The Imhotep 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 at the foot of the

Saqqara Saqqara ( ar, سقارة, ), also spelled Sakkara or Saccara in English , is an Egyptian village in Giza Governorate, that contains ancient burial grounds of Egyptian royalty, serving as the necropolis for the ancient Egyptian capital, Memphis. ...

necropolis A necropolis (plural necropolises, necropoles, necropoleis, necropoli) is a large, designed cemetery with elaborate tomb monuments. The name stems from the Ancient Greek ''nekropolis'', literally meaning "city of the dead". The term usually im ...

complex, near

Memphis Memphis most commonly refers to: * Memphis, Egypt, a former capital of ancient Egypt * Memphis, Tennessee, a major American city Memphis may also refer to: Places United States * Memphis, Alabama * Memphis, Florida * Memphis, Indiana * Memp ...

Lower Egypt Lower Egypt ( ar, مصر السفلى '; ) is the northernmost region of Egypt, which consists of the fertile Nile Delta between Upper Egypt and the Mediterranean Sea, from El Aiyat, south of modern-day Cairo, and Dahshur. Historically, ...

History

Egypt Sakkara Museum Statue scribe 5th Dynasty

The museum, which was named for the ancient Egyptian architect

Imhotep , other_names = Asclepius (name in Greek) Imouthes (also name in Greek) , burial_place = Saqqara (probable) , occupation = chancellor to the Pharaoh Djoser and High Priest of Ra , years_active = , known_for ...

, was opened on April 26, 2006 by

Suzanne Mubarak Suzanne Mubarak ( ar, سوزان مبارك , née Thabet; born 28 February 1941) is the widow of Egyptian former president Hosni Mubarak and was the First Lady of Egypt during her husband's presidential tenure from 14 October 1981 to 11 Februar ...

and

Bernadette Chirac Bernadette Thérèse Marie Chirac ( Chodron de Courcel; born 18 May 1933) is a French politician and the widow of the former president Jacques Chirac. She and Chirac met as students at Sciences Po, and were married on 16 March 1956. They had t ...

. Imhotep is credited with being the first Egyptian to build a monumental structure out of stone: Pharaoh

Djoser Djoser (also read as Djeser and Zoser) was an ancient Egyptian pharaoh of the 3rd Dynasty during the Old Kingdom, and was the founder of that epoch. He is also known by his Hellenized names Tosorthros (from Manetho) and Sesorthos (from Euseb ...

step pyramid A step pyramid or stepped pyramid is an architectural structure that uses flat platforms, or steps, receding from the ground up, to achieve a completed shape similar to a geometric pyramid. Step pyramids are structures which characterized several ...

located at Saqqara, which was built during the

3rd Dynasty The Third Dynasty of ancient Egypt (Dynasty III) is the first dynasty of the Old Kingdom of Egypt, Old Kingdom. Other dynasties of the Old Kingdom include the Fourth Dynasty of Egypt, Fourth, Fifth Dynasty of Egypt, Fifth and Sixth Dynasty of ...

. Constructed as part of the strategic site management program of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, the air-conditioned Imhotep Museum provides a more secure storage space than the traditional storehouses located at archaeological sites. In the museum, artefacts are more easily protected from theft, and they are stored in climate-controlled conditions. The site museum project at Saqqara was conceived of in 1990, but it was not launched until 1997 after the authorities had identified a suitable location on the plateau where the museum could sit unobtrusively and not disturb the natural landscape. Construction was completed in 2003.

Museum contents

The museum has six large halls in which one may admire masterpieces from Saqqara, such as a

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 ...

mummy discovered by

Zahi Hawass Zahi Abass Hawass ( ar, زاهي حواس; born May 28, 1947) is an Egyptian archaeologist, Egyptologist, and former Minister of State for Antiquities Affairs, serving twice. He has also worked at archaeological sites in the Nile Delta, the Wes ...

during the excavation of the

Pyramid of Teti The pyramid of Teti is a smooth-sided pyramid situated in the pyramid field at Saqqara in Egypt. It is the second known pyramid containing pyramid texts. Excavations have revealed a satellite pyramid, two pyramids of queens accompanied by cult s ...

complex and a large double statue that was found near the causeway of the

Unas Unas or Wenis, also spelled Unis ( egy, wnjs, hellenized form Oenas or Onnos), was a pharaoh, the ninth and last ruler of the Fifth Dynasty of Egypt during the Old Kingdom. Unas reigned for 15 to 30 years in the mid-24th century BC (circa 23 ...

complex. The statue depicts the

19th Dynasty The Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt (notated Dynasty XIX), also known as the Ramessid dynasty, is classified as the second Dynasty of the Ancient Egyptian New Kingdom period, lasting from 1292 BC to 1189 BC. The 19th Dynasty and the 20th Dynasty fur ...

High Priest of Mut, Amenemopet, and his wife. In the entrance hall, the visitor is welcomed by a fragment of the Djoser statue on which one can read the name of the king and the architect

. This find was on loan from the

Egyptian Museum The Museum of Egyptian Antiquities, known commonly as the Egyptian Museum or the Cairo Museum, in Cairo, Egypt, is home to an extensive collection of ancient Egyptian antiquities. It has 120,000 items, with a representative amount on display a ...

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 metro ...

, and was exhibited only in the museum's opening months. The second hall displays archaeological finds from various excavations on the

plateau. The artefacts in this exhibit will be rotated. The third hall is devoted to Egyptian art, and contains vessels, statues, and

stelae A stele ( ),Anglicized plural steles ( ); Greek plural stelai ( ), from Greek , ''stēlē''. The Greek plural is written , ''stēlai'', but this is only rarely encountered in English. or occasionally stela (plural ''stelas'' or ''stelæ''), whe ...

made of wood and stone, as well as the ancient tools used to build the monuments. The fourth hall exhibits architectural elements from the Step Pyramid complex, such as columns and the green and blue

faience Faience or faïence (; ) is the general English language term for fine tin-glazed pottery. The invention of a white pottery glaze suitable for painted decoration, by the addition of an oxide of tin to the slip of a lead glaze, was a major ad ...

wall tiles that decorate chambers under the pyramid complex. A small statue of Imhotep is also found in this room. The fifth hall displays objects used in burials from the

6th Dynasty The Sixth Dynasty of ancient Egypt (notated Dynasty VI), along with the Third, Fourth and Fifth Dynasty, constitutes the Old Kingdom of Dynastic Egypt. Pharaohs Known pharaohs of the Sixth Dynasty are listed in the table below. Manetho ac ...

through the

New Kingdom New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...

. A gallery dedicated to the French Egyptologist,

Jean-Philippe Lauer Jean-Philippe Lauer (7 May 1902 – 15 May 2001), was a French architect and Egyptologist. He was considered to be the foremost expert on pyramid construction techniques and methods. Biography Arrival in Egypt He was born in the 8th arrondi ...

, displays some of his personal effects and photographs of him at work on the plateau. His library is recreated in one room. Lauer began working at the Djoser complex in the 1920s and continued to work there for the remainder of his career, some 75 years.

References

External links

Official site: https://www.sca-egypt.org/eng/MUS_Imhotep_Museum.html {{coord, 29.8700, N, 31.2161, E, source:wikidata, display=title History museums in Egypt Egyptological collections in Egypt

History

Museum contents

See also

References

External links