Carnegie Museum of Natural History

One of the Four Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh

Walton Hall of Ancient Egypt

  • Third Floor

Walton Hall of Ancient Egypt explores both the mysteries and the vibrant everyday life of a society that intrigues both expert and armchair archaeologists.

The anthropological approach to ancient Egyptian culture sets this hall apart from the exhibitions of Egyptian antiquities usually found in art museums. Six themes guided the design of the hall—World View, Cultural Evolution and History, Nautical Tradition, Social Organization, Daily Life, and Funerary Religion. More than 600 artifacts, most of which belonged to “middle-class” Egyptians, are used to illustrate each theme. Objects include ceramic and stone vessels, jewelry, stelae and relief fragments, tools, and more.

Egyptian artifacts have been a hallmark of Carnegie Museum of Natural History’s collections since the museum’s inception. The very first accession was Andrew Carnegie’s donation of a mummy and its coffin. The museum’s collection now includes more than 2,500 ancient Egyptian artifacts dating back to 3100 B.C.

Egyptian relief fragment with hieroglyphs

Meet our Anthropologist and Archaeologist

Learn about the Anthropology and Archaeology Collection at the Museum

The anthropology collection, the Section of Anthropology and Archaeology, contains major research collections of over 100,000 ethnological and historical specimens and over 1.5 million archaeological artifacts.

Learn about the Section of Anthropology and Archaeology

Blogs about Anthropology