Alexandria National Museum

Alexandria National Museum is located in the Horeya Street, near the center of the city, and the building of the museum was the residence of a former wealthy merchant, Asa'ad Basily Pasha, who constructed his villa over an area of 3480 meters in the Italian style. Basily lived in this house until 1953 and then he sold it to the American embassy for 53 thousand pounds. Until the supreme council of antiquities bought it for 13 million pounds in 1996 and then it was transmitted into a museum by the beginning of the third millennium.

The National Museum of Alexandria opened to the public in 2003, displays more than 1800 items from different eras: Pharonic, Ptolemaic which flourished greatly in Alexandria, Roman, Byzantine, and Islamic. The museum is surrounded by a beautiful garden full of shady trees and flowering plants. The first floor of the museum contains the Pharonic items including a lot of statues of different ancient Egyptian rulers and gods and very interesting portraits of Menkaure, Ikhnaton, and Hatshepsut. There are also some replicates of the tombs that were discovered in the Valley of the Kings. These tombs include Canoptic jars and many other interesting items.

 

The last floor of the museum displays the items that belong to the Coptic and Islamic civilizations. The collection includes 162 Islamic coins, candle holders, and other stuff. The Coptic section includes a lot of everyday life items made out of bronze, copper, and silver. There is also some interesting icons that demonstrates religious scenes of the Christ and the last super. This is beside a lot of cotton and textiles products that have fascinating with plan and animals ornaments.

 

Among the most important items of the National Museum of Alexandria, there is the famous statue of the ancient Egyptian writer, some pots that were found around the pyramid of Djoser in Saqqara. Afterwards, there is the section of the family of Mohamed Ali that includes a lot of jewelries made out of silver and gold that belonged to the royal family. The most interesting section in the Alexandria National Museum is the section that displays antiquities that were found under the sea in Alexandria.

 

The museum gives a total comprehensive illustration of not only the Alexandrian history but the history of Egypt.