The gods of ancient Egypt

A rich collection of monuments from ancient Egypt

Selected elements of the rich collection of artefacts from ancient Egypt accumulated in our museum are presented during the exhibition.
The oldest sarcophagus, and at the same time one of the first Egyptological artefacts in Kraków, is a sarcophagus from Dynasty XXI which belonged to the wife of a priest of Amon from Karnak named Nesy-Chonsu. Sarcophagi from excavations carried out by the first Polish Egyptologist, Tadeusz Smoleński from Kraków, in El-Gamhud in central Egypt were brought to the Museum in 1907. A part of the collection originates from joint excavations organised in 1910-1914 in Lower Nubia and Tura, east of Cairo by the Academy of Sciences in Kraków and Vienna under the supervision of Hermann Junker. The third and the largest collection is the legacy of the Museum, created with the Polish Army in the Middle East (Field Museum), which at the end of 1948 was brought to the Archaeological Museum of the Polish Academy of Learning.

 

 

Life in ancient Egypt

The chronologically diverse collection consists of objects related to everyday life and art of the people of ancient Egypt. The oldest artefact is a limestone statuette of a sitting man from Dynasty V, and the most recent ones include elements of Coptic tunics and sculptures from this era.

 

 

Zdjęcie kolorowe. W piasku leżą liczne, drobne figurki przedstawiające małe postacie przypominające ludzi. Część z nich znajduje się w drewnianej skrzynce. W oddali inne, większe zabytki.

During the exhibition, results of an interdisciplinary examination of a mummy of a woman (Aset-iri-khet-es) are also presented, allowing, for instance, to determine the cause of death, her genetic code, blood group, and even the season of the year during which she died. There is also an experience portrait of the woman and a film of unwrapping the mummy.
Exhibited also, are mummies of animals, and very rare in Egyptological collections, grain mummies (they were meant to celebrate the life-giving powers of Osiris and nature coming back to life).
There are also grave steles and epitaphs – including Christian from the 9th-10th century from the necropolis in Ginari/Tafah in Nubia.

Script: Hanna Szymańska, Krzysztof Babraj
Artistic preparation: Renata Jabłońska

COME-IN!

See also 12 exhibits within the COME-IN module!

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