Located in the South of Europe, a country called Italy has a rich culture of museums, and there is a particular museum that specializes in Egyptian archaeology and anthropology, called Museo Egizio. Along with a huge collection of Egyptian antiquities it also has more than 30,000 must see artifacts. It gets many international tourists every day.
The University of Turin already had a substantial collection of artifacts, which lead to the building of this museum. In the 19th century entire Europe was almost hypnotized by the Egyptian culture. People all over the world and from all walks of life wanted to see and experience the Egyptian culture.
Over the period of many years many ancient artifacts were collected by Piedmontese Drovetti, a French consul general. In the years 1903 and 1920 some preservation camps were organized by the Arabs at Nile, which again led to more finds by Italians. From the 1930 to 1969 many more artifacts were contributed to the collection and finally in the year 1988 the museum was completely ready.
Key Highlights Of The Museum: The following are the major highlights of the museum that you will see after buying the Egyptian Museum Turin tickets. These are:-
- Papyri, written documents from the year 300-1600 BC
- Paintings found in the tombs in the year 1911 that depict temple and agricultural activities.
- An exclusive cloth found in 1930 in the tomb of Gebelien which had paintings of boats, ritual art forms and hunting activities.
- Ellesija Temple, originally from Nubia that is more than 3500 years old. Bringing it to Italy from Egypt was a task and it had to be dismantled and then rebuilt in Italy.
- Dier el-Medina or The Tomb of Kha that was discovered in 1906. It is said to have been built before the year 3500 BC. It was found in the excavation executed by the Italian archeological mission and contains clothes, furniture, sculptures and grooming objects.
Some Interesting Facts About The Museum:-
- The first object to be kept in the museum was made in Rome, the Altar of Isis. It was made around 1st century AD for the Goddess Isis.
- The last object that was kept in the museum was The Temple of Ellesija.
- Preservation campaign to protect the Nubian monuments is the main objective behind building of this museum.
- Semi private tours to the museum are encouraged more with a maximum of 10 participants allowed at once. This makes the tour more informative and intimate. A guide accompanies your group and explains everything minutely so that you can soak in the history of each object.
The museum is open on all weekdays from 10 am onwards. The museum has got English speaking guides but the primary language is Italian, so be careful while picking up a guide. If your groups are not formed as per the museum norms then the entire money is either refunded or you are asked to choose another date.
Children below the age of 3 years get free entry and there is also a special discount for students in the age group of 4-25 as well as senior citizens above 65 years.
Some Hollywood movies might be able to give you a glimpse of what the museum looks like and what to expect inside. Tours organized by Musement Turin takes you deep into the history of Egypt in well-organized semi-private tours. So book your tickets now.
