The Egyptian Museum of Turin is the oldest museum in the world, entirely dedicated to the Nilotic civilization and is considered, by value and quantity of the finds, the most important in the world after that of Cairo.
In 1759 a passionate Egyptologist from Padua, Vitaliano Donati, went to Egypt to carry out excavations and found various finds, which were sent to Turin.
At the beginning of the 19th century, in the aftermath of the Napoleonic campaigns in Egypt, a real fashion broke out throughout Europe for the collection of Egyptian antiquities. Bernardino Drovetti, Piedmontese, consul general of France during the occupation in Egypt, collected over 8,000 pieces between statues, sarcophagi, mummies, papyrus, amulets and various jewels during this period.
In 1824 King Carlo Felice purchased this large collection for the amount of 400,000 lire and by joining other finds of classical antiquities from the House of Savoy, including the Donati collection, he created the first Egyptian Museum in the world.
At the end of the nineteenth century the director of the museum, Ernesto Schiaparelli, started new acquisitions and personally began to conduct important excavation campaigns in Egypt. In this way, around the 1930s, the collection reached more than 30,000 pieces capable of witnessing and illustrating all the most important aspects of Ancient Egypt, from the splendors of the arts to common everyday objects.
The museum is dedicated exclusively to Egyptian art. Inside you can find mummies, papyrus and everything related to ancient Egypt (including stuffed animals).
In 2013 the museum was included in the ranking of the 50 best museums in the world by the British newspaper The Times.
After renovation and expansion works, on 1 April 2015 the museum, with an extension of 60 000 m², completely renovated was inaugurated again with an exhibition area more than doubled, an exhibition hall, and teaching areas.
The museum is divided into four floors (three floors above ground and one underground) with a chronological visit route. Some of these expansion interventions were carried out thanks to the Lotto Game, based on what is regulated by law 662/96.
In addition, the museum is equipped with an important library, restoration and study spaces for mummies and papyrus and since June 2015 it has participated in an international archaeological expedition to Egypt.
After one year from the reopening, with the new installation the result is almost 1 million visitors, thus positioning itself among the most visited museums in Italy.
Collection
In the museum there are more than 37 000 pieces covering the period from the Paleolithic to the Coptic era. The most important are:
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- the intact tomb of Kha and Merit;
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- the rock temple of Ellesija;
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- the Royal Canon, known as the Turin Papyrus, one of the most important sources on the sequence of Egyptian rulers;
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- the Mensa isiaca, which the Savoy obtained from the Gonzaga family in the 17th century;
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- the funeral canvas, painted fabric from Gebelein and discovered in 1930 by Giulio Farina;
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- Djoser's reliefs;
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- the statues of the goddesses Isis and Sekhmet and that of Ramses II, discovered by Vitaliano Donati in the temple of the goddess Mut in Karnak;
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- the Papyrus of the gold mines;
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- the sarcophagus, the trousseau and the scale plan of the tomb of Queen Nefertari;
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- the Tomb of Maia, rebuilt in the museum.
Egyptian Museum of Turin - Virtual Tour 360°
Address: Via Accademia delle Scienze, 6, 10123
Phone: 011 561 7776
Site:
http://www.museoegizio.it/Location inserted by
Stefano Vigolo