‘Gateway to the World of Egyptology’: A new Entrance Gallery at the Petrie Museum, London

Abstract

In January 2019, the Petrie Museum of Egyptian and Sudanese Archaeology, University College London (UCL), received a generous grant from the DCMS Wolfson Museums and Galleries Improvement Fund to transform the Museum’s entrance gallery. A new entrance now provides a clearer and more impactful introduction to the collection, focusing on the life and work of Flinders Petrie and Amelia Edwards as well as other key characters linked with the development of the collection. This major redesign creates a dedicated introductory space to tell the story of Petrie and Edwards together at the Museum for the first time, explaining how and why an ancient Egyptian collection came to be at UCL. This paper will present key themes that will feature in the displays, as well as reflections on addressing some of the challenges in communicating more controversial aspects of Petrie’s and Edwards’ histories in this space.