Geological Museum
Visiting Hours: 9:00 am to 3:00 pm Ticket price: 5 pounds per person
The
Egyptian Geological Museum was established and opened for public in
1904, as a part of the Egyptian Geological Survey (EGS) founded earlier
in 1896. The museum introduces the Egyptian land and history to
visitors. Egypt is the place where civilization started. Mining and
metallurgy started some thousands of years ago, in predynastic times.
Egyptians were the pioneers in extraction and utilization of metals and
stones, the essential basics of civilization. They were the first
discover gold and copper and mined them from the Eastern Desert and
Sinai . The first geological map known in the world was drawn to
represent the Fawakhir gold mine on a papyrus in Turin Museum at
present. Iron was smelted from ores in Aswan. Smelting was also carried
out at Nokratis and Defna in Delta region . This added to the Egyptian
power and prosperity. During the Ptolemaic and Byzantien periods granite
was quarried from Mons Claudianus, the Imperial Porphyry from Gabal
Dokhan and the Breccia Verd from Wadi Hammamat . These were used in
decorating palaces all over the Roman Empire. Egypt was the first to
produce famous types of glass. Precious stones, specially turquoise,
emerald and peridot were picked and turned into very pretty jewelry by
the ancients.The geological history of Egypt as indicated by its fauna
and flora is displayed in the Museum. The unique collection of the Fayum
vertebrate fossils are on display. A large collections of Egyptian and
other famous minerals, ores and rocks are in the show cases, In
addition, a very valuable collection of meteorites picked from Egypt and
from other places in the world, are displayed. These inculude the
famous Egyptian eorite “Nakhlite” believed to be from Mars. The Museum
is served by a library with references going back to 1778, in addition
to up to date references and bibliographies. This is available to the
public and scientists. The Museum also includes some specialized
laboratories for mineralogical, petrological and paleontological (both
vertebrate and invertebrate) studies. Models for rare vertebrate fossils
are made to facilitate detailed studies and preserve the original
specimens. The Museum shares in the studies conducted on the
protectorates and outstanding geological features in order to raise the
public environmental awareness. Joint researches and cooperation with
other international geological surveys, universities and museums are
among the major concerns of the Museum. Cooperation with Duke University
(U.S.A.), Toronto (Canada) and Milano Geological Museums (Italy),
Museums of Natural History in London (U.K.) are good examples. Also,
support to local museum in universities and schools is offered. This
includes providing samples and training secondary school teachers and
specialists from other scientific institutions.
