20/02/2025
Museum of Islamic Arts !
This museum (MIA) has a collection of over 103,000 artifacts which was amassed starting in1880 on the orders of Khedive Ismail Pasha who asked that archaeological rarities from the Islamic era be gathered and preserved. The art is displayed in collections according to the historic era. The museum came to its present building in 1903 and has continued to expand its collection through purchases, donations and excavations.
The scope of the collection also expanded to include pieces from throughout the Islamic world and from the 7th century to the end of the 19th century. The pieces are displayed in 25 halls and an archaeological garden. The work is displayed in chronological order from the Umayyad, Mamluk, Ottoman eras to groups of work from the same country like Turkey and Persia. There are also themed sections according to the type of art like funeral art, epigraphy, calligraphy, glassware, metal work and astronomy. Among the highlights there are panels which survived from the Western Palace of Al Kahira Palace; mihrabs of the tombs of Sayeda Ruqayya and Sayeda Nafeesa as well as carved wooden caskets and brass candlesticks from the Ayyoubid period. You can see Mamluk enameled mosque lamps and pieces of furniture from the various eras. There is a collection of Iranian and Turkish carpets and a 19th century fountain from Rhoda Island's Monasterli Palace.
There are ceramics, textiles, stones, lacework, filigree, seals, weights, copper, gold and silver.