Chapter 81: Journey to the Cairo Museum

"It's really unexpected that the other party refuses to reveal our destination now." After Bernard finished the basic registration and left, Fan Meng whispered to Liang En.

As a former foreign legion soldier, Fan Meng's proficiency in French was quite impressive among non-native speakers of the language, so he naturally understood what Bernard had said just now.

"To be honest, this feels to me like when we were given no mission objectives before carrying out tasks back in the day. I hate this feeling of facing the unknown."

"That's the way it is," Liang En sighed helplessly, spreading his hands. "After all, the looting along the eastern and southern coasts of the Mediterranean Sea has become rampant, so we have to prevent some unfortunate situations."

In fact, the act of looting antiquities has a very ancient history. Even in ancient Egypt, some pharaohs and nobles had their freshly buried tombs robbed.

For some people in certain regions and cultural circles, excavating antiquities is a way of life, often something that the impoverished do out of necessity to survive.

To give a simple example, in war-torn areas where shops are closed, fields are burned, and there's simply no possibility of finding livelihoods elsewhere, a person might dig up some antiquities to sell in order to feed their family, and it's hard to blame them.

But the issue is that in many areas, such looting has turned into large-scale activities. In those chaotic regions, some individuals will completely pillage archaeological sites, and even destroy the remains in the end.

For instance, during Egypt's turmoil a few years ago, various looting activities suddenly increased. The number of looted holes in the ground increased significantly.

An even worse fact is that most of these stolen artifacts end up in auction houses in New York or London, or even openly for sale on platforms like eBay.

This situation indirectly indicates that behind many of these looting actions, it's not just about the locals trying to make money; it's part of the international illicit trade in cultural artifacts.

Because of reasons like these, formal archaeological teams like theirs have to choose to keep their research destinations hidden. This prevents those well-informed thieves from getting ahead, digging recklessly, and damaging the sites.

After spending a day in Paris, they took a direct flight to Cairo.

As the airline was Egyptian, the flight attendants all spoke English with an Egyptian accent. This led Liang En and the others to guess what the flight attendants on this plane were saying throughout the journey.

Due to the current winter season, the climate in Cairo, situated along the Mediterranean coast, was quite pleasant. After leaving the airport, it wasn't as scorching as they had imagined.

After everyone arrived at the suburban hotel with their luggage as previously arranged, Professor Jacques, the team leader, announced that they were free to go out and explore on their own. Of course, he also specifically advised everyone to go to crowded places and avoid wandering into the slums.

With a handful of Egyptian pounds exchanged on the first floor of the hotel, Liang En and Fan Meng headed out to the city center. Unlike in London, taxi drivers here didn't use meters at all.

Fortunately, the fare to the city center was only 3 euros from here, so Liang En didn't bother to haggle and simply agreed before getting into the car, heading straight to the downtown area.

Soon, the car was on a wide road leading to the city center. Despite lacking guardrails and being bordered by cement blocks, the well-maintained eight-lane road was impressive.

Especially since there were no speed limits or traffic lights on this road, the driver's speedy driving allowed them to reach the Cairo Liberation Square area, near the city center, in less than half of the expected time. The Cairo National Museum, their destination, was right there.

To be honest, Liang En would rather not save this bit of time. The drivers in Cairo were simply too reckless, swerving and accelerating wildly on straight roads.

Furthermore, the heavily armed checkpoints they encountered before entering the city made Liang En somewhat uncomfortable. Luckily, with their Asian appearances, they looked like tourists. They were only subjected to a metal detector scan without experiencing a full-body pat-down from gun-wielding policemen.

"Since we're here to study ancient Egyptian artifacts and sites, we must visit this place," Liang En pointed across the square at the luxurious two-story stone building, explaining to Fan Meng. "This is one of the world's top museums."

"I can tell," Fan Meng remarked, looking at the armed guards around the museum. "If this place weren't important, there wouldn't be so many armed guards."

The Cairo National Museum was surrounded by armed guards stationed every few steps. Inside, they discovered that getting in required passing through three checks, and they would be searched when leaving as well.

However, the ticket price here wasn't high; a single ticket cost only 100 Egyptian pounds, equivalent to 4.6 pounds. This ticket included access to the main exhibition hall and the Tutankhamun Gallery.

Interestingly, a price list beside the ticket counter stated in both English and Arabic that photography was prohibited inside the museum, but next to this it said, "Unless you purchase a photography ticket."

After buying two entrance tickets and one photography ticket, Liang En and Fan Meng entered the exhibition hall. As soon as they entered, they were captivated.

The ground floor was filled with enormous statues from various temples, some of which were visibly damaged and awaiting repair, while others were extremely valuable and unsuitable for outdoor display.

Compared to the spacious museums in London, the density of artifacts here made this museum seem more like a warehouse. Additionally, most of the sculptures were not only displayed without glass cases, but also without any protective barriers.

"Hey, looks like we're getting in touch with history," Fan Meng commented, not finding any signs forbidding touch, and since the staff in the vicinity didn't intervene, he simply reached out to touch the large statues displayed outside.

Meanwhile, Liang En carefully observed the representative sculptures and took numerous photos of the inscriptions above them. These inscriptions held significant value for him.

After spending nearly two hours thoroughly exploring the ground floor, the two moved on to the second floor. Unlike the large artifacts on the first floor, the second floor showcased smaller items, giving the impression of stepping from a warehouse into an antique shop.

The most eye-catching exhibit was the Tutankhamun Gallery, featuring the world-renowned golden mask placed prominently at its center. Besides this, the radiant gold artifacts displayed throughout the gallery left a sense of being surrounded by opulence.

However, Liang En and Fan Meng spent less time touring than most visitors, as they skipped the paid Royal Mummy Room. For individuals of their ethnicity, viewing the golden coffins was already their limit; the mummies were a step too far.

"I really don't understand why so many people are willing to pay to visit the embalming room," Fan Meng commented, watching a group of chattering American tourists entering the Royal Mummy Room with tickets. "Don't they find it inauspicious?"

"European people seem to be less superstitious about that," Liang En shrugged. "At least, from what I know, there are quite a few folks in London who not only collect mummies, but also keep them at home."