egyptian Hieroglyphs. It’s taught by a real Egyptologist and strikes a good balance between academic and accessible. But even if you skip the coursework, there are a few recurring glyphs you’ll see over and over in tombs and temples that are worth learning to spot:

Was, djed, and ankh are often repeated on tomb walls

𓋹 Ankh – “Life”

You’ll see this everywhere. It looks like a looped cross. The ankh symbolizes life—both earthly and eternal. Gods are often depicted handing an ankh to the deceased, as if offering them divine breath or vitality.

𓊽 Djed – “Stability”

This pillar-like symbol represents stability and endurance. It’s associated with the god Osiris and sometimes interpreted as his spine. If you see a column with stacked horizontal lines—like a spine made of bricks—that’s the djed.

𓌀  Was – “Power” or “Dominion”

This long staff with a forked bottom and animal head on top shows up in the hands of gods and kings alike. It’s a symbol of power, control, and divine authority—essentially the ancient Egyptian version of a scepter.

Look at the pillar with hieroglyphs to the left of my wife in the above image. You should be able to spot ankh, djed, and was. See the triangle to the left of ankh? In this case, that means "given." And see the disk right below the djed? That represents the god Ra. Together, these glyphs read "given life, stability, and power by the god Ra." This is a very common sentence in tombs and mortuary temples. Learn it, and you will spot it frequently.

𓎟 Neb–the "Lord" Bowl

This is a little glyph that carries a lot of weight: the bowl. It looks like a simple, shallow dish— 𓎟 —but it’s actually the word "neb", which means “lord” or “master.”

You’ll often see it paired with other symbols to form royal titles. For example, in the phrase "Lord of the Two Lands" (Upper and Lower Egypt), the bowl is paired with the reed and bee (see the next glyphs). Think of it like the ancient Egyptian version of a job title prefix—Lord of This, Lord of That, etc.

Once you can pick out this modest-looking glyph, you'll start noticing just how often it’s used to establish authority. It’s the “His Majesty” of hieroglyphs, and spotting it is like seeing the opening chord of every royal sentence.

Note the lord bowls beneath each of the symbols for upper and lower Egypt. This is proclaiming the pharaoh as lord of all Egypt.

𓇓𓆤 "Upper and Lower Egypt"

One phrase you'll start seeing all over the place—especially inside cartouches—is the title “Lord of Upper and Lower Egypt.” It was one of the pharaoh's standard royal titles, and once you learn to spot the glyphs for it, you’ll start feeling a bit like a codebreaker at every temple wall.

This title usually appears using two specific symbols:

• 𓇓: A reed or sedge plant, symbolizing Upper Egypt (southern Egypt, because the Nile flows north).

• 𓆤: A bee, representing Lower Egypt (the Nile Delta region).

• 𓆥 Pharaohnic titles often occur like this, with two Lord Bowls beneath the reed and bee. Note that the bowl, reed, and bee can occur in other formations as well. If you see these three glyphs together, read them as "lord of upper and lower Egypt."

Together, Lord bowl + reed + bee = King of Upper and Lower Egypt—a visual shorthand for the pharaoh’s rule over a unified land. It shows up in nearly every royal inscription, so if you can spot the reed and the bee, you can start identifying pharaonic power statements before your guide even opens their mouth.

Sure, it’s not the kind of skill that will impress anyone at a party. But when you're standing inside a tomb surrounded by divine titles and glowing hieroglyphs, and you can mutter, “Ah yes, lord of Upper and Lower Egypt,” to no one in particular... you’ll feel strangely triumphant.

𓆣 Scarab – “To Become” or “To Transform”

The scarab beetle—𓆣—was more than just an insect to the ancient Egyptians. It symbolized transformation, rebirth, and creation. The word for scarab is kheper, which also means “to become”, “to evolve”, or “to come into being.” You’ll see it all over tombs and temple walls.

The image to the right is one of th emany names of Tutankhamen. It is his "throne name" and it is pronounced Nebkheperure. Note that this name is read bottom to top (the order of the glyphs is kind of a choose-your-own-adventure thing--you don't always read bottom to top). We start with a glyph we have already seen: neb. The scarab has three lines underneath it, which makes it plural, changing it from "kheper" to "kheperu." At the top is the sun disk, which is read "re." Easy!

Back to the scarab, it’s also deeply associated with the god Khepri, a sun deity who rolls the morning sun across the sky—just like a scarab beetle rolling its dung ball. Charming, right? But also cosmically important.

So when you see a scarab carved above a royal name or marching across a ceiling in a tomb, you’re not just seeing a bug—you’re seeing a symbol of divine becoming, of life renewed, and of the king’s eternal journey through the cosmos.

𓇳 Sun Disk (Ra)

A circle, often with rays or a cobra, that represents the sun god Ra. It’s a shorthand for solar power, divine protection, and often a way to recognize that you’re dealing with a god of cosmic importance. Ra was also associate with Pharaoh, so you will see the Ra disk in many pharaonic names. Today, we read this glyph as "ra" or "re."

Cartouche (Name Ring)

A cartouche is the oval border that wraps around a pharaoh’s name (like the one around Nebkheperure above). Once you learn to spot it, you’ll start seeing it everywhere—and it’s weirdly satisfying to be able to say, “Ah, that’s a royal name,” even if you can’t read it yet.

If you wish to be able to identify the pharaoh by their cartouche name, there are online charts you can download and carry with you to look it up.

 Final Thoughts

You don’t need to become a full-blown Egyptologist to appreciate ancient Egyptian writing—learning to recognize just a few glyphs can add a whole new dimension to your trip. There’s something deeply satisfying about spotting an ankh, a djed pillar, or the glyph for “lord” and knowing what it means. It turns temple walls and tomb paintings from mysterious art into messages you can partially decode. That small spark of recognition creates a connection—not just with the monument, but with the people who carved it thousands of years ago. And really, that’s the point: to move beyond just seeing and start understanding. Even a little goes a long way.

And just imagine it: someone wrote something down thousands of years ago . . . and now you can read it. Communication directly from them to you. That can feel like a little miracle.

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Temples and tombs: architecture and layout—how to read a tomb or temple

In ancient Egypt, geography wasn’t just physical—it was symbolic. The Nile ran through the land like a cosmic spine, and its two banks were charged with meaning. The east bank, where the sun rises, was the land of the living: the domain of temples, worship, offerings, and public ritual. The west bank, where the sun sets, represented death, transformation, and the journey to the afterlife.

This symbolic geography shaped every aspect of ancient Egyptian sacred architecture. In Luxor, temples like Karnak and Luxor Temple dominate the east bank, while the west is home to the Valley of the Kings and Queens. The same is true in Giza, where the pyramids and tombs of the dead lie west of the Nile. So when you walk into a temple or descend into a tomb, you're not just crossing a threshold—you’re stepping into a cosmic map, where the architecture mirrors the Egyptian understanding of life, death, and rebirth.

How to Read an Ancient Egyptian Temple

Walking into an ancient Egyptian temple is like walking through a living myth. These monumental spaces weren’t built for congregations like modern churches or mosques. Instead, temples were cosmic machines—designed to maintain the divine order of the universe (what the Egyptians called ma’at) by connecting the human world with the gods.

The wife among the columns at Karnak's Great Hypostyle Hall.

The layout of most temples followed a consistent symbolic plan. You entered from the east, where the sun rises—symbolizing life and renewal—and moved deeper into progressively darker and more sacred spaces. The outer courtyards and towering pylons were for processions and rituals that the public might witness. But as you moved further inward—through hypostyle halls filled with columns, into sanctuaries—the space narrowed and darkened. Only priests and pharaohs could enter the holiest areas, where they performed daily rituals to nourish and honor the gods. This inward movement mirrored both the passage of the sun through the sky and the transition from the everyday world into the divine.

One of the architectural marvels of these temples is the hypostyle halls. At Karnak, the Great Hypostyle Hall contains 134 enormous columns that once held up a massive roof. Today, these columns remain a jaw-dropping sight—and their scale makes sense when you realize why they had to be so large and so numerous. Ancient Egyptians didn’t have access to arches or reinforced concrete. If they wanted a big stone roof to stay up, they needed a forest of stone trunks to hold it.

Combining elements: in the Great Hypostyle Hall, reading a cartouche (which is another Ramesses)

But these columns weren’t just functional—they were symbolic. The vertical strength they displayed echoed the djed pillar glyph, which represented stability and endurance, traits linked to both the cosmos and the pharaoh himself. Pharaoh held up Egypt (Kemet, as Pharaoh would have referred to it) the way the pillars in the Great Hypostale Hall held up the roof.

Temples were spiritual engines powered by ritual. The priests performed daily offerings—washing and dressing statues of the gods, burning incense, chanting hymns—actions believed to sustain the gods themselves. The pharaoh, as divine intermediary, was central to this system. He didn’t usually perform the rituals personally, but his image was everywhere: carved on walls, making offerings, defeating enemies, proving his right to rule.

For the average ancient Egyptian, temples were not off-limits, but access was limited. Most people interacted with temples from the outside—leaving votive offerings, asking for blessings, or joining public festivals that spilled into the courtyards and streets. So while the sacred core of the temple was hidden, its presence was deeply felt in daily life. Temples were not just religious centers but also economic hubs, employing workers, controlling land, and managing food storage.

As you walk through the remains of temples like Karnak or Luxor, try to imagine them in their full glory: painted in brilliant colors, echoing with chanting, thick with incense. And as you move from bright courtyards into shadowy chambers, remember—you’re retracing a ritual journey, one meant to move from the ordinary toward the eternal.

Reading an Ancient Egyptian Tomb

If the temples of Egypt represent life—places where gods were honored and divine order (ma’at) upheld through daily rituals—then the tombs on the west bank are monuments to death, and more specifically, to what the Egyptians believed came after.

Unlike temples, tombs were not public spaces. They weren’t gathering places or political tools (well . . . maybe the pyramids were, but that was just a small subset of pharaohs). They were deeply personal. Every image, every spell, every offering painted on the walls had a job to do. These were not decorative murals. They were functional tools to help the dead navigate the treacherous journey through the underworld and emerge into eternal life.

This is true whether you're walking through a carved-out cliff tomb in the Valley of the Kings, ducking through side chambers of the Tombs of the Nobles, or winding your way up through the tight passages of a pyramid. The architecture may differ, but the purpose is consistent: help the deceased pass the judgment of the gods and live comfortably forever.

The Weighing of the Heart

One of the most important concepts to understand when reading a tomb is the Egyptian belief in ma’at—the cosmic balance of truth, justice, and order. It’s personified by the goddess Ma’at, often depicted with a feather on her head. In the afterlife, the deceased's heart would be weighed against Ma’at’s feather. This was not symbolic. This was the test.

You’ll likely see this scene on tomb walls: the god Anubis (with the head of a jackal) guiding the deceased to the scale, where their heart is weighed. If the heart is heavier than the feather—meaning the deceased lived unjustly—it would be devoured by a monstrous creature named Ammut (part lion, part crocodile, part hippo). If the heart balanced or was lighter, the deceased could move on to a blissful afterlife. Think of it as judgment day with paperwork and symbolic animals.

Image public domain image courtesy of the British Museum; taken from the papyrus the Book of the Dead of Ani.

The above image depicts the weighing of the heart. The one who had died, a man named Ani, and his wife are on the left. Note Anubis, with the jackal head, kneeling by the balance scale. On the left side of the scale is Ani's heart. On the right side, the feather of ma'at. The other two figures on the left side of the scale are goddesses witnessing the weighing (witnesses will vary from image to image--note in this case, a large portion of the Egyptian pantheon sits above the action). On the right side, the god with the ibis head is Thoth, the one who faithfully records the results of weighings. Behind Thoth is Ammut, the creature that will devour the souls of those who fail the weighing.

Tomb Layout and Decoration

Path descending into the tomb of Ramesses V and VI, Valley of the Kings

Tombs range from humble pit graves to sprawling complexes. The ones you’ll see in places like the Valley of the Kings were meant for royalty and high officials. These were not places the average Egyptian would ever enter, even in death.

The layout usually begins with a descending passage or series of halls, sometimes with stairs or ramps, often lined with scenes from funerary texts—like the Book of the Dead, the Amduat, or the Book of Gates. These were essentially guidebooks for the afterlife. Each passage might show gods, monsters, and barriers that the deceased needed to pass through by knowing the right spells or names. The walls were cheat sheets to eternity.

At the end lies the burial chamber. This is where the sarcophagus would be placed, and sometimes, a niche with statues of the deceased or deities. Look around: you’ll often see the goddess Nut arched across the ceiling, her body covered in stars, swallowing the sun each night and giving birth to it each morning—symbolizing the hope of rebirth.

Shattered sarcophagus in the tomb of Ramesses V and VI

In pyramids like those at Saqqara or Dahshur, the layout can feel more maze-like, and the art sparser. But if you're lucky enough to visit one with surviving inscriptions—like the pyramid of Unas—you’ll see that even without colorful wall paintings, the messages carved into the stone were every bit as powerful.

What to Look For

• Names and Cartouches: See if you can read the pharaoh’s name. Often it appears in an oval shape called a cartouche. If you’ve learned even a few hieroglyphs, this can be a fun way to engage more deeply.

• Protective Deities: Keep an eye out for Anubis, Osiris, Isis, Nut, Horus, and Thoth (see below for some tips on identifying Egyptian gods). Each plays a role in the afterlife journey.

• Offerings and Rituals: Scenes of family members or priests bringing food, drink, and incense weren’t just sentimental—they were necessary. The deceased needed these offerings to stay nourished in the next world.

• Colors and Carvings: If the tomb is well preserved, you’ll notice vibrant reds, blues, and golds. These weren’t just pretty—they had meaning. Blue for the heavens and water. Red for life and energy. Gold for the divine. In older pyramid tombs, carvings often replaced color—but the ideas behind them were the same.

Final Thought

Temples glorify the divine. Tombs glorify the human soul—if it lived rightly. From the pyramid texts carved into stone in the Old Kingdom to the vibrantly painted books of the dead on New Kingdom tomb walls, Egypt’s message was clear: eternity isn’t guaranteed. It has to be earned.

The more you learn, the more these spaces speak. And even if you’re just there to admire the artwork or marvel at the scale, there’s something quietly humbling about standing in a place where someone, thousands of years ago, tried to secure their forever.

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Recognizing the Egyptian Gods: A Traveler’s Guide to the Pantheon

You don’t need to memorize the Pyramid Texts or chant ancient hymns to appreciate Egyptian religion, but learning a bit about the gods will dramatically enhance your visit. These divine figures were central to every aspect of life and death. And while ancient Egyptian theology is wonderfully complex (some gods merge, transform, or contradict each other depending on the time and place), there’s a core group you’ll see over and over. Once you know how to spot them, you’ll start to “read” the walls around you.

Here are the key players to know:

Amun (or Amun-Ra)

Amun-Ra is the second in the line of gods at the top of this pillar. Ra (the next in this post) leads the way,

• Role: King of the gods during the New Kingdom, and patron of Karnak. Later merged with Ra to become Amun-Ra, a solar god of immense power.

• How to Spot Him: Human figure with a tall double-plumed headdress. Often shown seated on a throne or receiving offerings. If merged with Ra, he may have a sun disk too.

Ra (or Re)

• Role: Sun god and supreme deity in earlier dynasties. Travels across the sky each day and through the underworld at night.

• How to Spot Him: Falcon-headed man wearing a sun disk encircled by a cobra. Sometimes shown sailing a boat across the sky or into the underworld.

The Tomb of Nefertari. Ra is on our far right. Khepri, with the scarab head, is to the left of the door. The vulture is probably Nekhbet, who represents, among other things, motherhood. The goddess in the middle is simply known as Michelle

Horus

Horus, with the head of a falcon and the double crown of Egypt

Role: God of kingship and the sky. Son of Isis and Osiris. Every living pharaoh was considered a manifestation of Horus.

• How to Spot Him: Falcon or falcon-headed man, often wearing the double crown of Upper and Lower Egypt. Sometimes shown protecting the king.

NOTE: It can be easy to mix up Ra and Horus, since they can both appear as men with bird heads. You can usually discern the difference by looking at the head gear: there is generally a red sun disk over the head of Ra, while Horus usually wears the double crown of upper and lower Egypt.

Osiris. The green (or black) skin is the easiest clue to look for

Osiris

• Role: God of the afterlife, resurrection, and judge of the dead. The model for every mummified pharaoh.

• How to Spot Him: Mummified body with green or black skin, holding a crook and flail across his chest, wearing the white atef crown with two ostrich feathers.

Isis

• Role: Wife of Osiris, mother of Horus, and goddess of magic and protection. She helped resurrect Osiris and is a key figure in funerary rites.

• How to Spot Her: Woman with a throne on her head (𓊨). Often shown with wings outstretched or nursing Horus.

Isis. The symbol on her head is the hieroglyph for throne

Anubis

Anubis. Note that in this image he is carrying a staff that is the was (power) glyph, and holding ankh (life)

• Role: God of mummification and guardian of tombs. Guides the dead through the afterlife and oversees the weighing of the heart.

• How to Spot Him: Jackal-headed man (or sometimes just a full black jackal). Often shown with a scale or attending to a wrapped body.

NOTE: Anubis is not the only ancient Egyptian god with a jackal head. Wepwawet also has a jackal's head, and, like Anubis, often takes the role of a guide for mortals. He is closely associated with Anubis in the afterlife, and if you don't learn to read the names of the different gods, there isn't a good way to distinguish these two. Duamutef also has a basic jackal head. He is less commonly depicted, but he does show up in funerary rites and is often depicted on canopic jars (the jars that internal organs were stored when a body was mummified). If you are in a tomb and see a man with the head of a jackal, just guess it is Anubis. It might be Wepwawet, but if so, he is basically playing the same role as Anubis.

Thoth

• Role: God of wisdom, writing, and time. The divine scribe who records the outcome of the heart-weighing ceremony.

• How to Spot Him: Ibis-headed man, often holding a scribe’s palette and stylus. Sometimes depicted as a baboon, especially in lunar contexts.

Ma’at

• Role: Goddess of truth, justice, and cosmic balance. Her feather determines a soul’s fate in the afterlife.

• How to Spot Her: Woman with a feather on her head. In judgment scenes, the feather itself may appear on one side of a scale.

Hathor

• Role: Goddess of love, joy, and motherhood—also connected to the afterlife. A welcoming figure for the dead.

• How to Spot Her: Woman with a sun disk nestled between cow horns. Sometimes appears as a full cow or with cow ears. Often shown greeting the deceased at tomb entrances.

On this pillar in the tomb of Nefertari, Hathor gives life (ankh) to Nefertari. Notice those three glyphs we saw way back at the beginning of this post, ankh, djed, and was (life, stability, and power) are written on the lower right side of the pillar

Sekhmet

The lion-headed Sekhmet, carrying an ankh

Role: Fierce lioness goddess of war and healing. A protector in times of crisis.

• How to Spot Her: Lion-headed woman, usually with a sun disk on her head. Looks intense. She means business.

Ptah

Ptah. Shaved head and mummified body. And our three main glyphs (was, djed, and ankh) are all represented in his staff. Can you find them all?

• Role: Creator god and patron of craftsmen. Associated with Memphis.

• How to Spot Him: Mummified man with a shaved head, holding a scepter that combines the ankh (life), djed (stability), and was (power) symbols.

Nut

• Role: Sky goddess who swallows the sun each night and gives birth to it each morning. Often found on tomb ceilings because she symbolized rebirth.

• How to Spot Her: Woman arched over the scene (often on ceilings), with stars dotting her body. Usually stretches from one end of the sky to the other.

Nut is often dramatically depicted on the ceilings of tombs. She swallows the sun on one side of the room, and rebirths it on the other

Set (or Seth)

Seth, with a was staff and an ankh

Role: God of chaos, storms, and violence. Brother (and murderer) of Osiris. A complicated figure—sometimes evil, sometimes necessary.

• How to Spot Him: Animal-headed figure with a long curved snout and square ears. His animal doesn’t exist in real life (it is often referred to as the “Set animal"), which fits his otherworldly nature.

You don’t have to memorize them all. But with just this short guide, you’ll begin to recognize faces in the crowds of gods carved into tomb and temple walls. And there’s something satisfying about spotting Anubis on a lintel or Nut stretched across a ceiling and knowing exactly who’s keeping watch.

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Museum Prep: The Key to Unlocking the Glass Cases

Let me put this plainly: if you walk through the Egyptian Museum in Cairo without a bit of preparation, you will absolutely walk right past some of the most important artifacts in world history without realizing it. You may stand next to greatness—and not even know to take a second look.

The Narmer Palette. The real thing is there behind glass, and a replica is right beside it, out in the open for close examination. The Egyptian Museum, Cairo

Take the Narmer Palette, for instance. It’s not much larger than a dinner plate. It’s not gold or inlaid with jewels. But if you know just a bit of context, it becomes one of the most fascinating items in a museum full of jaw-dropping objects. The Narmer Palette is maybe the earliest historical document in the world(!!!)—depicting what many believe to be the unification of Upper and Lower Egypt under King Narmer. You can literally see the double crown appear. It's politics, art, propaganda, and divine kingship—all carved in slate, 5,000 years ago. And yes, it’s just sitting in a case that people barely glance at on their way to Tutankhamun’s treasure.

Another example? Djoser’s statue at the Imhotep Museum in Saqqara. You could walk right by this statue and not realize it is the oldest (!!!) known life-sized Egyptian statue. Stone gaze. Regal stillness. One of the earliest examples of pharaonic art—and it’s signed by Imhotep, history’s first named architect.

Why Museum Prep Matters

But this isn’t just about historical enrichment. This might actually be museum survival. Egyptian museums often overflow with treasures, but they are not necessarily overflowing with explanations. Labels are frequently sparse, outdated, or missing entirely. Some objects have a typed card from 1974. Some have nothing at all. So unless you're traveling with an Egyptologist in your pocket, you’ll want to arrive with at least a mental cheat sheet.

Where to Learn

Start with some background info so you know what you want to look for. Here are a few resources (in descending order of commitment required) to help you brush up before your visit—or even during a museum stroll:

• The Great Courses – History of Ancient Egypt by Dr. Bob Brier. Light on visuals, but gold for context. The Great Courses even has a class with a series of videos taking you through many of Egypts main attractions.

• The American Research Center in Egypt (ARCE) often posts online lectures and artifact guides.

• Khan Academy’s free “Introduction to Ancient Egypt” series – includes short videos on major artifacts like the Rosetta Stone and Narmer Palette.

• Or just download a guide from someone like Rick Steves—the museum sections can help you spot what matters.

After that, just start googling for highlights of whatever museums you plan to visit. Find what other people thought was interesting and then make you own list. Bonus: you can now think of all museum visits as a scavenger hunt!

 

Final Thought

The real power of Egyptian museums isn’t just in the gold and grandeur. It’s in the quiet thrill of recognition—of seeing something not because it’s shiny, but because it means something. That only happens when you bring some meaning with you.

So do a little prep, pick a few artifacts to learn about ahead of time, and give yourself a shot at one of the best kinds of travel magic: when the ancient world suddenly feels like it was waiting just for you to show up and notice.

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History: The World's Deepest Rabbit Hole

Of course you should learn a little history before coming to Egypt. You're about to walk through the most important open-air history museum on the planet. But where do you even begin? Egyptian history spans over 3,000 years before the Romans showed up. We are closer in time to Cleopatra than Cleopatra was to the pyramid builders!

There are enough dynasties, invasions, gods, and golden masks to keep a research team busy for a lifetime. And there’s no shortage of options—endless books, binge-worthy documentaries, entire college courses available online.

But here’s the thing: you don’t have to become an Egyptologist to make history come alive. Just focus on something you find interesting.

Below are a couple of themed rabbit holes—just areas of curiosity you can start Googling, stay up late obsessing over, or dive into with a book (if you want to be all formal and wear tweed while reading, I guess). You won’t find definitive answers. That’s kind of the point. We don’t know much. But some very smart people have made some very good guesses. These are just two examples of the kind of historical focus you could take to enhance your time in Egypt. You could focus on these topics, or choose your own focus, and jump in!

How Did They Do That?

Sure, there’s the pyramids—massive feats of engineering built without cranes, forklifts, or even iron tools. How did they build those things? You can find answers ranging from meticulously documented accounts in academic journals to Discovery channel specials suggesting that it was most definitely aliens.

But there are also a host of other engineering feats to wonder about.

Take obelisks: enormous, single blocks of granite quarried (mostly in Aswan), hauled across hundreds of kilometers, perfectly carved with hieroglyphs, and somehow—somehow—erected into place. Seriously, how did they get those things upright?

And if they cracked mid-process, you threw the whole thing out and started over.

There are lots of different opinions on how exactly this process worked. Diving in means that when you stand in front of an obelisk in Luxor, or Cairo, you have a whole different, deeper experience than just going, "Wow! Big!"

An obelisk stands over Karnak

Or look into:

• How papyrus was made from reeds and used to record everything from royal decrees to shopping lists.

• How mummification preserved the body (and how we now preserve the preservation).

• How they managed irrigation and farming using nilometers and canal systems long before modern machinery.

These aren’t just technical puzzles. They’re reminders that we are not the first clever humans to figure things out with limited tools and unlimited ambition.

How Did They Find That?

You can also study the people who study the past. That’s right: history about the history of history.

There’s something irresistible about the thrill of discovery. Want to know how archaeologists locate tombs that were intentionally hidden thousands of years ago? You’ll soon be neck-deep in stories about ancient booby traps, modern remote sensing, and grave robbers who may have gotten there first—whether in 1300 BCE or 1897 CE.

And it only gets better:

• Napoleon’s 1798 campaign in Egypt included not just soldiers but a literal army of scientists and historians. That invasion kicked off the modern field of Egyptology.

• Learn about how the Rosetta Stone was found (by Napoleon’s troops), deciphered (by Jean-François Champollion), and ended up in London (that part’s... complicated).

• Or go full CSI with studies of King Tut’s death, using CT scans and toxicology reports to test theories ranging from infected leg wounds to malaria to good old-fashioned royal intrigue via poison.

This branch of research has its own tangled history—one that raises big questions about cultural ownership, colonialism, and whether some archaeologists should be considered preservers or plunderers (spoiler: sometimes both). Whether you are interested in ethical considerations, or the simple act of finding something that someone thousands of years ago designed to never be found, this is a fascinating subject.

Final Thought

Whether you’re into how they built the pyramids or how we figured out what they were for, or something entirely different, there’s a path in Egyptian history for every kind of curious traveler. You don’t have to be an expert. You just have to pick a thread and start pulling.

But fair warning: you may never stop.

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If all you want to do is stand in front of the pyramids of Giza and say, “Wow! Big!”—well, that’s valid. I mean, they are big. And if you prefer to just hire a guide every step of the way and let them do the talking—also totally fine. But for me, I want to arrive already loaded with enough curiosity and context to feel like I’ve forged some kind of connection to the place I’m standing in. I still marveled at the sheer size of the Great Pyramid. I still listened to guides explain things I didn’t know. But I also geeked out over long-debated theories about how it was built, why it was built, what the imagery carved into the surrounding temples meant, and which royal cartouches I could pick out on my own. Because travel, at its best, is about connection—and sometimes that comes through the stories people etched in stone a long, long time ago.