Dubrovnik Museums, Archaeological Museum, Dubrovnik

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The large Egyptian collection of the Archaeological Museum in the Museum of Dubrovnik is made up of donations of now mostly unknown persons. The only known donators are Tonko Kuraica, Ivo Nordeli, and the brothers Frane (Dubrovnik, 1821–?)and Nikola (Dubrovnik, 1823–Vienna, 1892) Amerling who donated probably the majority of artifacts. Frane Amerling lived in Cairo in the second half of the 19th century. Nikola (Niko) Amerling lived in Alexandria from 1842 onwards, and he left Egypt after the British occupation in 1882. Brothers Amerling were both involved in the founding of the Museum to which the Amerling family donated many other artifacts gathered around the world. In 1872, they donated a collection of ancient Egyptian and Oriental artifacts to the local Dubrovnik museum. According to the records in the inventory book, all the artifacts originated from Egypt. The only recorded year of the donation is 1872. The time of arrival and the donors can be determined for only three artifacts (inv. nos. 638, 639, 3808). It can be concluded from the archive that the Amerling family donated a large collection in 1872, and as the Amerling brothers were frequently in Egypt, it can be assumed that they are the probable donators of the majority of artifacts. The archive records showed that one large collection was donated by Ivo Nordeli who is not mentioned as a direct donor in the collection’s inventory. Unfortunately, the precise datas are not preserved so the origins of the collection remains unknown.
The Egyptian collection today contains 191 smaller artifacts and a mummy whose authenticity and age has not been determined. The majority of artifacts date to the Late and Ptolemaic periods, but it is impossible to determine the provenance of the artifacts. During his examination of the collection I. Uranić identified 172 genuine and 30 fake objects; it was also established that one artifact originated from Etruria (inv. n. 3809). Scientific anylisis of the artifact will be done in the next few years.

CROATO-AEGYPTICA

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Dubrovnik Museums, Archaeological Museum, Dubrovnik

Items from the collection