Alexandria National Museum
๐ Location: Tariq al-Horreya (Horreya Avenue), central Alexandria ย ยท ย ๐บ Focus: History of Alexandria ย ยท ย ๐๏ธ Tickets: ~150 EGP foreign adults
Opened in 2003 in a beautifully restored Italianate villa once owned by an American consul, the Alexandria National Museum is the easiest single place to understand the city's 2,300-year history. Around 1,800 carefully selected objects are spread over three floors, arranged chronologically: pharaonic (lower ground), Greco-Roman (ground), and Coptic, Islamic and modern (upper).
The pharaonic basement is mostly material brought up from underwater Alexandria โ busts and statues retrieved from the Eastern Harbour and the bay of Abu Qir where Cleopatra's quarter and the temple of Isis Pharia sank in successive earthquakes. The Greco-Roman ground floor centres on Ptolemaic statuary, a row of magnificent mummies and Fayum portraits, jewellery, and a beautifully laid-out scale model of the ancient city. The upper floor covers Christian Alexandria (textiles, icons), Islamic Alexandria (manuscripts and ceramics), and a fascinating finale on the cosmopolitan modern city through to 1952 โ including pieces from the royal palaces of Montazah and Ras al-Tin.
Highlights
- Underwater finds from Cleopatra's quarter
- Fayum mummy portraits
- Scale model of ancient Alexandria
- Christian icons and Coptic textiles
- Royal pieces from Montazah and Ras al-Tin
Visiting
- Opening hours: 9 am โ 4:30 pm
- Tickets: ~150 EGP foreign adults
- Best time: rainy or windy days โ Alexandria's weather can shift fast
- Nearby: Royal Jewelry Museum, Kom el-Dikka, Graeco-Roman Museum