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About
The museum presents the archaeology of Middle Egypt's Hermopolis region and the recovered collection of a museum that was nearly lost.
Founded in 1963 in Mallawi, Minya Governorate, the Mallawi Museum displays artefacts from nearby sites, above all Hermopolis and the necropolis of Tuna el-Gebel, centres of the cult of Thoth. In August 2013 it was ransacked during unrest; one staff member was killed and almost the entire collection was stolen or damaged. Following a UNESCO alert, community returns and police recoveries, the museum reopened in September 2016 after renovation, with around 950 objects — Pharaonic statues, animal mummies, painted wooden and alabaster coffins, Greco-Roman mummy masks, Coptic and Islamic objects.
Why this museum matters
Exhibo editorial
Mallawi, a market town in Minya, ten minutes from Hermopolis and the necropolis of Tuna el-Gebel. The museum opened in 1963 for the finds of those two sites — baboons and ibises sacred to Thoth, painted coffins, mummy masks. In August 2013, in the violence after Morsi's fall, it was looted: a member of staff was shot dead, 1,049 of its 1,089 objects disappeared, and what could not be carried was smashed or burned. UNESCO issued a Red List. Local people returned pieces for a small reward; a statue of Ankhesenamun turned up in a Cairo bazaar. In September 2016 it reopened with most of the collection back. Few museums tell you so plainly what they are for.
Visit
Hours, tickets, and directions for Mallawi Museum.
Address
Mallawi, Minya Governorate, Egypt
Opening hours
- Monday
- 09:00 – 15:00
- Tuesday
- 09:00 – 15:00
- Wednesday
- 09:00 – 15:00
- Thursday
- 09:00 – 15:00
- Friday
- 09:00 – 15:00
- Saturday
- 09:00 – 15:00
- Sunday
- 09:00 – 15:00