Coptic Museum

What is the Coptic Museum?

The Coptic Museum is Egypt's national museum of Christian art and archaeology, covering the period when Egypt moved from the pharaonic and Greco-Roman world to Christianity and then into the Islamic era. It was founded in 1910 by Marcus Simaika Pasha, a Coptic notable who gathered church treasures and archaeological finds that were otherwise being sold abroad or lost. A second wing was added in 1947, and the museum reopened in 2006 after a major renovation that followed damage in the 1992 earthquake.

The building is part of the experience. It sits within the walls of the Roman Babylon Fortress, and its galleries are fitted with carved wooden ceilings and mashrabiya screens salvaged from old Cairo houses. The garden, with its fountain and fragments of carved stone, is a calm place to rest between the churches. Its position, in the middle of Coptic Cairo, makes it easy to fit between the Hanging Church and the old lanes.

Why are the Nag Hammadi codices important?

The Nag Hammadi codices are a library of 4th-century leather-bound books found buried in a jar near Nag Hammadi in Upper Egypt in 1945, preserving dozens of early Christian and Gnostic texts in Coptic, including the Gospel of Thomas. Many of these writings were known only by name before the discovery, and they transformed scholars' understanding of the diversity of belief in early Christianity.

The Coptic Museum is the home of the codices. Because they are fragile, only a selection is usually displayed, sometimes as facsimiles, and the display can change, so do not be surprised if you see a page or two rather than whole books. Nearby cases hold other important manuscripts, including the Psalter found at al-Mudil, a small Coptic book of Psalms discovered in the grave of a young girl and still in its original binding. Ask your guide to take you straight to the manuscript gallery if this is your main interest.

What makes Coptic textiles special?

Egypt's dry climate preserved thousands of woven linen and wool garments and hangings from about the 3rd to 7th centuries, and the museum's collection is one of the finest anywhere. Most come from burials, where people were dressed in their own clothing rather than mummified in the old manner.

Look for tunic bands and roundels woven in tapestry technique with purple and red wool on undyed linen. The subjects show the transition of the age: Nile gods, dancers, hares and grapevines from the classical world sit alongside crosses, saints and biblical scenes. The colours on some pieces are startlingly fresh. If you have seen the "Coptic" textile cases in museums in Sydney or Melbourne, this is where the tradition comes from.

What else should you see: stone, frescoes, icons and woodwork

Beyond the manuscripts and textiles, allow time for the carved stone from early monasteries, the wall paintings from Bawit, the icon galleries and the woodwork.

• Stone carving: capitals, friezes and niches from the monastery of Apa Jeremiah at Saqqara and the monastery of Apa Apollo at Bawit in Middle Egypt, with vine scrolls and shell motifs that bridge late Roman and early Christian design. A stone pulpit from Saqqara is among the oldest surviving in Egypt.
• Frescoes: painted niches from Bawit showing Christ enthroned and the Virgin with the apostles, some of the earliest Christian painting in Egypt.
• Woodwork: the carved sycamore lintel from the Hanging Church, showing Christ's entry into Jerusalem, plus inlaid doors and screens.
• Icons: from medieval panels to the gilded 18th-century work of Cairo's icon painters.
• Metalwork and ivories: censers, crosses, lamps and liturgical vessels.

The museum also shows how Coptic art borrowed from the past: an ankh evolving into the looped Coptic cross, or Horus on horseback becoming St George.

How long do you need, and when should you go?

Allow 60–90 minutes for a guided visit of the highlights, or two hours if you are a keen student of early Christianity or textiles. Go mid-morning, after visiting the Hanging Church at opening time, when the first wave of groups has moved on. The galleries are cool and the museum makes a good break on a hot day.

The museum is opposite Mar Girgis station on Metro Line 1, 20–30 minutes by car from downtown and around 45–60 minutes from Giza. It is about 10 minutes' drive from the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization, which makes a natural afternoon pairing.

Tickets and tips

Buy tickets at the entrance or online; prices, hours and photography rules change, so check egymonuments.gov.eg before you go. At the time of writing, photography without flash is generally allowed in the galleries, sometimes with a separate permit, but manuscripts may be off-limits. Bags pass through a scanner. Labels are in Arabic and English but fairly brief, so a guide who knows Coptic history adds a great deal. The museum is part of our Christian Egypt tour, and you can read about Egypt's other Christian sites in our Christian Egypt guide.