The Graeco-Roman Museum is an
archaeological museum
An archaeology museum is a museum that specializes in the display of archaeological
Types
Many archaeology museum are in the open air, such as the Ancient Agora of Athens and the Roman Forum. Others display artifacts inside buildings, such as Na ...
located in
Alexandria,
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...
.
History
Erected in 1892, it was first built in a five-room apartment, inside one small building on Rosetta Street (later Avenue Canope and now Horriya). In 1895, it was transferred to another, larger building near Gamal Abdul Nasser Street. Its first director was
Giuseppe Botti
Giuseppe is the Italian form of the given name Joseph,
from Latin Iōsēphus from Ancient Greek Ἰωσήφ (Iōsḗph), from Hebrew יוסף.
It is the most common name in Italy and is unique (97%) to it.
The feminine form of the name is Giuse ...
. From 1904 to 1932 he was followed by
Evaristo Breccia
Annibale Evaristo Breccia (18 July 1876, Offagna - 28 July 1967, Rome) was an Italian egyptologist, the second director of the Greco-Roman Museum of Alexandria and rector of the University of Pisa.
Early life and studies
He was born in Offagn ...
.
The museum contains several pieces dating from the
Greco-Roman
The Greco-Roman civilization (; also Greco-Roman culture; spelled Graeco-Roman in the Commonwealth), as understood by modern scholars and writers, includes the geographical regions and countries that culturally—and so historically—were di ...
(
Ptolemaic Ptolemaic is the adjective formed from the name Ptolemy, and may refer to:
Pertaining to the Ptolemaic dynasty
* Ptolemaic dynasty, the Macedonian Greek dynasty that ruled Egypt founded in 305 BC by Ptolemy I Soter
* Ptolemaic Kingdom
Pertaining ...
) era in the 3rd century BC, such as a sculpture of
Apis
Apis or APIS may refer to:
* Apis (deity), an ancient Egyptian god
* Apis (Greek mythology), several different figures in Greek mythology
* Apis (city), an ancient seaport town on the northern coast of Africa
**Kom el-Hisn, a different Egyptian ci ...
in
black granite
In the construction industry, black rocks that share the hardness and strength of granitic rocks are known as black granite. In geological terms, black granite might be gabbro, diabase, basalt, diorite, norite, or anorthosite
Anorthosite () is ...
, the
sacred bull of the Egyptians,
mummies
A mummy is a dead human or an animal whose soft tissues and organs have been preserved by either intentional or accidental exposure to chemicals, extreme cold, very low humidity, or lack of air, so that the recovered body does not decay furth ...
,
sarcophagus
A sarcophagus (plural sarcophagi or sarcophaguses) is a box-like funeral receptacle for a corpse, most commonly carved in stone, and usually displayed above ground, though it may also be buried. The word ''sarcophagus'' comes from the Greek ...
,
tapestries, and other objects offering a view of
Greco-Roman civilization
The Greco-Roman civilization (; also Greco-Roman culture; spelled Graeco-Roman in the Commonwealth), as understood by modern scholars and writers, includes the geographical regions and countries that culturally—and so historically—were di ...
in contact with
ancient Egypt.
The museum's collection is the product of donations from wealthy Alexandrians as well as of excavations led by successive directors of the institution, both within the town and in its environs. Certain other objects have come from the Organization of Antiquities at
Cairo (particularly those of the
Pharaonic
Pharaoh (, ; Egyptian: ''pr ꜥꜣ''; cop, , Pǝrro; Biblical Hebrew: ''Parʿō'') is the vernacular term often used by modern authors for the kings of ancient Egypt who ruled as monarchs from the First Dynasty (c. 3150 BC) until the ann ...
period) and from various digs undertaken at the beginning of the century in
Fayoum and at Benhasa. Housed within a historic building whose beautiful
neoclassical facade of six columns and
pediment
Pediments are gables, usually of a triangular shape.
Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the lintel, or entablature, if supported by columns. Pediments can contain an overdoor and are usually topped by hood moulds.
A pedimen ...
bears the large Greek inscription ‘MOYΣEION’ ("MOUSEION"). The museum consists of 27 halls and an attractive garden, which offer an excellent introduction to Egypt's Greco-Roman period.
The museum has been closed for renovations since 2005. As of June 2017, the building was still surrounded by
scaffolding. In February 2022 the Secretary-General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, Mostafa Waziri, said that the museum would be opened within a few months.
Notable people
*
Mervat Seif el-Din - Director of Graeco-Roman Museum from 2004 to 2010.
Gallery
File:GD-EG-Alex-MuséeGR-Map.png, Floor plan
File:Sophilos Mosaic from Thmuis.jpg, Sophilos Mosaic
File:Osiris-Antinous in marble 2nd century CE at the Greco-Roman Museum in Alexandria Egypt AG.jpg, Osiris-Antinous in marble 2nd century CE
File:GD-EG-Alex-MuséeNat043.JPG, Figurines
File:Egypt-14A-026 - Cleopatra (2216749069).jpg, Cleopatra
File:AlexMusNilePlates.jpg , Carved bone plaques
See also
*
Museums in Alexandria
A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make thes ...
References
External links
Supreme Council of Antiquities Museums: The Graeco-Roman Museum
1892 establishments in Egypt
Archaeological museums in Egypt
Egyptological collections in Egypt
Museums established in 1892
Museums in Alexandria
Museums of ancient Greece
Museums of ancient Rome
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