Alexandria National Museum (ANM) in Egypt

When & where was Alexandria National Museum founded?

Alexandria National Museum is located “as it is clear from the title” in the city overlooking the Mediterranean Sea with a wonderful, picturesque atmosphere, The city of Alexandria is located on Al-Horeya Street, parallel to the Mediterranean Sea. This great museum was opened in 2003 AD by former President Mohamed Hosni Mubarak, and therefore it is considered one of the most important and one of The most modern museums in Egypt.

 

Inside Alexandria National Museum (ANM)

Alexandria National Museum includes historical monuments dating back more than 5,000 years, which indicates the abundance of its contents and the abundance of Egyptian history. The museum is divided into three sections or three floors, and each floor has a different topic of antiquities, so that you feel that the museum is Egypt itself, and that the three floors are dividing its history into three Topics where the ground floor includes ancient Egyptian antiquities.

 

The first floor or middle floor of Alexandria National Museum includes antiquities from the Greco-Roman period spread throughout the city of Alexandria, as it is considered a Greek antiquities, as it was built by Alexander the Great, the first Greek to rule the country and built it as the capital of Egypt, As for the second floor, it includes antiquities, From the Christian period and the Islamic period in Egypt, and it is said that the third floor contains monuments dates back from centuries and until the twentieth century.

 

The Groud Floor of Alexandria National Museum

On the ground floor of the National Museum of Alexandria, there are several statues in bright colors to give a glimpse of ancient life, and the handicrafts in this museum should be placed in another museum for them! Among the statues from ancient Egypt, or at least statues that express ancient Egypt, there is a statue from Saqqara that expresses the old kingdom in Egypt, and there is another statue from limestone that also expresses the old kingdom in Egypt, and there are also coffins that express the afterlife where it was.

 

The ancient Egyptians believed in the afterlife after death and judgment, and they were buried in coffins with the things they might need on their journey to the afterlife, There is also a statue of the great Queen Hatshepsut, the most powerful woman who ruled Egypt and declared herself the daughter of the god Amun, and there is a statue of the goddess Isis whose height exceeds two meters, and a statue of a priest made of black basalt, and another statue of granite, which shows the abundance of the land of Egypt and the density of its possessions of different types of stone and rocks for production of various and different effects.

Second Floor of Alexandria National Museum

The Second floor of Alexandria National Museum, which expresses the city of Alexandria itself and the Greco-Roman period in Egypt, contains many statues that express the Greek gods and many artifacts from this period, such as a statue of the god Serapis, which is a god that is a mixture between a god in Greece and the Egyptian god Osiris, and a statue. The goddess Isis, the wife of Osiris and the mother of Horus, and the prominent decorations in the museum are also considered among the monuments that express this period, and my statues represent the people themselves in this period, most of whom are women.

 

Third Floor of Alexandria National Museum

The Third floor includes collectibles from the Christian period and the Islamic period with its various rulers over Egypt. The museum includes Coptic inscriptions, icons of Jesus Christ and his mother, Mary, Coptic textiles, and a painting showing the scene of the Last Supper, which is one of the most famous paintings in Egypt in general. There are incense burners (thurible) from mosques And churches and decorations from this period, Arab ceramics, and Islamic coins of various silver and gold, With Islamic and Byzantine coins and ceramics, the museum also contains a collection of weapons, metals, and glass dating back to different Islamic eras.

 

And in addition to the collectibles we mentioned in Alexandria National Museum, do not forget about the collectibles taken or recovered from the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea, as the National Museum contains some collectibles that were excavated in the Mediterranean Sea.

There are also small statues in the museum representing small servants. These small statues were used by the ancient Egyptians to be buried in coffins, as they believed that they performed small tasks on their behalf in the afterlife. There is also a statue of the Greek god of love, Venus.

 

 

There is also a statue of the head of King Akhenaten, who was the author of the most famous religious revolution in the history of ancient Egypt, where he called for monotheism and the adoption of one god, which is Aten, instead of Amun.

 

There is a strange room in the museum, not strange in appearance, but strange because it contains collectibles from a person who is not from any of the mentioned periods, nor an ancient Egyptian, a Christian, or one of the rulers of the Islamic period, nor a Greek, nor a Roman. Still, he is King Farouk, the last ruler of Egypt in the monarchy period before the rise of July Revolution of 1952, when Egypt became a republic. This room displays some of the possessions of the last king in Egyptian history.

The Origins of Alexandria National Museum

Alexandria National Museum contains about 1,800 antiquities from various eras, but It was originally a palace for one of Alexandria’s wealthy people. He was a wood merchant called Asaad Basili, and he lived in this palace until 1954, then he sold it to the American embassy. The palace was built in the Italian style, but in 1996, It was purchased by the Supreme Council of Antiquities and then became the property of Egyptians. After that, it was restored and opened in 2003, as we mentioned above, by former President Mohamed Hosni Mubarak.

 

Conclusion

Alexandria National Museum expresses Egypt itself, as it includes collectibles and antiquities from different eras and different rulers. It includes statues of Greek gods, Egyptian gods and goddesses, Egyptian rulers, and Islamic and Christian antiquities. The museum goes back in time and even has a special room for the last king in the history of Egypt before the declaration of the Republic. King Farouk. The museum also includes a room at the bottom where visitors can view a virtual picture of the museum’s holdings.

 

Alexandria National Museum is considered one of the best museums in Alexandria and one of the best museums in all of Egypt due to the abundance and splendor of its collections, which are a source of learning for tourists and Egyptians alike about the ancient history of Egypt, which extends for thousands of years and is still ongoing. The museum does not take sides with a specific period, so you will not find collections from that period.

 

Ancient Egyptians, for example, were taken care of, while Greek antiquities were thrown away! No, all of the museum’s antiquities have been preserved and cared for equally. When you enter the entrance, you feel that the three floors are from the same era and not as if they are thousands of years apart. This museum is a precious treasure that must be preserved, and grateful for its holdings that teach us distant, recent, and Islamic history.

 

The Christian must be grateful to Egypt itself. How is this country that has lived in many eras with different opinions and conditions since ancient times? It continues to write history and bear witness to the changing conditions of the world.