ANCIENT
EGYPT
The History, People and Culture of the Nile Valley
The History, People and Culture of the Nile Valley |
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Ancient Egypt Magazine Volume Three Issue Four -- January/February 2003 Happy Centenary – Egyptian Antiquities Museum – Cairo Celebrations were under way in December as the
Egyptian Antiquities Museum, donning a bright new coat of paint, turned one
hundred years of age. Although Egyptian antiquities collections exist elsewhere
around the world — notably at the British Museum, the Louvre Museum in Paris
and the Egyptology Museum in Berlin, the Egyptian Museum boasts the richest and
largest collection of pharaonic antiquities worldwide. Samira
Mahmoud reports on the event from Cairo... Inaugurated on the 15th of November 1902, the Egyptian
Antiquities Museum was the first building of its kind, designed and built to
serve the purpose of exhibiting antiquities to the public. Dr. Zahi Hawass, Head of the Supreme Counsel for
Antiquities, was quoted in the Egyptian newspaper the Egyptian Gazette as saying
the celebration is a message to the world that Egypt is keen on protecting its
treasures and ancient heritage. Plans are underway to upgrade the four main
antiquities museums — the other three being the Coptic, Islamic, and Graeco-Roman
museums. In addition, a new museum of antiquities is planned for Cairo near the
Giza Pyramids plateau. This new museum will provide much needed space for the
profusion of treasures now crowding the old museum and its basement warehouses.
The downtown antiquities museum is set to undergo a major overhaul including a
much-needed central air-conditioning system and new lighting. Around the
country, other museums are also planned. A new ‘Museum of Egyptian
Civilization’ will be built over an area of 25 acres, near the ruined city of
Fustat in Old Cairo at a cost of 200 million LE. It will display Egyptian
antiquities and artefacts, including Coptic and Islamic from ancient to modern
times. And in Alexandria next year, the new Mosaics Museum is due to open its
door to the public.
The history of the Egyptian Antiquities Museum can be
traced back to the period following Napoleon’s scientific campaign known as
‘La découverte de l’Egypte’ (the discovery of Egypt) at the turn of the
19th Century. To slow down the looting and commerce in Egyptian antiquities
unearthed after this period, the Egyptian Antiquities Service was founded in
1858. Its first director Auguste Mariette then conceived of establishing a
central depot to house and catalogue the antiquities, which constituted a
rapidly growing collection of priceless treasures and artefacts. This proved to be a complicated task, which led
Mariette and his team through four different locations before they finally
settled on the option of building the new museum, under the auspices of Kedive
Abbas II Helmi. In 1897, in a central location at the heart of
downtown Cairo, work was started on a large stone building designed by French
architect Marcel Dourgnon. The construction, which cost 120,000 Egyptian pounds
(24,000 Euro), took four years and eight months to complete. And on Saturday,
November 15, 1902, at four in the afternoon, the Khedive himself inaugurated the
brand new Egyptian Antiquities Museum, a collection of exhibited artefacts
reaching upwards of 50,000 pieces.. Open house In honour of the centennial of this historical
event, the museum authorities have at last opened up the famous warehouse
located in the basement of the building. It has been long-rumoured to hold many
masterpieces, concealed from the public for lack of space. A special exhibition
entitled ‘The Hidden Treasures of the Egyptian Museum’ was inaugurated in
high pomp in the presence of Egyptian first lady Mrs. Suzanne Mubarak, on
December 12, 2002. For the occasion, a special sound and light show was staged
on the main floor of the museum as images of 50 pieces from the new exhibition
were projected on the walls. Delegates of museums in France, England, the United
States and Italy were at hand representing the countries most actively involved
in Egyptology research throughout the past decades. On display are 254 artefacts
from the warehouse of the museum, many of which have never been exhibited
before. Some of the noteworthy pieces include rare copper statues of King Pepi
I, Pharaoh of the 5th Dynasty; golden amulets of King Tutankhamun; some 16
statuettes dating from the Old Kingdom; and objects from the tomb of the Vizier
Aper from the 18th Dynasty which were unearthed in Saqqara near Cairo.. In addition, an exhibition of old photographs relating
the history of the museum has been set up in the sidelines to the exhibition. On
show there, are photos of Khedive Abbas II Helmi laying the first stone to the
building and cutting the ribbon on inauguration day in 1902. A special book
about the history of the museum and its contents is soon to be published to mark
the occasion. Back to Ancient Egypt Magazine - Volume Three Issue Four contents
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