Surprising Places to See Ancient Egypt In London

Yes, there are some great London museums where you can see Ancient Egypt in all its splendour. The British Museum, The Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology and The Horniman Museum to name three.

But, did you know there are some surprising places you can see Ancient Egypt on the streets of London? Let me show you.

1. Cleopatra’s Needle

When I first found out about Cleopatra’s Needle, it blew my mind a little bit that a 3500 year old Ancient Egyptian obelisk stood on the bank of the Thames. First erected in the ancient city of Heliopolis in 1450 BC, it now stands on the Victoria Embankment. That makes it the oldest man-made object on the streets of London.

It was presented by the ruler of Egypt to Britain to commemorate Nelson’s victory in the Nile in 1798. It is one of a pair, the other being in Central Park, New York.

Despite having been gifted in 1819 it was not brought over and erected until 1878 due to shipping costs- classic stingy Brits. The ship that brought over the 180 tonne giant was specifically designed and looked like a huge iron cylinder.

It did not have a trouble free journey to say the least. At one point it was cut off from the steamship pulling it and floated, lost, in the Bay of Biscay for 5 days before being found again. Sadly 6 crew members lives were lost trying to recover it and they are commemorated on a plaque at the base of the needle.

In typical grandiose kooky Victorian fashion the two sphinxes were added, designed by George Vulliamy, and a time capsule was buried underneath the base. It contained, among other items: a baby’s bottle, hairpins, photographs of the ‘best looking English woman of the day’ (hilarious) and a box of cigars.

Along this stretch of the embankment you’ll also find camel and sphinx benches. See my Beasts On The Banks self-guided walk.

2. Sotheby’s

If Cleopatra’s Needle is the oldest man-made object then this is the oldest sculpture on the streets of London. Over the entrance to Sotheby’s on New Bond Street you will see the bust of the Egyptian lioness warrior goddess, Sekhmet. You would be forgiven for thinking this was a replica. It is actually from 1320 BC!

How it came to be there no one is quite sure, but the story goes that it was sold for £40 in the mid 1800’s at an auction. The buyer apparently never turned up, so it stayed as an unofficial mascot. It is now thought to be worth around £3.5 million.

3. Richmond Avenue

After Nelson’s victory over Napoleon on the Nile in 1798, Brits went mad for anything Egyptian.

This can be seen on Richmond Avenue in Islington. It is an otherwise very nice but fairly standard North London street bar the fact that many of the houses are guarded by mini sphinxes and obelisks. These were installed in 1841 at the height of Egypt-mania by the surveyor of the Thornhill estae, Joseph Kay.

4. Carreras Cigarette Factory

This very striking art-deco building was built in 1926 during Egypt-mania 2.0, brought on predominantly by the discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb in 1922.

To celebrate the opening of the factory, Egyptian chariot races were held in the road!

The building started life as a cigarette factory and is now the ASOS headquarters.

Looking for more of London’s living history? Click below to have a browse!