Antiquities Minister Khaled al-Anany inaugurated on Tuesday, February 7, the Hunting Museum of Prince Mohamed Ali’s Palace in Manial, where hunting trophies belonging to the royal family members are displayed.
Foreign dignitaries and ambassadors, along with several foreign institute directors attended the inauguration, in addition to senior Antiquities Ministry officials and university professors.
The museum had been closed for 10 years, said Elham Salah, Museums Sector Chairman at the Antiquities Ministry. She stressed the ministry’s keenness on the renovation of museums and on promoting tourism through similar projects aimed at the development of archaeological sites.
The restoration of the Hunting Museum was accomplished under the Museums Sector’s supervision, at a cost of around LE150 million, Salah said.
Meanwhile, Walaa Eddin Badawy, Director General of Prince Mohamed Ali Palace, said that 1,180 artifacts are now on display in the newly-inaugurated museum, including mumified animals, birds, butterflies and other hunting trophies belonging to King Farouk, Prince Mohamed Ali and Prince Youssef Kamal.
The museum also houses the skeletons of a camel and a horse that carried the Keswa or cloth which covered the Kaaba on a trip from Egypt to Saudi Arabia, he added.
The museum includes a children’s section that encourages kids to draw the artifacts they saw during their tour, emphasizing the role of museums as educational establishments, Badawy explained.
The Hunting Museum was first established in 1963, to display the hunting trophies of the royal family after the 1952 revolution. It was closed for renovation in 2007.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
