The Egyptian Museum and Papyrus Collection of Berlin (German: Ägyptisches Museum und Papyrussammlung ) is home to one of the world's most important collections of ancient Egyptian artefacts, including the Nefertiti Bust . Since 1855, the collection is a part of the Neues Museum on Berlin's Museum Island , which reopened after renovations in 2009.
7-591: The Ikhernofret Stela ( Berlin Museum ref 1204) is an ancient Egyptian stela dated to the Middle Kingdom and is notable for its veiled description of how the mysteries of the deity Osiris were carried out in Abydos . The stela is 100 cm high and made of limestone. Osiris is depicted standing under a winged sun disk facing Senusret III . The text is laid out below Osiris in twenty-four horizontal lines. Underneath
14-667: The Hohenzollern kings of Prussia . Alexander von Humboldt had recommended that an Egyptian section be created, and the first objects were brought to Berlin in 1828 under King Friedrich Wilhelm III . Initially housed in Monbijou Palace , the department was headed by the Trieste merchant Giuseppe Passalacqua (1797–1865), whose extensive collections formed the basis. A Prussian expedition to Egypt and Nubia led by Karl Richard Lepsius in 1842–45 brought additional pieces to Berlin. In 1850,
21-609: The Kings Father " Osiris, Foremost of the Westerners" . The stela records how the festivities were celebrated in four main parts. The Egyptologist and novelist Christian Jacq used the Ikehernofret inscriptions as the foundation of his Osirian series " The Mysteries of Osiris ". Egyptian Museum of Berlin The museum originated in the 18th century from the royal art collection of
28-533: The collections moved to its present-day home in the Neues Museum, built according to plans designed by Friedrich August Stüler . The Nefertiti Bust, discovered during the excavations by Ludwig Borchardt in Amarna , was donated to the museum by the entrepreneur Henri James Simon in 1920; it quickly became its best-known exhibit. After World War II, during which the Neues Museum was heavily damaged by strategic bombing ,
35-801: The collections were divided between East and West Berlin . The main part remained in East Berlin and was displayed at the Bode Museum , while those artifacts evacuated to West Germany , including the Nefertiti Bust, returned to West Berlin. From 1967 to 2005, these items were housed vis-à-vis Charlottenburg Palace . The whole collection was reunited again after the Reunification of Germany , when it returned to Museum Island. The collection contains artefacts dating from between 4000 BC (the Predynastic era ) to
42-512: The period of Roman rule , though most date from the rule of Akhenaten (around 1340BC). The most famous piece on display is the exceptionally well preserved and vividly coloured bust of Queen Nefertiti . The collection was moved from Charlottenburg to the Altes Museum in 2005 and was rehoused within the newly reconstructed Neues Museum on Berlin's Museum Island in October 2009. The museum
49-469: The text, Ikhernofret , a 12th Dynasty treasurer under Pharaoh Senusret III, is depicted at an offering table with his family. The rituals celebrated the god's kingship, death and resurrection. The stela describes how Ikhernofret is regarded as a beloved " foster child " of the King who was made " Companion of the King " when twenty-six. He is sent on a mission to Abydos by the King to carry out work in honour of
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