In Pics: Watch Egyptian antiquities on display in Bulaq’s Antikhana

CAIRO – 10 August 2020: The Egyptian Museum’s account on Twitter published a number of ancient Egyptian artifacts that had been on display for more than 160 years in the Antiquities Museum in Bulaq. It is the first official antiquities protection department.

Some of the magnificent ancient Egyptian antiquities housed in the Antiquities Museum in Bulaq for 160 years – Twitter

Egyptian antiquities continued to be subject to looting and destruction until Khedive Abbas Helmy I issued orders to the directorates to impose strict control on foreigners and Egyptians, who were stealing, hiding and selling antiquities.

Until August Mariette, who discovered the entrance to the Serapeum in Saqqara, came. He made excavations in the cemetery of the calf Apis, which lasted nearly three years, and sought to convince those in power to establish an Egyptian Antiquities Service and an Egyptian Museum.

On June 19, 1858, Khedive Said approved the establishment of an Egyptian Antiquities Authority, and appointed him as Commander of Antiquities Department as well as the Department of Excavations.

Some of the magnificent ancient Egyptian antiquities housed in the Antiquities Museum in Bulaq for 160 years – Twitter

Mariette launched intensive archaeological research programs and established an antiquities store on the banks of the Nile in Bulaq, which was transformed on February 5, 1859 into a museum when the treasure of Queen Ahhotep I was discovered in the Draa Abul Nagaa area in Thebes.

One of the most important pieces discovered was the coffin, in which a collection of jewels, jewelry and weapons of a high degree of magnificence was found, which incited Khedive Said’s enthusiasm for establishing a museum of Egyptian antiquities in Bulaq.

Some of the magnificent ancient Egyptian antiquities housed in the Antiquities Museum in Bulaq for 160 years – Twitter

The museum was built during the reign of Khedive Ismail and was opened for visits for the first time in 1863. In its inception, the museum was a huge building overlooking the Nile, and it was called (House of Antiquities or Antikhana). 

However, it was exposed to the Nile flood in 1878 and the halls of the museum were flooded to the point that a group of exhibits of scientific artistic value were lost.