The Egyptian gallery

The Egyptian gallery is currently closed due to building works for the Royal Palace Reborn project. Highlights from the Egyptian collections are on display in the Arts of Living Gallery on the ground floor.

Norwich Castle has a small but significant collection of Egyptian artefacts. These date from 4500 to 2500 years old. Many of the artefacts were donated by wealthy travellers such as:

• Jeremiah Colman, who visited Egypt in the 19th century
• Henry Rider Hagged, the author of 'King Solomon's Mines'

The collection includes:

• The mummy of Ankh Hor, an important priest who worked in the temple of Amun in Karnak around 3000 years ago. It was previously held at Sandringham House near King's Lynn. King George V donated the mummy to the museum in 1923.
• An X-ray of Ankh Hor's mummy which shows lots of modern pins and clips. These probably date from the Victorian period when mummy 'unrolling' parties were popular.
• A clay model of a granary painted with figures on all four sides - one of the rarest objects on display. It is unusual because most of these were made from wood. They were buried within a tomb, and were intended to be used by the dead person to store grain needed in the afterlife.
• A fragment of pottery inscribed with the story of an Egyptian princess. This is one of the objects collected by Rider Haggerd, which he described in his novel 'She'. The pottery and inscription are fakes created especially for his novel. Despite this, they worked to create a national interest in all things Egyptian.

Search our collections

You can search the Norfolk Museums Collections to find items related to the Egyptians.