Egyptian Museum Bonn
The Egyptian Museum of the University of Bonn presents one of the most important collections of original objects from Pharaonic Egypt in North Rhine-Westphalia .
The museum today
The museum is part of the University of Bonn and is located in the east wing of the Electoral Palace , the entrance is next to the Koblenzer Tor . The central part of the museum is the permanent exhibition devoted to Egyptian cultural history. It exhibits objects from both cult and everyday life of one of the oldest human high cultures . Regular special events complement the permanent exhibition. As the largest object in the overall exhibition, a 6 × 3 m wall cast from the temple of Karnak shows a battle scene ; also a model of the mortuary temple of Ramses III. in Medinet Habu is eye catcher. In the entrance area of the building on the ground floor there is a showcase with a model of the pyramid of Djoser .
panorama
In the “Panorama” section, aspects of pharaonic culture are presented in themed showcases: ceramics , tools, life and luxury, writing, pharaoh , gods, myths, death and mourning, art . The objects on display range from the pre-dynastic period to the Greco-Roman period . There are several wall reliefs from an Egyptian grave from the Pharaonic era , as well as originals of personal burial accessories and furnishings such as mummy masks, ushabti and wooden figures. Figures of gods, steles and animal mummies are also part of this section of the exhibition.
Study collection
In the study collection, visitors can go on a voyage of discovery themselves and marvel at different object classes (ceramics, stone vessels, sculptures, ushabtis , amulets, etc.) in historical and thematic grouping. The excavation finds from the Qubbet el-Hawa near Aswan shown here are of particular importance . These include objects that are unique in Europe, such as the clay pots described in ancient Hieratic script, two of the painted bowls only in use at Qubbet el-Hawa and relics from an ancient bronze casting workshop.
Museum of the collections
In the Museum of Collections, exemplary examples of the different motivations for private collecting of Aegyptiaca are given. Bundles that were made available to the museum as donations or loans are exhibited here. In addition to smaller objects such as shabtis and amulets, there are always outstanding individual pieces that tell of the aesthetic pleasure that preoccupies with ancient Egypt. But also very simple found objects and memories create an imaginary landscape for the collector, which he integrates into his living environment. Even imitations and forgeries have their meaning and value. This highlights an important element of the European debate on the Orient : that preoccupation with these things from a distant and past culture is still of great importance not only for scientists, but also for collectors, visitors, travelers and locals.
history
The first objects for a collection of Egyptian antiquities were acquired in 1820/1821 by the orientalist and Bonn theology professor Johann Martin Augustin Scholz , who accompanied the Prussian officer Heinrich Menu von Minutoli on his expedition to Egypt. The pieces first passed into the possession of the University Museum of Rhenish Antiquities and were finally transferred to the Classical Archeology Collection of Classical Archeology, now the Academic Art Museum.
After its founding in 1897, the University's Egyptological Department took on responsibility for expanding this collection: the first professor, Alfred Wiedemann , with his connections in the professional world, ensured numerous donations from excavators and institutes (the finds from the Naqada tomb are from Flinders Petrie ) . The factual subordination of the collection items to Egyptology did not take place until later, probably in 1928, when the Egyptologists under Hans Bonnet were given their own premises. Large parts were destroyed in the Second World War . B. Relief fragments from the pyramid temple Sahures and from the sun sanctuary of Niuserre , the coffin of Nechet as well as numerous steles and a large late-time wooden coffin. Excavations on the Qubbet el-Hawa near Aswan by Elmar Edel , head of the seminar from 1955 to 1982, replenished the stock; Donations and loans supplemented the collection. From 1991 the chair holder Ursula Rößler-Köhler tried to get her own premises. From 1997 the former fencing hall, previously the hall of the Order of St. Michael in the history of the university, was made available as 290 m². After renovation and alterations, the Egyptian Museum was opened to the public on March 16, 2001.
In 2013, the couple Ursula and Karl-Heinz Preuß donated their Ägyptiaca collection to the museum. Among them were almost three hundred stone arrowheads for the museum's teaching and study collection.
The opening of the collection to the public was made possible by the museum's friends' association, which celebrated its tenth anniversary on November 10, 2007.
literature
- Silke Grallert, Isabell Stünkel (ed.): Bonn collection of Aegyptiaca. Bonn 2004.
- Gabriele Pieke (Ed.): Death and Power, Concepts of the Beyond in Ancient Egypt. Bonn 2006.
- Christina Regner; Scarabs and scaraboids (= Bonn collection of Aegyptiaca. Vol. 1): Wiesbaden 1995.
- Christina Regner: Make-up palettes (= Bonn collection of Aegyptiaca. Vol. 2). Wiesbaden 1996.
- Christina Regner: Ceramics (= Bonn collection of Aegyptiaca. Vol. 3). Wiesbaden 1998.
- Michael Höveler-Müller : Finds from grave 88 of the Qubbet el-Hawa near Aswan: (The Bonn holdings) (= Bonn collection of Aegyptiaca. Vol. 5). Wiesbaden 2006.
Web links
- Museum website
- Association for the promotion of the Egyptian Museum of the University of Bonn e. V.
- Article on the ten-year existence of the friends' association
Individual evidence
Coordinates: 50 ° 44 ′ 4.4 " N , 7 ° 6 ′ 20.4" E