Located
in the heart of the Arab world, the Museum
of Islamic Art (MIA) will reopen soon after after eight years of renovation
and reorganization of the collection. With
a new display including approximately 1700
objects, the MIA is still one of the most
important and largest collections on the
subject in the world. Moved here in 1903
from its original home at the Fatimd Mosque
of al-Hakim, this building is of tremendous
importance as it is the oldest building purposefully
built to display Islamic art.
The
collection was accumulated from various sources:
excavations, purchases, gifts and important
Islamic monuments in Cairo. Consequently,
the museum owns an impressive ceramics, textiles,
metalwork, carved wood and stone artifacts
that illustrate the material culture of Egypt
from the 7th - 19th centuries, as well as
the largest group of enameled and gilded
Mamluk mosque lamps in the world. Previously
arranged by material, the new scenario takes
a chronological approach, beginning with
the Umayyads, continuing with the Abbasid/Tulunid,
Fatimid, Ayyubid, Mamluk and Ottoman periods.
The second half of the tour includes artifacts
from Ottoman Turkey, Persia and al-Andalus,
as well as thematic sections, such as funerary
art, epigraphy, calligraphy, carpets and
textiles, geometry and astronomy and medicine.
Labels
are primarily in Arabic, with abbreviated
text in English. Brochures in English and
French are available upon request.
HOURS
OF OPERATION:
Open Daily 9:00
AM-5:00 PM
9:00 AM-3:00 PM during Ramadan
TICKET
COST:
General Admission:
Student rates
available to bearers of a valid student
ID from an Egyptian university or an International
Student ID Card (ISIC)
LOCATION:
Midan Bab Al-Khalq
DIRECTIONS:
By Taxi: Ask for "mathaf
fan al-Islamy" or "Bab al-Khalq"
FACILITIES:
Cafeteria, gift
shop, lecture room, archaeological garden,
library and Audio-Visual room. The museum
is also wheelchair accessible
A brochure in Arabic, English and French is also available upon request.
CONTACT
INFO:
Phone/Fax: (02)
2390-1520
Personal
photography permitted with the purchase of
a ticket (LE 5 Egyptian, LE 10 Foreign).
NO FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY ALLOWED
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Islamic Museum of Art (Credit: Iman
Abdulfattah) |
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Ayyubid (13th century AD) candlestick holder (Sandro
Vannini) |
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