" In The Name of Allah, The Most Beneficent, The Most Merciful"

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1 Lecture Of The Specialized Course in tourist guide

Prepared By/ Omar El Sanhoty
Introduction about the Egyptian Museum
- Ancient Egyptian Civilization is one of the sources of the modern culture.
- It attracts other people of the ancient world especially the Greeks and the roman.
- In modern times, Napoleon Bonaparte's Expedition was in Egypt in 1798 which :

Brought the global attention to the value of the Ancient Egyptian heritage .
Wasn't entirely military because it contained scholars along with troops.
Draw a new era in the 18th century.

( this all led to the creation of the Egyptian Museum )

- In 1831, Mohamed Ali Basha issued the first decree in the world for protecting the
artifacts from being sold and exported out of Egypt without permission.
- In 1835, Mohamed Ali Basha established The first core of the Egyptian museum at
the small lake of Azbakeya under supervision of Yousef Afandy Diaa.

- Then its Contents were :

transferred to the citadel of Saladin at 1849.

Given to the prince of Austria who had shown great interest in them during his visit in 1850.

( And Now, these artifacts are displayed now at " Wien Museum " )
- In 1851, Franois Auguste Ferdinand Mariette was sent to Egypt by The French
Government For buying some Coptic manuscripts but the bishops refused his request.

- Then He travelled to Alex under the host of Buzeilia Basha and he saw in his house
lion-shaped statues then he knew from him that these statues were brought from
Saqqara By James Richardson who lived in Cairo then Mariette came back to Cairo,
went to James Richardson, and knew the place of the statues in Saqqara.
- In 12 November 1851, He entered the serupium and succeeded in shipping more than
7000 Objects to the Louvre .
- He found that the financial revenue of Antiquities Trade was little so, He suggested to
Ismail Basha creating the Antiquities Conservation Service.
- In 1858, Boulaq Museum was prepared for housing the Egyptian Artifacts were
found in the Excavation works especially The Tomb of ( iaH Htp I ).
- In 1878, The Flood of the Nile covered Boulaq Museum and many of its objects were
stolen or washed away.

- Boulaq Museum was reopened in 18 January 1881 , and Mariette died in the same
year and succeeded by Gaston Camille Charles Maspero as the director of the
museum.
- In 1891, Boulaq museum contents were transferred to an annex of Giza " Giza Zoo
now " Under the direction of Augustus De Morgan who was succeeded by Victor
Clement Georges Philippe Loret .
- In 1899, Maspero Came Again as the director Of the museum untill 1914.
- The current Egyptian Museum at Tahrir Square was designed by the French
architect Marcel Dourgnon in the neo-classical Style .
- It was opened in 15 November 1902 in the reign of Abbas Helmy II .
- It boasts about 104 halls which filled with artifacts dating back to various eras of the
Ancient Egyptian Civilization from the Prehistoric to the Greco-Roman Period.
- Around 136 thousand of artifacts are displayed and around 900 thousand are stored
covering More than 7000 Years Of The Ancient Egyptian Civilization.
- The Faade Of the Museum was designed in the Greco-Roman Style
- The Entrance of the Faade is flanked by Two Lonic Columns, Above it we can see a
bust statue of the goddess Hathor :

Goddess of Love, music and maternity in Ancient Egypt

Her name means the house of Horus.
Her main cult center was at Dendara " Qena "
She tooks 3 forms ( A complete cow/Lady wears a horned Sun disk Crown " or " A lady with head
of a cow wears also a horned Sun disk Crown ).

- On the Upper both sides of the Faade we can see :

2 statues depicts the goddess Isis wearing a Greek Tunic.
2 Letters ( A & H ) depicts the name of The Khedive Abbas Helmy II because the
museum was established in his reign.
2 years ( 1897 & 1901 ) depicts the date of starting and finishing construcion works of
the museum.
- To the left side of the garden , we can see a large marble cenotaph of August Mariette
and his bronze statue depicts him wearing a frock coat "elegant attire for a European
Man in the Victorian Era" in addition to a tarboosh " Made by Denys Pierre Puech.
- It is surrounded by bust statues of other most famous Egyptologists and his Corpse
remains were interred in the marble sarcophagus .
- In the middle of the garden we can see a fountain, in which to sorts of plants resemble
( The papyrus plant & the Lotus flower " 2 symbols of Of united Egypt " smA tAwy" )
- In the left side of the construction we can see the Library which contains about 43
thousand books in many languages such as Arabic, English, and Dutch.
With My best wishes for continued excellence and success
See You in the 2nd Lecture.
Omar El Sanhoty
Researcher in Egyptology
( 01117929271 )
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