The Gregorian Egyptian Museum

The Gregorian Egyptian Museum was founded in 1839 by Pope Gregory XVI; it was organized according to the indication of the Italian Egyptologist Father L.M. Ungarelli.  The works of art are kept inside the palace of Pope Innocenzo VIII, in the fresco rooms such as Barocci and Zuccari.

Here are gathered monuments and artifacts of Ancient Egypt, where they were taken during the imperial period, some from Rome and some from Villa Adriana in Tivoli, once owned by private collectors and purchased in the 18th Century. The interest shown by the Popes in Egypt was linked to the key role attributed to this country from Sacred Scriptures in the History of Salvation.

The Museum is divided into nine rooms built in a large semicircle chamber that opens onto the terrace of ‘Nicchione Della Pigna’ in which there are numerous sculptures.  In the last two rooms are kept artifacts from ancient Mesopotamia, Syria and Palestine.

The statues of the priest Udja-Hor-res with inscriptions are of great interest, which seem to relate to the conquest of Egypt by the Cambise in 525 BC and those of Queen Tuia, mother of Ramses II, dated around early XIII century BC, King Ptolemy Filadelfo and Arsinoe II.