The Gregorian Egyptian Museum (Italian: Museo Gregoriano Egizio) is one of the oldest and most significant Egyptian museums outside of Egypt. It was founded by order of Pope Gregory XVI in 1839, reflecting the wave of Egyptomania that swept Europe after Napoleon`s campaigns and the decipherment of the Rosetta Stone (1822).
The formation of the collection was rapid and purposeful. Its core consists of artifacts discovered in Rome and its surroundings, which paradoxically creates a direct link between Egypt and the Eternal City.
Main sources of acquisition:
• Roman "Egyptian" finds: Statues of gods, obelisks, and sculptures brought to Ancient Rome in the 1st–3rd centuries AD. Roman emperors, such as Hadrian, had a fondness for Egyptian exoticism and adorned their villas (e.g., Hadrian`s Villa in Tivoli) with Egyptian works of art.
• Donations from collectors: A significant portion of the exhibits came from noble Italian families and antiquarians.
• Archaeological campaigns in Egypt: Later, the collection was supplemented thanks to excavations carried out in Egypt under Vatican patronage in the 20th century.
Thus, the museum is unique not simply for its collection of Egyptian antiquities, but for their Roman history of use. It tells not only about the religion of the pharaohs but also about how Egyptian cults (of Isis, Serapis) were perceived and adapted in the very heart of the Roman Empire.
Structure and Exhibitions
The museum occupies nine halls in the Belvedere Palace building and is located next to other Vatican Museums. Its exhibition is arranged in thematic and chronological order:
Funerary monuments and conceptions of the afterlife. Here you will find sarcophagi, canopic jars (vessels for organs), funerary stelae, and magical shabti figurines. The exhibition is dedicated to mummification rituals and beliefs in life after death.
Monumental sculpture and art of the Old Kingdom. Includes statues of pharaohs, nobles, and gods made of basalt, granite, and limestone, demonstrating the canons of Egyptian art.
Egyptian deities and their iconography. Halls dedicated to the pantheon: Osiris, Isis, Horus, Anubis, Thoth. Special attention is paid to syncretic Greco-Roman deities, such as Serapis.
Daily life and material culture. Household items are on display: jewelry made of faience and gold, cosmetic accessories, tools, pottery, allowing visitors to imagine the life of ordinary Egyptians.
Egypt in Rome. This is the key and unique section of the museum. It demonstrates how Egyptian art integrated into the Roman context: sculptures from the Temple of Isis on the Campus Martius in Rome, Roman copies of Egyptian originals, mosaics with Nile landscapes.
The Most Interesting and Significant Exhibits
Statue of Queen Tuya (Tuyi), mother of Ramesses II. A beautifully preserved monumental granite statue depicting the queen in characteristic headgear and with an ankh in her hand. It is a masterpiece of New Kingdom art, emphasizing the role of royal women.
Statue of Pharaoh Mentuhotep II (11th Dynasty). One of the oldest and rarest sculptures in the collection, dating to the Middle Kingdom period. It depicts the pharaoh in the characteristic pose of Osiris, symbolizing his divine nature after death.
Sarcophagus of the priestess of Isis, Djed-Mut-iues-ankh. An exceptionally beautiful painted sarcophagus with vivid depictions of gods and hieroglyphic texts from the "Book of the Dead." A striking example of funerary art from the Late Period.
Collection of papyri. Among them are fragments from the famous "Book of the Dead" with illustrations and spells, as well as administrative and ritual documents.
Statue of the Nile God (1st–2nd century AD). A fine example of Roman sculpture on an Egyptian theme. The river deity is depicted as a bearded old man surrounded by 16 small child figures, symbolizing the 16 cubits by which the Nile rose during the flood.
Reconstruction of part of the Serapeum (sanctuary of Serapis) from Hadrian`s Villa in Tivoli. Here you can see statues of Egyptian gods in Greco-Roman style, found at the emperor`s villa, vividly demonstrating the fashion for Egyptian cults in high Roman society.
The placement of the museum in the Vatican, the center of the Catholic world, symbolically emphasizes the dialogue of cultures and religions. The museum demonstrates that interest in Egypt is not merely archaeological curiosity, but a deep respect for one of the cradles of human spirituality, whose heritage influenced the entire Mediterranean civilization.
