Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology

The Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology is attached to the Institute of Archaeology at the University College London. Students at UCL use the use the museum and its collections for help with their coursework and studies.

The museum was set-up alongside the Department of Egyptian Archaeology and Philology at UCL in 1892 with the financial backing of writing Amelia Edwards. Edwards donated her collection of hundreds of Egyptian artefacts; the collection grew substantially after William Flinders Petrie sold many items collected throughout his excavating career to UCL.

During the Second World War the collection was packed up and evacuated out of London. It was brought back in the 1950s and was housed in a former stable building where it remains to this day. Work on a new home for the collection is currently ongoing and a new museum building is expected to open in 2008 when the entire collection can be on display for the first time.

Currently the collection is made up of 80,000 objects all of which tell the story of Egypt and Sudan from prehistory to the Islamic period. Highlights of the collection include a piece of linen dated from 5000BC, a fragment of the first calendar, an early example of glazing, a bead net dress of a dancer from 2400BC, artwork from Amarna and Roman portraits of mummies.

The Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology is open Tuesday to Friday from 10m to 5pm and on Saturdays from 10am to 1pm. The museum also closes during the Christmas and Easter holidays.

Find out more about the Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology.

How to get there

The closest tube stations are at Euston Square and Warren Street. If travelling by bus the number 10, 14, 18, 24, 27, 29, 30, 73, 88, 134, 205 and 390 all serve the area.