EGYPTIAN MUSEUM IN CAIRO

The Egyptian Museum in Cairo (EMC) is the oldest archaeological museum in the Middle East, housing over 170,000 artefacts. It has the largest collection of Pharaonic antiquities in the world.

The Museum’s exhibits span the Pre-Dynastic Period till the Graeco-Roman Era (c. 5500 BC – AD 364).

Located in the heart of Tahrir Square, Cairo, the Egyptian Museum is a unique building designed to host the world’s oldest collection of Pharaonic art and monuments. Built on an area of 13,600 sq. meters, with more than 100 exhibition halls, the museum is a product of a competition launched by the Egyptian Government in 1895 and thus it is considered the first national museum in the Middle East. The original collection, established in the late 19th century, was previously housed at a building in Bulaq. Afterwards it was transferred to the palace of Ismail Pasha in Giza, until its definitive resting place was completed. Several design projects were proposed, but the one presented by the French architect Marcel Dourgnon was chosen as the winner. The cornerstone was laid on 1st April 1897 at Tahrir Square by the Italian company of Giuseppe Garozzo and Francesco Zaffrani. Due to the fact that the competition was specifically created to find the most practical design and architecture strategy for hosting a vast exhibition of antiquities, the Egyptian Museum became the first purpose-built museum edifice in the region, setting a precedent for many other museological institutions that were to emerge during the 20th century.

Besides the site’s original and avant-garde design concept, the building carries an enormous scientific value, since it is considered the museum with the largest ancient Egyptian collection in the world, and has thus always been the flagship of museums for the study, research, conservation, and exhibition practices related to ancient Egypt and the influence it exerted on many other historical civilizations. The Museum displays an extensive collection spanning from prehistory up to the Graeco-Roman period. The museum originally contained a library, conservation laboratories, and an extra piece of land that extends to the Nile-bank, that later became the headquarters of the National Democratic Party, which was burnt down during the 2011 revolution. This land used to provide the museum with direct access to the Nile.

The idea of a museum for Egyptian antiquities in Egypt goes back to Muhammad Ali Pasha, who was viceroy of Egypt from 1805 to 1848. Attempting to put an end to the export of antiquities, he issued a decree on the 15th of August 1835, which resulted in the first Egyptian museum for antiquities in Cairo. Housed in a building near El-Ezbekia Garden, the display was designed by Hakikan Effendi, and the collection was managed by Youssef Diaa Effendi. At the same time, Sheikh Rifa’a al-Tahtawi, who was responsible for the excavation and conservation of Egyptian monuments, also ordered that no further excavations be undertaken without his permission. He announced that the export of artefacts from Egypt was strictly forbidden, and that all finds were to be transported to the El-Ezbekia Museum.

In 1851, during the reign of Abbas I, the entire collection was transferred from El-Ezbekia to one of the halls within the Citadel of Salah El-Din (Saladin), where it was accessible only to private visitors. However, in 1854, most of the objects were gifted to Austria’s heir to the throne, Archduke Maximilian, who had shown great interest in them during his visit to Egypt. They now represent a major part of the Egyptian collection in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna.