Ismailia Museum

Suez Canal


More than 4000 objects from Pharaonic and Graeco-Roman times are housed in this tiny but interesting museum on the eastern edge of town. The collection includes statues, scarabs, stelae and records of the first canal, built between the Bitter Lakes and Bubastis by the Persian ruler Darius. The highlight is a 4th-century mosaic depicting Phaedra sending a love letter to her stepson Hippolytus, while below Dionysus rides a chariot driven by Eros.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Suez Canal attractions

1. Garden of the Stelae

0.13 MILES

Just southwest of Ismailia's museum is a garden containing a rather forlorn little sphinx from the time of Ramses II (1279–1213 BC). You need permission…

2. De Lesseps’s House

0.71 MILES

Unfortunately, unless you're a guest of the Suez Canal Authority (the house is its private guesthouse), you can only admire the exterior of the one-time…