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The Nubian Museum
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Located on the eastern bank of the Nile, The Nubian Museum is a piece of art in
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Taking it’s name from the Ancient Egyptians, as the word Nubia in Hieroglyphic
means “The Land of Gold”, in reference to the area's famous gold mines.
The total area of the museum is 10,110 square metres. The project is in
two sections: the museum building, and the landscaped outdoor exhibition.
Celebrating the culture and civilization of the Nubian region from
prehistoric times to the present, the Nubian Museum opened in December 1997.
Funded entirely by the Egyptian government, the museum is an important centre
for African and Middle Eastern archaeology and museology and also a vital
"community museum", with an educational section - the first in Egypt - that
organizes trips, lectures and workshops for schoolchildren and cultural events
for the public at large.
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| Entering at ground level, visitors are led down to the main exhibition area,
where they find the museum's center piece: a statue of Rameses II (1304-1237
BC), builder of the great temple at Abu Simbel. The walls and floors of the
interior spaces are in pink granite. |
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Out the museum building to an exterior exhibition area, visitors are attracted
to a canal which symbolizes the River Nile and surrounded by local
flora(plants) and fauna.
This area includes a cave housing prehistoric drawings of animals, and
also features a traditional Nubian house, an outdoor theatre for 500 people,
two shrines - the maqqam of Saida Zeinab and the maqqam of the 77 walis
(governors) - a musalla (place of prayer), and several graves, said to be
Fatimid, Roman and Coptic in origin.
The Museum is popular among the residents of Aswan, who are proud of it
and feel that it reflects their way of life. The museum plays an important role
in informing both Egyptian and international visitors about Nubian culture,
preserving an ancient civilization while providing a focal point for today's
community.
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