In Abdel-Nasser Street in downtown Alexandria stands the Graeco-Roman Museum, with its distinguished temple-shaped façade that reminds visitors of ancient Alexandria and how Greek culture melded with Egyptian influences after the conquest of Egypt by Alexander the Great in 332 BC. Behind its distinguished neo-classical façade of six columns and a pediment, built in 1895 by the Italian archaeologist Giuseppe Botti, is the large Greek inscription MOYÓEION (museum). The museum has been renovated several times during its history, the last time 20 years ago, but over the past eight years it has seemed to have been in limbo as it awaits a new round of restoration. It consists of 27 halls and an attractive garden, which offer an excellent introduction to Egypt's Graeco-Roman period. Since its construction at the end of the 19th century, the museum has put on display a collection of 40,000 priceless objects, including sculpture, mosaics, woodwork and coins. It has also displayed several pieces from the third century BC, such as a sculpture of the ancient Egyptian god Apis in the form of a bull in black granite, mummies, sarcophagi, tapestries and other objects offering a view of Graeco-Roman civilisation in its contact with Egypt. The collection is the product of donations from wealthy Alexandrians, as well as of excavations led by successive directors of the institution, both within the city and in its environs. Certain other objects have come from the Organisation of Antiquities in Cairo, now the Ministry of State for Antiquities (MSA), particularly those from the Pharaonic period and from various digs undertaken at the beginning of the last century in Fayoum and Benhasa. The institution started life with 11 galleries, but was gradually enlarged in later stages. The 25th gallery was inaugurated in 1984, and this contains a variety of coins from different countries, chronologically arranged and dating back to 630 BCE and continuing through to Egypt's Ottoman period in the 19th century. This collection is a fascinating record of civilisation in the process of change as religions merged and society evolved. In 2005, the museum was closed for restoration and its building was hidden beneath iron scaffolding and a large green sheet as it awaited its fate. Finally, and after eight years of being off limits to tourists, the Graeco-Roman Museum will now once again be restored to regain its former glory and provide more facilities for visitors. This is thanks to the Italian government, which has provided the funds to rehabilitate the museum. “The funds for the restoration of the Graeco-Roman Museum come within the framework of a memorandum of understanding [MOU] signed with Egypt in 2008 to strengthen the ties of friendship, cultural and scientific cooperation, and the protection of cultural heritage between Italy and Egypt,” said Hisham Al-Leithi, director of scientific publications at the MSA. Al-Leithi said that work at the museum had previously stopped as a result of the 25 January Revolution, but that it had been restarted just last week when Minister of State for Antiquities Mohamed Ibrahim and Italian Ambassador to Egypt Maurizio Massari had signed an agreement to restore the museum, the North Cemetery in Saqqara outside Cairo, and the Medinet Madi archaeological site in Fayoum. Ibrahim said that the funds would be provided by the Italian government, from a debt-swap programme and from the Italian Development Agency. The funds allocated amounted to $6 million, he said, and the restoration work would be carried out in collaboration with the Universita della Tuscia in Viterbo, Italy, over the coming 18 months, including the restoration of the building itself, the replacement of the showcases, the installation of new lighting, ventilation and security systems, and the renewal of the overall display. Ibrahim said that the façade of the museum would be kept as it is and that the changes would be made inside the building only. A conservation laboratory, children facilities, lecture hall, cafeteria and bookstore are planned. Under the new plans, the museum will include halls for the display of its permanent collection, a section dedicated to archaeological study and research, and a museum for children. Italian architects will also use state-of-the-art techniques to make the museum more environmentally friendly. The museological project is divided into three key parts: the main hall, the exhibition sections and the “multimedia isle”. Al-Leithi said that the main hall would be dedicated to artefacts related to the main theme of the museum, which was the City of Alexandria. Within this section there would also be a “multimedia isle”, he said, conceived as a space for voices and images that would start with the descriptions of the city found within the writings of ancient authors, first and foremost in the Geography of Strabo, and would include a reconstruction of the ancient city and a kaleidoscopic narrative of voices and images of the monumental ruins of the city and its monuments The exhibition sections will show the history of the museum itself as well as the history of Alexandria and the Delta before and after Alexander the Great, with the focus on the Pharaonic site of Canopus and the Greek emporium of Naucratis. The life of Alexander the Great, as well as his worship and images, will also be among the collections on display in the multimedia isle. A gallery of portraits of Egypt's Ptolemaic rulers in the forms of portrait busts, coins and other artefacts will also be among the collection on display, as well as images of the relevant Roman emperors and their images with a gallery of statues and portraits of the emperors and members of the Roman imperial court. A gallery of important Alexandrian deities, whether combined or syncretistic, such as Serapis, Isis, and Hathor, or Greek figures like Dionysus and Heracles, will also be presented. The sacred topography of ancient Alexandria will be presented through two cult places: the Serapium, where some of the most famous masterpieces of the museum were found, and the Ras Al-Soda Temple, probably dedicated to Isis, with its rich sculptural decoration. A special section on the cult places of the Fayoum will be dedicated to the region's crocodile gods and the other important archaeological items preserved in the museum. It will include the remains of the limestone temple dedicated to Sobek from the reign of Ptolemy III (246-221 BCE) at Theadelphia and a collection of basalt statues of priests from the Temple of Soknopaiou Nesos. Funerary collections from the oldest Ptolemaic necropolis in Alexandria, the Al-Shatbi Necropolis located in the east of the city, and from the Greek necropolis of Al-Qabbari located outside the western gate, will also be included. To illustrate the fact that the original mouseion and famous Alexandria Library were the centres of intellectual life in the city in antiquity a large selection of literary papyri preserved in the museum will be put on show and these will be exhibited along with various objects illustrating school activities and scenes of intellectual life. Music and dance will also be illustrated through the display of a collection of Alexandrian terracotta statuettes and marble statues representing musicians and dancers. These will be further illustrated through the multimedia isle, conceived as a space of sound, images and 3D replicas of musical instruments. This will be set up in cooperation with the European Music Archaeology Project, a partner of the Universita della Tuscia. As a result, it will be possible to listen to music produced on replicas of ancient musical instruments, of which 3D reproductions will be put on display and made available to visitors. The Christian and Arab eras of Alexandria will be on show at the Museum through a collection of artefacts illustrating the city's history from the seventh century CE onwards. “Finally, the restoration of the Graeco-Roman Museum is coming true,” Ibrahim said. “The museum will not only be another tourist attraction, but it will also provide 1,000 jobs, which in turn will contribute to the economic growth of the community.” According to Massari, the agreement between Egypt and Italy to restore the museum bears witness to the health of the ongoing cooperation between the two countries and to Italy's role in cultural heritage conservation, the benefits of which go far beyond Egypt. “There is a very clear link between culture and economic development, tourism and job creation. This is not just about culture as an end in itself, but also about improving socio-economic conditions. Egyptian citizens will be the first to benefit,” Massari explained.
