“The Journey of Numismatics in Egypt over the Centuries” at the Museum of Islamic Art in Cairo
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The Museum of Islamic Art in Cairo, in collaboration with the BA Writing and Scripts Center and the Seigniorage Treasury in Cairo, is hosting an exhibition entitled “The Journey of Numismatics in Egypt over the Centuries” on Thursday, 23 September 2021, at 11:30 am. The exhibition runs from 23 September to 3 October 2021.
The exhibition centers around the long journey of numismatics in Egypt which spans 2500 years, starting from the first coin minted during the Achaemenid Empire, to the drachmas and staters of the Ptolemaic Kingdom, the gold dinars and copper currency of the Byzantine and Roman Empires, the silver dirhams of the Sasanian Empire, and the numismatics of the Arabs and those crafted in the modern period. Moreover, the exhibition highlights Egyptian numismatics, which are considered a photographic record of the development of the arts of calligraphy and writing.
The exhibition is divided into two sections. The first is organized in cooperation with the BA Writing and Scripts Center, and features photographic plates of the most significant currencies that have been in circulation in Egypt over the centuries. In this section, a unique collection of currencies from the BA Rare Books Library, the Antiquities Museum of the Faculty of Arts (Alexandria University), and the Museum of Islamic Art will be on display. The second section of the exhibition comprises a remarkable collection of reproduced currencies, which have recently been minted, in collaboration with the Seigniorage Treasury.
On the sidelines of the exhibition, a seminar will be held at 1:00 pm, delivered by a host of distinguished researchers in the history of currencies and Islamic arts. The seminar will be chaired by Dr. Gamal Abdel Rahim, Professor of Islamic Arts and Archaeology, Faculty of Archaeology, Cairo University.
It is worth mentioning that the first round of this exhibition was held from 19 to 24 January 2020, in the BA East Exhibition Hall, in partnership with the Museum of Islamic Arts in Cairo, the Antiquities Museum of the Faculty of Arts (Alexandria University), and the BA Antiquities and Manuscripts Museums, with the participation of a group of Egyptian numismatics experts.