Graeco-Roman Museum

The museum was founded in 1892 to hold the classical material coming out of the city and its region, and it accumulated one of the most important collections of Graeco-Roman Egypt anywhere: Hellenistic sculpture, Tanagra figurines, mosaics, coins, and the hybrid religious art in which Greek gods take Egyptian attributes and Egyptian gods take Greek faces. It closed in 2005 for restoration and stayed closed for eighteen years, reopening in 2023 with the building repaired, the galleries redesigned and a great deal more of the reserve collection on show. Highlights include a colossal head of Serapis, mummy portraits from the Faiyum, and material lifted from the sunken harbour excavations. The neoclassical building with its columned portico is itself part of the city's Belle Epoque fabric.

History

The museum began in 1892 in a five-room apartment on Rosetta Street and moved in 1895 to a larger building, inaugurated that year by Khedive Abbas II, whose neoclassical front of six columns bears the Greek word MOUSEION, "place of the Muses". Its directors included Giuseppe Botti, Evaristo Breccia from 1904 to 1932 and Achille Adriani, and its collection of more than 40,000 objects, from donations by wealthy Alexandrians and excavations in the city and its region, includes a black granite statue of the Apis bull, mummies, sarcophagi and tapestries, in 27 halls around a garden. It shut for renovation in 2005 and reopened on 11 October 2023 after 18 years (Wikipedia, Graeco-Roman Museum).

Highlights

• Hellenistic sculpture - the classical face of Ptolemaic Alexandria.
• Hybrid religious art - Greek and Egyptian gods merged in one image.
• Faiyum mummy portraits - painted panels from Roman-era burials.
• Finds from the sunken harbour - statuary recovered from the seabed.

When to go

April to November for the city; the museum is comfortable year round. Mornings are quietest. Two to three hours, more if the sculpture holds you. Check opening days, which have changed since the reopening.

What to expect

The long closure means older guidebooks and even some signs in the city are out of date. Not everything from the old displays has returned to view. English labelling is better than before but still uneven. It is a classical collection and will feel narrow to visitors focused on Pharaonic Egypt.

Nearby

Kom El Dikka is a short walk; the Alexandria National Museum is nearby.

Key facts