The Metropolitan Museum of Art (The Met) was founded in 1870 in New York City, following a proposal by American citizens in Paris in 1866. Now the largest art museum in the Americas and the third-largest in the world, The Met houses the most extensive collection of Egyptian art outside Cairo—much of which can be explored online through images, audio and video.
The Egyptian Museum in Cairo is the oldest archaeological museum in the Middle East, opening in 1835. Home to over 170,000 artifacts—including Tutankhamun’s sarcophagus and the Narmer Palette—it was established to prevent the colonial plundering of Egypt’s antiquities and ensure they remained in the country.
The British Museum opened in 1759 and has received many Egyptian artifacts, particularly after British forces seized Alexandria in 1802 and later during the Anglo-Egyptian War. These plundered items, including the famous Rosetta Stone, have sparked debates about repatriation.
Take a virtual tour of the contested items in the British Museum that remain at the center of ongoing debates over the repatriation of stolen artifacts.
The Field Museum opened in 1893 during Chicago’s World’s Columbian Exposition and its history is rooted in the global exhibition of art, culture and technology. The museum’s longstanding interest in ancient Egyptian artifacts culminated in the 1988 opening of its Inside Ancient Egypt exhibition, featuring 23 human mummies and numerous mummified animals.