Believe it or not, Egypt is awash in museums, some of which must surely qualify as being among the weirdest in the world. They were never intended that way, but we’re nonetheless glad they are. Some of the oddest and most interesting:

Conceived as a technical and scientific display for the 1933 International Railways Conference, held under the auspices of the benevolent King Fouad, the building is adjacent to the Cairo Railway Station. When it opened on January 15, 1933, it was the first museum of its kind in the Middle East.

The museum, still occupying the same premises, features 600 models and exhibits, in addition to impressive collections of old and new signaling devices, up-to-date statistical information and documents, maps and blueprints of Egyptian train stations, bridges and different types of rails.

Among the most interesting exhibits is a large collection of models tracking the development of the first locomotive in the world, built in 1783. Children should particularly enjoy climbing into the private railway wagon of Viceroy Said (r.1854–1863). Chances are people will board trains at the station all their lives without suspecting the existence of this delightful display.

The museum is not visible from the main thoroughfare, but station employees are only too happy to show the way to visitors. Fees are supposed to be nominal for Egyptians, but the attendant at the door charges according to his whim. A fee is also charged for cameras if one intends to take pictures, a good idea since the photographs in the catalogue are totally blurred. The guides are reasonably well acquainted with the exhibits, but speak only Arabic.

The catalogue sold at the door is of great help to identify the types and models of trains and understand their function. Ramses Street, Downtown, Cairo. Tel: (02) 576-3793. Open from 9am–2:30pm daily except Fridays and official holidays.

Another of King Fouad’s endeavors, located on the second floor of the Cairo General Post Office in Ataba, the Postal Museum was established in 1934 but only opened to the public in 1940. It is miraculously preserved in mint condition: Well-tended glass cases contain dozens of iconic little figures dressed in the various postal uniforms worn since mail was first distributed in Roman times. Old seals of different sizes and shapes fill two whole cases in a corner. Valuable collections of stamped envelopes from all over the world can be examined at leisure and framed pictures of postal carriers of different periods grace the walls.

One of the walls features a fascinating collage, representing the Sphinx with the sun behind it, made of thousands of identical stamps showing the same scene of the Sphinx and the sun — almost as impressive as David Robert’s representation of the same scene. Documents found in Tel El-Amarna are also displayed, as well as the first document forwarded by post in 2000 BC from a government scribe to his son — a letter emphasizing the importance of writing.

The staff is eager to please, and the guide is knowledgeable and enthusiastic. Tel: (02) 391-0049. Open from 10am–2pm daily except Fridays and official holidays.

Egypt’s version of Madame Tussaud’s, this neglected museum attempts to chronicle Egyptian history in wax, a substance that — when last we checked — melts when heated. Come hot summer months, even the strategically positioned box fans can’t stop the drip. Akhenaten sheds waxy tears, Cleopatra’s nose droops to her chin and sweaty severed limbs litter the floor. One unnamed princess wanders aimlessly in search of her missing head. The exhibits just keep getting better, culminating in a transvestite theology teacher and a zombie-like Nasser. Open daily 9am–3pm.

A small but interesting museum devoted to Egypt’s most sensational murders and assassinations (strangely, Sadat’s is overlooked). The challenge of fingerprinting is exemplified by bizarre photos of people with extra digits, fingerless amputees and a real-life Edward Scissorhands. Another exhibit showcases painted plaster molds of a gunned-down criminal’s foot, hand and grimacing face. Tel: (02) 512-2549, open daily 9am–4:30pm.

Definitely not for animal lovers. This macabre museum inside Manial Palace houses the hunting collection and fetishes of King Farouk’s uncle. Hundreds of mounted ibex heads — arranged papa-size to baby-size — line a long corridor with displays of ineptly stuffed birds, a hermaphroditic goat and a grotesque necklace made of the heads of tiny birds. There’s a table made from elephant ears, a bodyless ostrich and plenty of strange uses for animal feet. Tel: (02) 368-7495, open daily 9am–5pm.

The “1,000-lb grenade” (really an artillery shell) in the garden can be written off as bad labeling, but the scale models present alternate realities. Ghostly-white Nasser preaches to decapitated fans crushed beneath a fallen beam in one model. In another, soldiers spray the Bar-Lev line with cotton wool while their armless comrades struggle to ascend it. 23 July Street, Al Arab, Port Said. Tel: (066) 322-4657. Open Saturday to Thursday, 9am–2pm.

Tucked into a corner of Fort Qait Bey is a marine life museum that reeks of death. Stuffed and thickly lacquered marine life— most looking like they were sewn up by Dr. Frankenstein — fill the museum’s dark, damp corridors. A teetering whale skeleton threatens to collapse on visitors passing under for a peek into the foggy porthole aquarium tanks exhibiting fish, dead fish and no fish. Fort Qait Bey, El Anfoushi, Alexandria. Tel: (03) 480-1499. Open daily 9am–2pm.

Egypt’s own pioneer of kitsch has created a living museum on a reedy island in the Nile. The Pharaonic theme park is filled with crude replicas and scale models, but the highlight is a boat tour that ‘time warps’ into Ancient Egypt. Costumed actors recreating Pharaonic scenes rush to snuff out cigarettes and cut short jokes whenever a tourist boat rounds the corner. A small museum dedicated to the late president Anwar Sadat was recently inaugurated within the village’s walls. 3 Al-Bahr Al-Aa’zam St., Giza, Cairo. Tel: (02) 571-8675/6/7. Open daily 9am–5pm.

How horrific could a museum dedicated to agriculture really be? To find out, head upstairs to the mounted animal heads, hacked-up birds and stuffed croc gallery. Next door, the communicable diseases exhibit features giant models of mange, pickled diseased livers, a blown-up camel’s stomach, crucified guinea pigs and a hair ball the size of a grapefruit recovered from a horse’s intestine. Wezaret El-Zeraa St., Dokki, Cairo. Tel: (02) 337-2933 / 761-6785 / 761-6874, open Tuesday to Sunday from 9am–2pm. et