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Egyptian and Near Eastern Collection

The Egyptian and Near Eastern Collection incorporates more than 18,500 objects from Egypt, Nubia along its southern border, Mesopotamia, and the Arabian Peninsula. The pieces span a period of five thousand years, from the Predynastic Period (c.4500 B.C.E.) to the Christian era. Among the masterpieces in the collection are royal statues and reliefs, decorated caskets, funerary items, and an original cult chamber from an official’s tomb in Giza.

Down to the last detail

The Egyptian and Near Eastern Collection offers a superb window onto the artistic and cultural history of ancient Egypt.

Address

Egyptian and Near Eastern , Hochparterre
Maria-Theresien-Platz, 1010 Wien
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Opening times

Tue - Sun, 10 a.m. - 6 p.m.
Thu until 9 pm
 

further visit information

Tickets

Adults €23
Reduced admission €19
Kids / Teens under 19 free

Tickets

On average, visitors spend around 1.5 hours in the Egyptian and Near Eastern Collection.

Life and death were closely intertwined

Gigantic stone sarcophagi, painted wooden coffins, mummies, and all manner of funerary items testify to the special significance of the cult of the dead in ancient Egyptian culture. Statues and reliefs from tombs and temples offer an insight into the visual arts. The various writing systems of ancient Egypt are illustrated via papyri, clay or limestone fragments, and other inscribed objects. Clothing, tools, and cosmetic items are a window onto everyday life at the time of the Pharaohs.

From Egypt to the Near East

The Near Eastern Collection focuses on monuments from the ancient culture of South Arabia, which we have thanks to the researcher Eduard Glaser. Glaser sold approximately 600 objects that he had acquired during his fourth and final journey to Yemen in 1894 to the imperial collection in Vienna. The collection also includes noteworthy pieces from Mesopotamia, for instance a depiction of a lion made from glazed bricks that originally graced the access road to the Ishtar Gate of Babylon. 

Brick relief of a striding lion, time of Nebuchadnezzar II, 604-562 BC, Babylon, Processional Way

Discover the Egyptian and Near Eastern Collection in our online collection

The Egyptian and Near Eastern Collection on the floor plan

The Egyptian and Near Eastern Collection is permanently located on the ground floor.

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The Egyptian and Near Eastern Collection comprises over 17,000 objects spanning nearly 4,500 years and originating from regions such as Egypt, Nubia, Mesopotamia, and the Arabian Peninsula, making it one of the world's most significant collections of Egyptian antiquities.

The history of the collection

The earliest beginnings
hor-bak in Constantinople around 1560, he laid the foundation for the collection of Egyptian antiquities in Vienna. Widespread interest in collecting Egyptian artworks took hold in Europe at the start of the 19th century. The catalyst was the expedition led by Napoleon Bonaparte, who moved to Egypt in 1798 with 35,000 soldiers. His company also included 160 scientists, whose job it was to rigorously document and to publicise Pharaonic Egypt and its temples and tombs. The discovery of the Rosetta Stone by one of Napoleon’s soldiers provided the means for deciphering the hieroglyphs and led to the emergence of a new research discipline – Egyptology.

Naophorous statue of Gem-nef-hor-bak

Naophorous statue of Gem-nef-hor-bak , 30th Dynasty, 1st half of the 4th century BC, Inv. Nr. AE INV 62

Purchased, collected, gifted
At the beginning of the 19th century, the collection of Egyptian antiquities in Vienna was still relatively small. The inventory expanded considerably through a number of donations and acquisitions – in particular through the purchase in 1821 of the collection belonging to Ernst August Burghart, which contained around 3,000 items.
Many exceptional pieces in the collection, such as the monumental sarcophagus of Nes-shu-tefnut, are here thanks to Anton von Laurin, Austria’s consul general in Alexandria from 1834 to 1849. Crown Prince Rudolf, the son of Emperor Franz Joseph I, acquired a large number of Egyptian artefacts for the collection in Vienna during his travels to Egypt in 1881. One deeply passionate collector of Egyptian art was Archduke Ferdinand Maximilian, the younger brother of Emperor Franz Joseph. His collection of around 2,000 different objects, which he kept at Miramare Castle in Trieste, was actually intended to go to a museum in Mexico, where Maximilian was emperor from 1864. His violent death three years later meant these plans were no longer realised, and his collection was instead incorporated into the imperial collection in Vienna. 
In 1891, a rock tomb was discovered in western Thebes in which priests from the Third Intermediate Period (around 1000 B.C.) had hidden 153 burials – containing sarcophagi, mummies, and funerary items – from the hands of grave robbers. The abundance of finds led the Egyptian government to donate many objects to notable museums all over the world. The Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna received several sarcophagi and a large number of funerary items.

Austrian excavations
In the first half of the 20th century, under the leadership of Hermann Junker, the Austrian Academy of Sciences conducted excavations in Egypt and Nubia. The first excavation works took place in 1910 in Tura. Further campaigns followed in el-Kubanieh, Toshka, and Ermenna before extensive excavations began in 1912 on the rocky plateau of Giza – in the shadow of the Great Pyramids. The Egyptian and Near Eastern Collection owes its outstanding collection of Old Kingdom artefacts from Giza to the rules regarding the division of finds that were valid at the time. According to these rules, a part of the discoveries belonged to the excavators and, therefore, to the Austrian Academy of Sciences, which passed them on to the Kunsthistorisches Museum. The unique discoveries from Giza included the Reserve Head, a large number of tomb statues, decorative architectural components such as false doors and architraves, as well as coffins, jewellery, receptacles and other funerary goods. 
In the second half of the 20th century, excavations by the Austrian UNESCO Committee for the Rescue of Nubian Monuments and excavations by the Austrian Archaeological Institute in Cairo brought significant increases in archaeological material for the collection in Vienna. 

Statue group of Kai-pu-ptah and Ipep

Statue group of Kai-pu-ptah and Ipep, late 5th Dynasty, ca. 2400 BC, Inv. Nr. AE INV 7444

Unique! 
Three Egyptian monolith columns made of rose granite and measuring over six metres in height support the ceiling – instead of marble columns – and are installed in the exhibition rooms of the Egyptian and Near Eastern Collection. These papyrus-bundle columns were found in Alexandria and, in 1869, were given as a gift to Emperor Franz Joseph, who considered them for furnishing the museum. 
Also worthy of note are the murals on paper, which appear in Room I as large-scale installations to give the impression of an ancient Egyptian burial chamber. These are copies of mural paintings from the tomb of Nomarch Chnum-hotep II at Beni Hasan in Middle Egypt. They were made for the Vienna International Exhibition of 1873 and have been used at the Kunsthistorisches Museum since 1891.

Find out more about the scientific work of the Egyptian and Near Eastern Collection.

Collection

The Egyptian and Near Eastern Collection in our shop

Further exhibitions

Our exhibitions take you back to the rich history of our museum. Here, proven masterpieces meet newly explored themes - a look at art, culture and the past that continuously illuminates the collection.