Facts about the Museum
The Coptic Museum was created after a great effort from its founder who used all the necessary material to study and discover the Christian history in Egypt. Now, his museum is a great success in linking the Pharaonic, Greco-Roman and Islamic antiquity.
You can find this museum in the middle of the fortress of Babylon which is a part of an old city built in 98 A.D by Emperor Trajan. This city also hosts all the historical churches like St. Sergius church, St. Barbara church and the Hanging Church, these churches date back to the 4th and 6th century.
On an area of 8,000m2, the Coptic museum exists, including the main building and the garden. Inside the main building there are lots of precious and rare pieces like historical icons and clothes, some old manuscripts, priestly garments, and wooden panels. The wooden ceilings and the marble fountains of the museum were collected specially for the museum from the old Coptic palaces.
The coptic museum was entirely renovated before its centenary celebration to present the best of Coptic art and the culture history. Now, the Museum hosts a huge collection of 16,000 art works; about 1,200 of real treasure are presented to the public and about 6,000 papyrus manuscripts. These manuscripts were very important as they have the Psalms of David and the manuscripts of Nag Hammadi.
On 26th June 2006, President Hosni Mubarak shows a big interest in the Coptic Museum and came personally to inaugurate it in a huge event.
Let’s have a look at another important part of Egypt’s history which expresses the Egyptian identity. Coptic history is an integral part of Egyptian culture that you will truly enjoy discovering. Egypt always amazes the world with its treasures in all aspects, make sure to not miss any of them. A real adventure must be taken in the Coptic Egyptian history.