A Brief History of the Egyptian Museum

Established in 1858, in a warehouse at Boulaq, the Museum of Egyptian Antiquities, or the Museum of Cairo as it is commonly called, has a collection of 160,000 artifacts. It comprises of the world’s largest collection of Pharaonic antiquities. The museum itself has a long and fascinating history. The Egyptian Government established a museum in 1835 near the Ezbekeyah Garden and subsequently moved it to the Cairo Citadel. In 1855, the Egyptian Government gifted away the artifacts to Archduke Maximilian of Austria, and those are still on display at the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna.

In 1858, following the establishment of the new Antiquities Department, a new museum was established in a warehouse at Boulaq, on the banks of the River Nile. This was done under the direction of Auguste Mariette, the first Director of the Antiquities Department. However, in 1878, the museum suffered immense damages due to the flooding of the Nile River. In 1892, the entire collection of the museum was moved to a former royal palace, in the Giza district of Cairo. The collection was once again moved in 1902, to be finally displayed at its current location — in Tahrir Square.

The Egyptian revolution of 2011 saw one of the most turbulent times for the museum. Miscreants broke into the museum, damaging, destroying and looting the artifacts. Among the destroyed artifacts were two mummies. A large number of artifacts were damaged and about fifty objects found to be lost or stolen. Diligent follow up has led to the recovery of 25 of these objects. In September 2013, the museum opened an exhibition entitled ‘Damaged and Restored’ — which showcased the restored artifacts.
Open to the public, the museum is visited by a million and a half tourists annually, in addition to around half a million Egyptians. It is the best place in the world to see and understand Egypt’s rich and long history.