People's Assembly Museum

For the preservation of the rich Egyptian legacy of Parliamentary and political practice, the People's Assembly Museum was established inside the Parliament Building; a museum that ranks first among the Parliament museums of the world as it includes monumental copies of the oldest regimes, legislations, regulations and treaties in the history of man.

Components
The museum occupies two large halls of the building. In the first hall pieces displayed are organized starting from the Pharaonic age where there are copies of the most important legislations and documents along the Pharaonic era written on papyrus or inscribed in stone. There are also copies of the Coptic and Islamic ages in Egypt, then reaching to Modern Egypt in which modern ruling systems were deeply-rooted along two decades, i.e. ministry, parliament, local administration untill the July 23, 1952 Revolution, at last reaching current time.

As for the second half of the museum it contains oil paintings and statues of Egypt's rulers of the Mohamed Ali Dynasty. The second part of the hall has in its center the royal carriage of the King of Egypt before the Revolution, that used to carry him from Abdeen Palace to the Parliament hall.

There are also lots of documents and photos of the committee which set the 1923 Constitution - one of the important constitutions in the modern history of Egypt. There are also photos of all speakers of Parliament in Egypt in chronological order since Ismael Ragheb, the first President of the Advisory Council of Representatives in 1866, untill Dr. Ahmed Fathy Sorour, the present Speaker of the Egyptian People's Assembly, along with photos of the political leaders of Egypt in the modern age such as Ahmed Orabi, Mustafa Kamel, Mohamed Fareed, Saad Zagloul, Gamal Abdel-Nasser, Anwar El-Sadat, and Mohamed Hosni Mubarak.

Pharaonic lobby
Work in building the People's Assembly and the Pharaonic lobby annexed to began in 1922. The building was completed and opened in 1924. With the time passing, the building of the lobby needed restoration.

The Assembly, therefore, embarked upon repairing its architectural elements, artistic decorations and furniture. President Muhammad Hosni Mubarak the President of the Republic, inaugurated with Dr. Rifa't El Mahgoub, the Speaker of the People's Assembly attending, restoration works on October 20. 1987. These works were achieved with great care and precision.

The Pharaonic Lobby was built in the style of the columned hall (the hypostyle) found in Ancient Egyptian temples. It is built on columns which are similar in size and decoration. Each column has a pedestal in the form of interlacing leaves.

The capital of the column has the form of an unfolding papyrus flower. The columns are in plant form symbolizing the swamp plants which rose out of the waters. This represents the creation theory in one doctrine of the Ancient Egyptians. Papyrus columns like the ones in this lobby were used in the royal temples of the Fifth Dynasty in the period of the old kingdom at the sites of Abu Sir and Sakkara.

The floor of the Pharaonic Lobby is of red granite. The ceiling is divided into areas for illumination purposes.

The upper parts of the walls are embellished with three decorative ribbons representing the spreading wings of the protective deity Horus, the Bebdit, the god of the temple of Edfu. Between the two wings there is the gilded sun disc and the heads of two snakes. The wings are blue and green while the background is green and red. At the bottom there is a narrow decoration in the form of unfolded papyrus flowers.

Above the first ribbon, there is another one which represents two repeated heraldries (kartouches): the first is blue in colour and the second red. On each of them the name of King Fouad (during whose era the Pharaonic Lobby was built) is written in hieroglyphic.

The uppermost decorative ribbon which lies directly beneath the lobby ceiling is known as the cobra corpic -it is so called for its decorated drawings of the Egyptian cobra.

Those areas of the wall between the columns are decorated with drawings and inscriptions of gods, or with scenes from Ancient Egyptian tombs and temples. One of these drawings represents Hathur, the goddess of beauty. Another drawing is for the god Tut inside its room carrying in one hand the papyrus bundle, the symbol of writing; and in the other hand its reed pen to record legislations & laws. There are drawings of Osiris, the god of death and of Horus, the representation of god on earth. In the other pavilions, there are scenes taken from ancient tombs and temples: scenes of cultivation, ploughing and harvesting.

There are scenes of making bricks, of pottery making, of funerals, of birds in the Delta swamps and various industries. In addition, there are some pictures of the battle of Qadish: of Ramsis II and his chariot. There is also the famous hunting scene of Ramsis III, the original of which is on the walls of Habu temple, west of Luxor.

In the lobby, there is the statue of King Khefron from the Old Kingdom. There is also a wall clock which is unique in its kind and decoration. It has the form of a temple facade at the top of which there is the drawing of the winged deity Horus.

It is noteworthy that this lobby is the only Pharaonic lobby in Egypt. It is furnished with comfortable chairs and tables which are decorated with Pharaonic drawings of lotus flowers and stars. These drawings were quoted with great skill and preciseness from those found on pharaonic furniture. It is used as a lounge for the Assembly members.

Particular importance
The People's Assembly Museum ranks first among all the parliamentary museums of the world due to the quality and quantity of its acquisitions, including monumental transcriptions of the most ancient documents, laws and legislations and treaties, standing as evidence of the civilized heritage of the Egyptians. It was changed into a museum after supplying it by means of light and techniques of exhibition in the museums.

The first hall is situated at the right side which directs the way from the turning of the Pharaonic lobby and the second hall is situated at the left side of this parlor, each hall is divided into two parts.

In the first hall, all the acquisitions have been arranged, starting with the Pharaonic age passing through the Islamic age then the age before 23rd July Revolution until today.

The history of parliaments and constitutional laws starting from Pharaonic age uptil now is represented.