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OTHER EGYPTIAN
COLLECTIONS
IN URUGUAY
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Besides the Egyptian Museum of the Uruguayan Society of Egyptology, there are other museums in Montevideo that have objects belonging to such an ancient civilization, many of them of great beauty or value as archaeological artifacts, although unfortunately none of them comes from scientific excavations. They are all donations from individuals who bought them in Egypt a long time ago or from exchanges between institutions.
We thought it would be useful for people to know more beyond our regional boundaries about the existence of these museums and what they have in storage and on permanent exhibition.
MUSEO DE HISTORIA DEL ARTE
DE LA INTENDENCIA MUNICIPAL
DE MONTEVIDEO
This museum has recently been refurbished and offers the public an excellent collection of ancient Near Eastern and Classical art, most of them very good reproductions and many authentic objects. Under the able direction of its Coordinator, Gustavo Ferrari, and with the work of a team of skilled administrators and experts in conservation, it is currently carrying out an expansion into other neighbouring premises, where a museum of Precolumbian and Colonial Latin American art is also located.
With its ample floor area, it allows visitors the comfortable enjoyment and an adequate exhibition of its rich collections. The Egyptian Room contains objects belonging to most periods of ancient Egyptian history, from the Predynastic to Graeco-Roman times.
To the left, the entrance to the museum situated in downtown Montevideo; to the right a partial view of the Egyptian collection.
On the left, above, an Early Dynastic red granite vase, below, a Predynastic pot; in the middle, a relief bearing the cartouche of king Ramesses II; on the right, a fragment of a limestone relief bearing the head of a Pharaoh.
Model of the Temple of Khonsu at Karnak
If you wish to get in touch with the people at this museum, you can send an email to the following address:
MUSEO NACIONAL DE
HISTORIA NATURAL
This museum is the oldest in Uruguay, it was founded in 1837, and it contains Natural History and Anthropological collections, among which the only ancient Egyptian mummy in the country, together with its gilded mask and decorated wooden coffin. It was bought in Cairo by a Uruguayan engineer who visited Egypt in 1889 and was donated by him to this museum. Shortly afterwards, in 1891, the museum Director at the time, Dr. Carlos Berg, opened up this mummy in a, we think, unique manner, cutting the bandages that covered it with a longitudinal incision, so that from one side of the room the mummy looks almost as it did when it left the embalmer's workshop and from the other side, the excellent preservation of the body can be appreciated.
Besides this mummy (which was published in 1976 in the Revue d'Egyptologie Vol. 27), the museum also has the mummy of an ibis and the hands and feet of other human mummies, in which even the nail varnish has survived the ravages of time.
To the left, the entrance to the museum, situated at the limits of Montevideo's "Old City" and next to the venerable Solís Theatre; to the right, the gilded mask that covered the upper part of the mummy.
On the left, the upper part of the decorated wooden coffin and on the right, a detail of some of the hieroglyphic inscriptions that named the deceased as "Great Isis" and included Pyramid Texts rather than the more common excerpts from the Book of the Dead. This mummy has been dated to the Late Period of Egyptian history.
The Lady of the House, systrum player at the temple of the god Min at Akhmim, Great Isis, in all her eternal splendour.
In order to get in touch for any reason with the competent and always receptive Director of this museum, Lic. Alvaro Mones, you can send an email to the following address:
NOTE - The Egyptian mummy and the other ancient Egyptian objects in this Museum have been recently (August 2000) transferred for two years to the Museum of History of Art listed above due to the relocation of this Museum to new premises, so as to ensure continued exhibition.
MUSEO DE ARTES DECORATIVAS
PALACIO TARANCO
This museum is located in one of Montevideo's most beautiful buildings, the Palacio Taranco, that used to belong to a Uruguayan wealthy family and that now belongs to the state. It has recently been fully refurbished and is frequently used for diplomatic and cultural events. An area of this building, which is situated in the heart of Montevideo's "Old City", contains the museum which exhibits Classical Graeco-Roman and Muslim art and a small collection of ancient Egyptian statuettes.
Under the competent management of its Conservator, Lic. Susana Cavellini and her team of assistants, a new orientation was brought to this museum with a strong emphasis on research and new approaches to the study of these relatively small but rich collections.
Palacio Taranco.
Ushabtis or funerary statuettes meant to assist the deceased in the other world.
To the left and right, two statuettes representing the great god Osiris. Some of the yellow material covering the one on the right, assumed at first to be paint, was later identified as gold leaf.
In order to contact this museum, you can email to its Conservator at:
In case of any difficulty in contacting the above institutions, you can email to us and we will immediately send them your communication, comment or query. For the purpose, you may send it to:
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