The Egyptian exhibition shows various aspects of life in Pharaonic Egypt from 3000 BC to the Christian era. There are also many objects from the prehistoric period, starting around 5000 BC. Most of the objects came to Sweden in the late 19:century, and have been donated to the museum from private collections.
The Egyptian Exhibition contains, in addition to mummified humans, also mummies of cats, birds, fishes and snakes. The Goddess Isis with the child Horus in her lap meets the visitors as they enter the exhibition. The pose she holds occurs commonly in western art where the Virgin Mary with the child Jesus often is portrayed in the same position.
A portrait of the well-known pharaoh Sesostris was donated to Sweden by the Egyptian government in recognition both of Swedish participation when the Assuan-dam was built and of professor Torgny Säve-Söderbergh as an internationally well-known Egyptologist. (www.medelhavsmuseet.se, 2010-09-01)
The exhibition was made already in 1982. In 2002 there was a change, several of the galleries (4-8) on the upper floor were closed.