The Graeco–Roman Museum: New Vision

Prof. Mona Haggag, Professor of Greek and Roman Archaeology at the Faculty of Arts, Alexandria University, and President of the Archaeological Society of Alexandria

28 February 2023

01:00 AM

Conference Center, Meeting Room (C)

The Antiquities Museum and the Zahi Hawass Center for Egyptology, affiliated to the Bibliotheca Alexandrina Cultural Outreach Sector, organize a lecture entitled “The Graeco–Roman Museum: New Vision”. The lecture is held on Tuesday, 28 February 2023; 1:00 pm, at the Bibliotheca Alexandrina Conference Center, Meeting Room (C). The lecture is delivered by Prof. Mona Haggag, Professor of Greek and Roman Archaeology at the Faculty of Arts, Alexandria University, and President of the Archaeological Society of Alexandria.

The lecture sheds light on the Graeco–Roman Museum. It was founded in 1892, and considered one of the most important museums of the Greek and Roman archaeology in the Mediterranean. Since its inception, the Museum has been delivering a widespread message about the Greek and Roman civilizations, and presenting the role Alexandria played as an Egyptian capital for almost a thousand years. In 2005, the Museum that showed the effect of time, closed its doors in order to be renovated. As implementation proceeds, the museum exhibition had to reflect upon the innovations of museum’s concept and modern scientific foundations in museum science.

The speaker presents the new vision underlying the Graeco–Roman Museum; following the development of its infrastructure. The vision includes an exhibition scenario and the artifacts added to the Museums holdings. It also features some halls featuring exhibits that take place for the first time in the Museum’s history; they recount historical stories of the exhibits in an interesting manner. This is preceded by an introduction to the Museum’s history, and its role in reviving the classical culture in Alexandria, and Egypt in general. She also showcases some rare antiquities of the new museum exhibition that aims to attract the regular and specialized visitors.

In addition, the speaker addresses the Museum’s expansion issue, and the initiative of the Archaeological Society of Alexandria to annex the vacant land adjacent to the museum—the land had been the premises of the Alexandria Governorate Office. In fact, the purpose of such an expansion is be more than just an archaeological exhibition. The Museum will be a house of archaeology, and archaeological and historical education; it will bring passion back, and a desire to revive the past.