National Museums Liverpool
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National Museums Liverpool,
William Brown Street,
Liverpool
L3 8EN
United Kingdom
Telephone +44 (0)151 478 4378
Fax +44 (0)151 478 4350
National Museums Liverpool (NML) is a national institution responsible for eight museum venues in Liverpool and is England’s only national museums group based entirely outside London. World Museum Liverpool, previously called Liverpool Museum, is the largest of the eight venues with more than one million specimens and artefacts covering antiquity, ethnology, the natural and physical sciences. World Museum Liverpool doubled in size in 2005 following a major redevelopment costing £45 million, with exciting new hands-on galleries and attractions to bring visitors closer than ever before to our collections. The redevelopment brought back into public use, galleries that have been closed since the museum was bombed during the 1941 blitz, showcasing spectacular African collections and internationally important collections from America, Oceania and Asia.
The Egyptian and Sudanese Collection
The collection contains approximately 15000 objects from Egypt and Sudan and is the most important single component of the Antiquities department's collections. The chronological range of the collection spans from the Prehistoric to the Islamic Period with the largest archaeological site collections being Abydos, Amarna, Beni Hasan, Esna and Meroe.
The Lady Lever Art Gallery is also part of National Museums Liverpool and contains a collection of over 300 Egyptian objects collected by Lord Lever (1851-1925). These are largely from the excavations of John Garstang at Abydos and Meroe, many of which are on long-term loan to Bolton Museum and Art Gallery.
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M13519. Cosmetic container in the form of a servant carrying a jar. Late 18th Dynasty, c. 14th century BC.
©National Museums Liverpool.
Over 5000 Egyptian antiquities were donated to the museum in 1867 by Joseph Mayer (1803-1886), a local goldsmith and antiquarian. Mayer purchased collections from Joseph Sams of Darlington (which contained material from the Henry Salt sale in 1835), Lord Valentia, Bram Hertz and the Reverend Henry Stobart. Mayer had displayed his collection in his own ‘Egyptian Museum’ in Liverpool with a purpose of giving citizens who were unable to visit the British Museum in London some idea of the achievements of the Egyptian civilization. On the strength of this substantial donation other people began to donate Egyptian material to the museum, and by the later years of the nineteenth century the museum had a substantial collection that Amelia Edwards described as being the most important collection of Egyptian antiquities in England next to the contents of the British Museum.
The quality of the Mayer donation is high and there are some outstanding items, but with a few exceptions the entire collection is unprovenanced. The collection was systematically enhanced through subscription to excavations in Egypt. Altogether the museum subscribed to 25 excavations carried out by the Egypt Exploration Fund, the British School of archaeology in Egypt, and the Egyptian Research Account between 1884 and 1914. It was further developed through links with the Institute of Archaeology at Liverpool University and important collections came to the museum from the excavations of John Garstang who was honorary reader in Egyptian archaeology at Liverpool University 1902-7, and Professor of Methods and Practice of Archaeology 1907-41. The museum has always had a close relationship with the university; in the early 1920’s Percy Newberry, Brunner Professor of Egyptology, and his successor T. Eric Peet, catalogued the collection, assisted with the rearrangement of the displays, and produced a handbook and guide to the Egyptian collection (1st ed. 1923).
In May 1941, at the height of the Liverpool blitz, a bomb fell on the museum, which was burnt to a shell. Large parts of the collection had been removed at the outbreak of the war, but much remained on display or in store and many artefacts were destroyed. What remained was quite inaccessible and it was not until 1976 that a permanent Egypt gallery was opened in the rebuilt museum. Following the war the museum actively augmented the collection through collecting of new material from excavations in Egypt and Sudan and the purchase of other museum collections. In 1947 and 1949 the material from Garstang’s excavations at Meroe came to the museum, and in 1955 Liverpool University placed substantial amounts from its own collections within the museum, including many items from Beni Hasan and Abydos. In 1956 the museum purchased almost the entire non-British collections of the Norwich Castle Museum. This included EES excavated material from Amarna and other sites, botanical remains from Kahun and the private collection of Sir Henry Rider-Haggard. In 1973 the collection was increased further by the acquisition of part of the Sir Henry Wellcome Collection, and by the bequest of Colonel J. R. Danson in 1976, which included more material from Amarna and from Garstang’s excavations at Abydos.
Online database
For details of the collection including an image and catalogue entry for 1500 objects, see our searchable online catalogue at www.globalegyptianmuseum.org
A handy lavishly illustrated guide to the collection is also available: ‘Gifts of the Nile’ (London: HMSO, 1995).
Education
Many Egyptian objects are on display in two of the museum’s learning zones. The Weston Discovery Centre offers a range of activities and interaction to provide a fascinating insight into human history throughout the ages, using the museum's archaeology and ethnology collections. Demonstrator staff are on hand to help interpret the objects and displays, and there is a separate learning area for school groups and public workshops. The Treasure House Theatre creates multi-media presentations and performances using Egyptian objects that offer a gateway for learning about Egyptian burial customs, religion and other themes.
The Learning department of NML provide a year-round events programme that includes everything from story-telling and family events to talks and study days for adults, many of which have an Egyptian theme. For more about the Learning departments, click on http://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/learning/
The Antiquities department supports the teaching of Egyptology at the university through handling sessions and work placements.
Current work
The reserve collection of the Antiquities department has recently been moved to new purpose built storage facilities and the unpacking and reorganisation of the collection is ongoing.
Staff
The collection is cared for by the curator of Egyptian and Near Eastern antiquities. The National Conservation Centre in Liverpool provide specialist conservator staff to work with the collection. Many of the demonstrator staff of the learning department are archaeology or Egyptology graduates who develop learning programmes involving the collection.
