Egyptian Museum
It is one of the largest and most famous international museums, located in the heart of the Egyptian capital “Cairo” North side For Tahrir Square. It dates back to a year 1835 And its location was then At Azbakeya Park , where it included a large number of various antiquities, and then its contents were transferred to the second exhibition hall With Salah El-Din Castle , until the French Egyptologist thought August Mariette Who was working The Louvre In the opening of a museum displaying a group of monuments on the Nile shore at Bulaq , when these ruins were exposed to flooding, they were transferred to a palace attachment Khedive Ismail Giza , then the Egyptologist came Gaston Maspero A year was opened 1902 in the era of Khedive Abbas Hilmi II The new museum building is in its current location in the heart Cairo.
The Egyptian Museum is one of the first museums in the world , which was established to be in a museum unlike museums that preceded it , The museum contains more than180 thousand artifacts, the most important of which are archaeological collections found in the tombs of kings and the royal entourage of the middle family in Dahshur Public 1894The museum now includes the world’s largest archaeological collection that reflects all stages of ancient Egyptian history.
Origination and establishment
August Mariette (Auguste Ferdinand François Mariette)
(February 11, 1821 – January 18, 1881). The founder of the Egyptian Museum in Cairo is a world of Egyptologists who was greatly credited with preserving the antiquities of Egypt, later known as Mariette Pasha.
Monsieur Mariette came to Egypt in the year 1850, delegated by the French government to search for some relics and manuscripts, so he explored the ruins of Saqqara, and conducted great excavations until the vault of the calves was revealed, and he was working in exploration alone, without having an official link to the government, He was transported to France a lot of what was found of antiquities and archaeological paintings, and he continued to work in this way until Saeed Pasha in 1858 made him the commander of the works of the ordinary in Egypt, and that was the endeavor of Monsieur Ferdinan Delips, a friend of Said intimate, and Mariette made efforts in excavating the antiquities and antiquities and was transferred to Stores prepared for her in Boulaq. When Saeed died, Mariette received a great support from Ismail. The Khedive ordered him to repair and expand the Bulaq stores, and opened them at a bus official party on October 18, 1863, and the House of Adayat continued to progress thanks to Mariette’s perseverance and Ismail’s support for him for a period of wisdom.
Gaston Camille, Charles Maspero Gaston Maspero French scientist among the most famous Egyptologists
Gaston Maspero was born in the year 23 June Public 1846M in a Paris For Italian parents who emigrated to me France , Maspero showed special interest in history when he was in school, and at the age of fourteen he was interested in the language Hieroglyphs.
Maspero won the general competition for literature when he was thirteen years old, and he joined High school teachers
(école normale supérieure) He met the archaeologist August Mariette Who gave him two hieroglyphic texts recently discovered by Mariette and they were difficult to study, but Maspero was able to translate it in only eight days, which impressed Mariette, and Maspero studied Egyptology alone by informing him of the Egyptian antiquities preserved in Louvre Museum And the inscriptions of the Egyptian obelisk in the field of Concorde, and his name began to be known in scientific circles after his translation of the Mariette texts..
College scholars de France admired him and thought about occupying a chair of Egyptology in it, but for his young age at that time they decided to give him the title of assistant professor for two days, after which he occupied the chair, and that was in the year 1874M
His coming to Egypt :
Maspero was fluent in Arabic and had not yet visited Egypt until he had the opportunity when he fell ill Mariet Director of the Egyptian Antiquities Authority, which he established
Maspero came to Egypt in a 5 January A year 1881M And that was thirteen days before Mariette’s death, and he took the position of director of the Egyptian Antiquities Authority and the secretary of the Egyptian Museum of Antiquities in Bulaq and was thirty-four years old.
Maspero completed the excavation by Mariette in Saqqara He expanded the scope of the research, and was particularly interested in cemeteries that contain important Pharaonic texts enriching the hieroglyphic language and he found 4.000 strips that he photographed and printed.
Maspero established the French Institute of Antiquities in Cairo and was the first director of this institute, which was not limited to the Pharaonic monuments but rather extended to study all Egyptian antiquities, whether Islamic or Coptic.
Maspero continued the Mariette excavations at my temple Edfu Abydos , as well as the completion of Mariette’s work in removing sand from the Sphinx in Giza, where he removed more than20 meters of sand from him in an attempt to find tombs beneath it but was not found, but recently a number of tombs were found in the excavation sites where Maspero was excavating, and he rearranged the Egyptian Museum Bulaq and the transfer of its contents to the current Cairo Museum, as I discovered during his reign a cache of Karnak containing hundreds of statues belonging to different eras and publishing many archaeological studies
Confront him to steal antiquities Maspero did a great job to counter the thefts that were happening to ancient Egyptian antiquities, and he helped the Egyptian world Ahmed Kamal Transfer hundreds of mummies and looted relics to Egyptian Museum In Cairo, he was able to enact a new law that was promulgated 1912M It stipulates that people are not allowed to excavate and excavation is limited to scientific missions only after approval of its project, and the excavators did not have the right to obtain half of what they find, but they only get the pieces that have a duplicate equivalent in the Cairo Museum, and the person in charge of the excavations does not grant an exit visa from Egypt Except in the event that the archaeological site is left in a satisfactory form, which infuriated the anger and hatred of foreign smugglers and antiquities dealers, and a fee was imposed in order to see the archaeological areas to meet the expenses needed for exploration and maintenance..
In the year 1881M Catch the Maspero The Abdel-Rasoul family eological areas to meet the expenses needed for exploration and maintenance..
In the year 1881M Catch the Maspero The Abdel-Rasoul family They are one of the most famous antiquities dealers, and he managed to force them, after torture, to confess to the thefts, and he obtained from them information on one of the most important discoveries of Maspero, which is hidden in Deir el-Bahari The mummies of the kings were found there Sakan Ra And the first enthusiasm Thutmose III My first city Ramses II And others.
There were frictions and rivalries between The English Who were occupying Egypt And between The French Who dominated Egyptian Antiquities Department As a result of these English frictions, Maspero submitted his resignation in 2001 1892M But an actor France in a Egypt He demanded his return and actually returned to Egypt in a year 1899M , and in the same year he returned Maspero appointed Howard Carter Chief antiquities inspector for Upper Egypt, and he was also the one who introduced him to Lord Carnarvon In1905 AD
Maspero returned to Paris in1914 and was appointed as the permanent advisor to the Academy of Arts and Letters
Before creation
The story of the museum began when the foreign consuls accredited in Egypt expressed their admiration for ancient Egyptian art, and worked to collect Egyptian antiquities, and send them to the main European cities, and thus began the prosperity of the Egyptian antiquities trade, which then became a European fashion . Gifts from those rare pieces during the nineteenth century were spread among the class Aristocracy , and coffins were among the most sought-after pieces . At first, the Egyptians did not understand the motives that made the Europeans care about the stones in their lands . While the most important motive behind the Egyptian excavation of monuments in temples and cemeteries was the rumors that promoted that some of these areas had hidden treasures .
The Egyptian Museum at Azbakeya
Rule Egypt at that time Muhammad Ali Pasha What started a new strategy was to open up Egypt Over the western world . In general 1835 Issued Muhammad Ali Pasha Decree to establish the Egyptian Antiquities and Museum and assigned the administration of that interest to Yusuf Zia Effendi Under the supervision of the sheikh Refaa Al-Tahtawi To take charge of the past effects . He succeeded in warning the public of the value of antiquities and ordering a decision 15 August 1835 To prevent smuggling and trafficking in Egyptian antiquities, but the need to maintain and preserve them . At that time, the Egyptian Museum overlooked the banks of a pond Azbakeya Then he was attached to Al-Alsun School
The Egyptian Museum in the castle
seem Yusuf Zia Effendi “Director of the Antiquities Authority ” since he assumed his position by inspecting the antiquities of Middle Egypt, which the peasants had found . In the year 1848 cost Muhammad Ali Pasha Linan Bey Minister of Education to make a comprehensive statement on the archaeological areas and send the important monuments to the Egyptian Museum, and this work was not successful due to the death of Muhammad Ali Pasha in 1849, Which was followed by turmoil again and the phenomenon of trafficking in antiquities reappeared, and the group that was housed in the museum that was built in Azbakeya shrank until it was transferred to Citadel of Saladin In one hall . To make matters worse, he was gifting Khedive Abbas I The contents of that hall are complete to The Duke Maximilian of Austria While visiting the castle
The Egyptian Museum in Bulaq(Al- Atkhana)
Egyptian antiquities continued to be looted, looted, and destroyed until they were issued Khedive Abbas His orders to the directorates to impose severe control on foreigners and Egyptians who were stealing, concealing and selling antiquities . Until he came August Mariette Who discovered the entrance to the sarabium at Saqqara, and made excavations in the cemetery of the calf Apis that lasted for nearly three years, and who sought to persuade the first rulers to establish an Egyptian antiquities department and an Egyptian museum . And in 19 June 1858 He agreed Happy Khedive To establish an interest in the Egyptian antiquities, and appointed him a warden of the antiquities work in Egypt and the management of excavations . He started Mariet In the work of intensive programs for archaeological research, and established a store of antiquities on the banks of the Nile in Bulaq, which turned in 5 February 1859 To a museum when the discovery of the treasure of Queen Ahhotep Hotep area Draa Abul – Naga paternally, and it was the most important pieces discovered coffin found inside a group of gems, jewelery and weapons that were on the degree high of magnificence, instigated Happy Khedive Get excited to create an Egyptian antiquities museum in Boulaq. It was built during the reign Khedive Ismail It was opened for the first time in a year 1863At the beginning, the museum was a huge building that overlooks the Nile and was called ( the ancient antiquities house or Antikana ) , but it was exposed to the flood of the Nile in 1878 The museum halls were so flooded that a group of exhibits of scientific artistic value had been lost.
The Egyptian Museum in Giza
Considered Mariet Bulaq Museum is a temporary place. After the flood accident, he found that there is an opportunity to demand the establishment of a permanent headquarters for the museum with a large capacity to absorb a larger collection of monuments and at the same time be away from the flood path . And after death Mariet His successor is in office Gaston Maspero He tried to move the museum from his place in Bulaq, but was not lucky . In general 1889 The situation in the building containing the collections of antiquities has reached the peak of its congestion, as there are no longer enough rooms either in the exhibition halls or in the stores for more monuments . The traces found during the excavations were left in boats in Upper Egypt for long periods . This tragic situation led to a abdication Khedive Ismail One of his palaces Giza Where you are Zoo Now, to be the new headquarters for the museum . And between summer and the end of a year 1889 All monuments had been transferred from the Bulaq Museum to Giza , and he re-coordinated the artifacts in the new museum the world De Morgan As president of the museum . From 1897 – 1899 came Luria As successor to Morgan, but Maspero returned again to run the museum a year 1899 – 1914 .
The current Egyptian Museum
French architectural museum design developed Marcel Dornon Public 1897 To be held in the northern area of Tahrir Square, ” formerly Ismailia ” , along the barracks of the British Army in Cairo at the Nile Palace, and he celebrated the foundation stone 1 April 1897 In the presence of Khedive Abbas Hilmi II The head of the House of Representatives ” Ministers ” and all the members of his cabinet, and the project was completed by the German Herman Grabo . in a Nov 1903 The Department of Antiquities has appointed the Italian architect Alessandro Parasente Who has received the keys to the museum since the ninth of March 1902 And the relocation of antique collections from the palace Khedive Ismail Giza To the new museum, which is the process during which five thousand wooden carriages were used. As for the huge relics, they were transported on two trains that were driven back and back about nineteen times between Giza And the Nile Palace . The first shipment carried about forty eight coffins, weighing more than a thousand tons in total . However, the transition process has been marred for some time . The transfers were completed in 13 July 1902, The shrine was also moved Mariet To the museum’s garden, in fulfillment of his will, in which he expressed his desire to settle his body in the museum’s garden with the effects that he spent a long time collecting during his life
in a 15 Nov 1902 The Egyptian Museum was officially opened . The new museum relied on a display method that gradually arranged the halls and did not take into account the allocation of rooms for periods of turmoil, since they were considered not of historical importance . The antiquities were classified in the museum according to their subjects, except that for architectural reasons, then huge statues were placed on the ground floor, while funerary treasures discovered on the first floor were displayed according to the historical sequence, and every day monuments are placed and collected in a number of rooms according to their subjects . And he became the only museum in the world so stacked with relics that he became a storehouse, when asked Maspero On the reason, he answered that the Egyptian Museum is a picture of the tomb or pharaonic temple, as the artist was using every part of it to place a drawing or hieroglyphic inscriptions, and even the modern Egyptian house at that time was placing paintings and pictures so that each part was used on the wall, i.e. The museum is a picture of the present and ancient Egyptian .
Architectural Design
Seventy-three design projects were competed for the construction of the museum building, and finally the French architect was chosen Marcel Dornon Who designed an innovative work, to be the first museum in the world built to be a museum and not a building that was modified to a museum, also used construction and building methods and applied modern means of presentation during that period . The architectural styles and elements of the museum were affected by classical Greek art and architecture, and it did not contain any effects of ancient Egyptian art and ancient Egyptian temples except in the design of its rooms or in the design of its interior halls, where the entrance to the halls emulates the edifices of ancient Egyptian temples .
Museum development
in a year 1983 The museum building has been registered as an antique building as it is a unique architectural value . And in August 2006 The largest development of the museum was conducted, with the aim of making it a scientific and cultural destination, by establishing a cultural center and a commercial administrative attachment on the western side of the museum in the place of the removed slums . And since the museum building has been exposed for many years to architectural distortions, it has hidden many of the aesthetics of its original design due to external factors such as pollution and traffic density. Ministry of Antiquities in a May 2012 An initiative to develop a plan for the rehabilitation of the museum in a comprehensive which contributed to the German Foreign Ministry funded the necessary scientific and research studies, as the Society participated , ” International Environmental Quality ” in the implementation of the initiative to restore the museum to its original state, which included the restoration of architecture and engineering and development work surrounding the museum editing area, was completed Project by year 2016 After restoring the eastern and northern wings, tackling the problems of lighting and remodeling valuable artifacts . The first stage of the initiative included taking samples of the original color of the museum building, restoring the walls to their original color, as well as restoration and treatment of the surface of the walls, restoration of decorations on the walls and columns, changing windows and installing glass that prevents UV radiation from entering to protect the monuments . The restoration work was based on257 paintings preserved inside the museum library showing the basic and original designs of the building, in addition to restarting the original ventilation system after it was completely cleaned. And in July 2016 She did Ministry of Antiquities Developing the museum’s interior and exterior lighting system, with the aim of opening it to the visitation movement at night. in a Nov 2018 The latest museum development work, which included the re-scenario of the museum show, and the exhibits of Yuya and Tuya’s holdings in the upper floor, in addition to King Tutankhamun’s holdings until the transfer of the rest of his belongings to the Grand Egyptian Museum, were also opened. These works are under the supervision of a committee in which the directors of the largest international museums participated, to develop a scientific viewpoint for the redistribution of the pieces, after transferring the related monuments In the Grand Egyptian Museum The Museum of Civilization , who are museum directors Turin The Louvre United And Berlin.
Museum library
The museum library was established since its inception, and a sum of money was made a year ago 1899 To buy books, the Egyptologist demanded Maspero By allocating a permanent amount for the purchase of books, Dacros was appointed as its first trustee during the period from 1903 to me 1906He was subsequently succeeded by several trustees until Monet, who prepared a comprehensive catalog of the library’s contents up to a year 1926Then the important transformation of the library was when Abdul Mohsen Al-Khashab took over the management of the library, and Diaa Al-Din Abu Ghazi worked with him, which then assumed the library’s secretariat in 1950 It had an important role in preparing book catalogs, increasing external exchange, and expanding the library so that its current size became two floors, two viewing rooms, and a storehouse for publications . The library includes more than 50 thousand books and volumes of the rarest books in the specialty of ancient Egyptian, Greek and Roman antiquities and the ancient Near East in addition to other specialties, and among the most important of these books «Egypt description book» And “The Book of Antiquities of Egypt and Nubia ” and “The Book of Lipsius ” , and the library also contains a rare collection of maps, paintings and pictures.
Museum collections
prehistoric age :
This group includes various types of pottery, decorations, fishing tools and the requirements of daily life that represent the Egyptian product before knowing the writing and who settled in many places in Egypt in the north, center and south of the country .
Foundation Age: Includes antiquities of the first and second dynasties, such as the Naarmer cupboard, the Khmkha statue, and many other utensils and tools.
The era of the old state:
Includes a set of artifacts, the most important of which are the statues of Djoser, Khafra, Menkaure, the Sheikh of the country, the dwarf Sanab, my first house and his son Mary that Ra, many coffins, statues of individuals, murals, and the collection of Queen Hetep Guard.
The Middle Kingdom era:
This group includes many artifacts, the most important of which are the statue of King Montuhab II and a group of statues of some of the family’s12 kings such as Senusret I and Amenemhat III and others, and many statues of individuals, coffins, ornaments and tools for daily life, and the pyramids of some of the pyramids of Fayoum.
The era of the modern state:
It is the most famous group in the museum, on top of which is the group of the little pharaoh Tutankhamun and the statues of Hatshepsut, Tuthmosis III and Ramses II, in addition to war wheels, papyri, ornaments, the Akhenaten group, the Israel Painting, the statues of Amenhotep III and his wife T and the group of amulets, writing instruments and agriculture, then the group of royal mummies that are displayed in their own hall And that opened a year1994.
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Late times:
The collection includes various artifacts, including the treasures of Tanis made of gold, silver, and precious stones, which were found in the tombs of some of the kings and queens of the two families 21 and22 in the Stone Sanctuary, in addition to some important statues such as the statue of Amun, ambitious statues, a statue of the god Tauret and a resolution board. Canopus (Abu Qir) , a plate of Anakhi and a set of relics of Nubia, some of which were transferred to Nubia Museum Aswan.
Access and Entry
The museum is located in the heart of Cairo, on the northern side of Tahrir Square) Downtown) , and can be reached by using public transportation or using private cars and stopping them at the multi-storey car park, or using the easiest transportation method, the subway, and exit from Sadat Station, which overlooks Tahrir Square directly. Filming inside the museum is not permitted due to the negative effects of camera lighting on the colors of small monuments, but it has recently allowed personal photography
Except for the Golden Mask Hall and the two Royal Mummy Hall . , With the aim of encouraging tourism and increasing the turnout of visitors to the museum .
This is a tourist airspace in one of the greatest palaces of Egypt, and follow us to meet in the upcoming tours with tourist tours to get to know the most important monuments and features of ancient Egypt .
With greetings from the Star Shine Tourism team .
