Description
The decision to equip the Parma Museum with “Egyptian antiquities” coincides with the years of the development of Egyptology as a science, after the discovery of the Rosetta Stone and its deciphering in 1822. In 1826 the Milanese painter Giuseppe Molteni donated to the Museum “thirteen Egyptian idols… made of wood, bronze… made of earth enamelled with hieroglyphics… thirteen amulets… and a sacred scarab…”. This donation started the project to create a specific “Added Section of Egyptian Antiquities”: between 1830 and 1832 the director Michele Lopez managed to purchase a first substantial group of objects, including the sarcophagus of Shepsesptah, the mummy “counter-lid”, the three limestone funerary steles, the fragment of Amenemone’s wall relief, the two painted wooden funerary steles, the Amenothes papyrus, two canopic vases, two ostraka , 21 small bronzes, a funerary necklace, 8 wooden objects including toilet tubes, the headrest and the funerary boat.
After the end of Maria Luigia’s reign, no more objects from Egypt were purchased: subsequently, only isolated private donations arrived at the Museum. With the end of the 19th century, the fervor around the Egyptian section and Egyptology in the Parma museum died down.
The collection today consists of approximately 200 pieces covering a period between 2100 BC and the 1st century AD, mostly from Thebes and Memphis. Although relatively limited in quantity, this collection has pieces of notable historical and scientific value, so much so that it is still the object of interest and visits by scholars of international standing.
In 2009, the Magnarini collection of seal scarabs was added, purchased by the Cariparma Foundation in 2008 and then loaned to the then Superintendency for Archaeological Heritage of Emilia Romagna for its exhibition. Due to the number of specimens (over 400), rarity, breadth of the chronological scope covered, variety of motifs represented, materials and production techniques, the collection is considered one of the most prestigious currently in existence.
Bibliography
Scopriamo gli Egizi: tra sarcofagi e scarabei sigillo. Piccola guida per giovani visitatori alla Sezione Egizia del Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Parma, Roberta Convers, Parma, grafiche Step, 2009
Artworks and Collections
