The Coptic Museum ,Metalwork

  The Coptic Museum ,Metalwork

 

Not surprisingly perhaps, considering Egypt's historic quest for rare metals, the Coptic museums collection of metalwork is a rich one, containing gold and silver, but also copper, bronze and iron. These pieces represent some of the oldest objects in the museum, dating from the 3rd to the 19th century. They come from monasteries, churches and towns, and may therefore be either religious objects or items intended for everyday use. The main group includes crosses, censers, lamps, bells, bible caskets, chandeliers, church and monastery keys, liturgical implements. Other items include household utensils, such as bowls, dishes, pans and cooking bots, while for women there are kohl boxes, necklaces, earrings and bracelets, and there are also medical instruments, weights and measures and agricultural implements. Many of these items are well executed and adorned using different techniques.

 

 

The majority of these objects are difficult to date, though a few, such as the famous Luxor silver treasure of Abraham, bishop of Hermonthis (c. 600) and some of the Bible caskets, which are inscribed with dates, or objects found with coins, can be securely dated.