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 When
people think of museums in Egypt, they are most often thinking of the Egyptian
Antiquities Museum, a truly fantastic archive of history. But there are
many other great museums in Egypt dedicated to every era of history, from the
dawn of civilization to modern times.
Truly one of the most interesting places to visit in Egypt is
the Coptic museum, even for those who are not Christian. More then simply a
archive of Coptic history, it intricately weaves a web between religions at the
end of the pagan era, and the beginning of the Christian period. It is a case
study in the formative years of a major religion that grew, and sometimes
intermingled, and sometimes borrowed from that of an ancient religion that it
was replacing.
In his book, Cairo, Biography of a City, James Aldridge says
it better then I ever could.
 "There
is one other historical collection in this old fortress which I always dread
going into - the Coptic Museum. The whole place opens up so many new avenues for
speculation on Egypt's role in the history of religions that it would require a
lifetime to follow up any single one of them, so I always leave feeling
frustrated and ignorant. The mythologies of ancient Egypt, Greece, Rome and
Christianity are so thoroughly entwined with each other in the artifacts of this
museum that sometimes the origins of one religion in another seems most
crude."
"In the year 300 Egypt was mainly (officially) pagan, but
by 330 it was predominantly Christian. These were the thirty vital years when
Rome was changing sides. In this Coptic Museum all the little alters for
Egyptian shrines and temple up to the first half of the fourth century are
pagan, but then suddenly like a biblical clap of thunder a little pagan
Aphrodite shell substitutes the beautiful goddess for a deeply cut Christian
cross - still in the shell."
"Official Christianity had thus arrived in the pagan
shrines of Egypt."
 "Victor
Girgas, the museum's chief curator, took considerable pride in showing me a
sixth-century niche of Jesus being suckled by Mary, just as Isis had suckled
Osiris three thousand years earlier. It was a modest boast of the continuity of
his own Coptic ancestry from ancient Egypt into modern Christianity. Even Father
Hanna was proud of the origin of the Christian cross in the Egyptian ankh rather
than in the crucifix."
Indeed, the museum is a rich source of thought provoking
displays. But it is even more then this. The museum also documents
everyday life during Egypt's Christian era, with items on display as common as
combs and utensils.
The Coptic museum is located in Old, or Coptic Cairo and is
very often on the itinerary of many tours. In fact, the area is called Coptic
Cairo because there are a number of ancient churches in the area that will
enhance one's visit to the museum. Certainly if the opportunity arises, this
repository should be visited. But for those who lack the means to achieve this
are not completely out of luck, as the museum has created a very nice as well as
advanced web site.
See also:
Archives
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