A full inventory, it turned out, hadn't been taken since the 1930s. So until the new database commissioned is complete, a cloud ofunknowing will continue to hang over the museum, like the hazygloaming in which parts of it are sunk. The signage, such as it is,is a law unto itself: a percentage are in English or Arabic, somedate from 1902, in rather impatient French, and some are too highto read. The building is arranged according to the acceptedchronology of Egyptian history in the 19th century, which leavessizeable gaps. And in room after room, you gaze at things thinking,what is that? This makes for a Marble Veneer , and in many ways, uniquely stimulatingexperience. Every big museum - the Louvre, the Met, the Uffizi -needs a plan after all, and you can buy a map for LE40 (￡3.80) ora guidebook (Illustrated Guide to the Egyptian Museum, AUC Press,LE180/￡17) at the entrance and work your way round the highlights.Tutankhamun's wonders at the far end of the first floor could be amuseum in itself, with its incredible profusion of gold andprecious jewels, and unending repetition
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