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 ...

located in

Alexandria Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandri ...

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning the North Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via a land bridg ...

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. From 1904 to 1932 he was followed by Evaristo Breccia. 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) era in the 3rd century BC, such as a sculpture of Apis 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 Cattle are prominent in some religions and mythologies. As such, numerous peoples throughout the world have at one point in time honored bulls as sacred. In the Sumerian religion, Marduk is the "bull of Utu". In Hinduism, Shiva's steed is Na ...

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 furt ...

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 Gre ...

tapestries Tapestry is a form of textile art, traditionally woven by hand on a loom. Tapestry is weft-faced weaving, in which all the warp threads are hidden in the completed work, unlike most woven textiles, where both the warp and the weft threads may ...

, 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 dir ...

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 Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metr ...

(particularly those of the Pharaonic period) and from various digs undertaken at the beginning of the century in

Fayoum Faiyum ( ar, الفيوم ' , borrowed from cop, ̀Ⲫⲓⲟⲙ or Ⲫⲓⲱⲙ ' from egy, pꜣ ym "the Sea, Lake") is a city in Middle Egypt. Located southwest of Cairo, in the Faiyum Oasis, it is the capital of the modern Faiyum ...

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 pedim ...

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 Scaffolding, also called scaffold or staging, is a temporary structure used to support a work crew and materials to aid in the construction, maintenance and repair of buildings, bridges and all other man-made structures. Scaffolds are widely use ...

. 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

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 {{Egypt-museum-stub

History

Notable people

Gallery

See also

References

External links