Ancient Egypt Arrives at the Antequera Museum

Antequera/The mayor of Antequera, Manuel Barón, the municipal delegate for Tourism, Commerce and World Heritage, Ana Cebrián, the municipal delegate for Culture, José Medina Galeote, and the director of the Municipal Museum of Antequera (MVCA), José Escalante, have presented in a press conference a new temporary exhibition hosted by the municipal museum of Antequera.

The municipal officials explained that this is the first exhibition in the city that features original pieces from Ancient Egypt, specifically from the Blanco Caro collection currently deposited at the Royal Academy of Córdoba. Rafael Blanco Caro gathered throughout his life a collection of objects from ancient Egypt, where he had worked as a chief of excavations in four campaigns, under the command of the professor of Egyptian archaeology Ahmed Fakry during the major global campaign to save the areas that would be flooded after the construction of the Aswan Dam.

Professor at the Royal Academy of Córdoba since 1924, his interest was always to leave his archaeological collection to his hometown. The donation was formalized by his widow, Doña María Martínez, in 2013. The pieces in the collection relate to various themes, mainly associated with religious beliefs, funerary practices, and everyday life activities, with small format being the most abundant. All pieces have a dating and chronology prior to the Hellenistic period, focusing the selection on objects that represent the ancient Egyptian culture.

148 pieces from this collection, several of them dated 4,000 years BC, are now on display at the MVCA, constituting a new attraction for visitors until January 12 in the Manuel Cascales temporary exhibitions room. Additionally, it has been announced that during the month of December, two workshops related to Ancient Egypt will be held: one on writing and another on Egyptian mythology.