Antiquities Minister Mamdouh al-Damaty and Alexandria Governor Tarek al-Mahdy reopened on Sunday the Royal Jewelry Museum after three years of closure due to security instability during the 2011 uprising, adding that citizens of Alexandria can visit it for free till mid-November.
Damaty said the museum was closed by army forces during the 2011 uprising to secure its contents.
Speaking about the contents, Damaty said the museum hosts 1,045 pieces, 683 of which are exhibited. Masterpieces include the platinum, diamond-studded crown of Princess Shweikar, the wife of Egypt’s last king Ahmed Fouad and another crown belonging to Princess Farida, the wife of late King Farouq. There is also a chess board presented to King Farouq by the Shah of Iran.
Ahmed Sharaf, head of the museums’ sector at the Ministry of Antiquities, said the museum’s building originally belonged to Princess Fatma Haidar who completed its establishment in 1923. Haidar used the facility as a summer residence until the 1952 revolution, when it later turned into a presidential rest house. It became a museum in 1986 based on a presidential decree.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
