And most importantly, why are they here and not in Moscow or St. Petersburg? Regional museums always surprise with something, but an Egyptian collection of this level is to be expected in the museum. I. N. Kramskoy was difficult. As it turned out, not only the oldest, but also the most impressive regional collection of Egyptian antiquities in Russia is kept here.
It was collected by the young traveler and intellectual Otto Friedrich von Richter. He was born near Dorpat (the city of Yuriev, now Tartu) in 1791 in the family of a land councilor. Otto lived a very short but exciting life. The boy received an excellent education, his home teacher was Gustav Evers (future rector of the Dorpat Imperial University). Largely thanks to him, Otto developed an early interest in the East. The young man studies Latin and Modern Greek, continues his education in Heidelberg, where, under the guidance of an outstanding scientist of that time, Friedrich Wilcken, he mastered the Arabic and Persian languages. In 1812, to continue his scientific activities, Otto von Richter moved to Vienna, but a year later he returned to his homeland, and from there - almost immediately to the alluring East. And not only for further study of ancient monuments - Europe seemed boring and monotonous to a 22-year-old boy. Here, of course, it was not without the influence of the ideas of German romanticism.
Otto Friedrich von Richter.
Otto von Richter arrives in Constantinople by ship from Odessa. He begins to study Turkish, under the guidance of a local mullah, he improves in Arabic. Here he also meets the preacher of the Swedish embassy Sven Fredrik Liedman, and soon new acquaintances go together to the Egyptian shores.
In mid-April 1815, the companions arrived in Alexandria. Then let them lay to the south on a two-masted boat with rowers, kindly provided by the son of Muhammad Ali Pasha, the governor of Egypt (the travelers prudently secured letters of recommendation to him in Constantinople). The journey lasted four months. It is difficult to imagine why the hottest summer months were chosen for it, especially considering that travelers wandered in European clothes.
The modern ruins of Qasr Ibrahim, which travelers visited and described in 1815.
However, the companions not only explored the ancient monuments of Egypt, but also reached Nubia, at that time almost unknown to Europeans. They kept diaries, made sketches of monuments, many of which have not survived to this day - they were flooded in the 20th century during the construction of the Aswan Dam.
Unfortunately, travelers were unable to view the Nile Delta due to the outbreak of riots in August 1815. Pogroms of European quarters began. The travelers were forced to board a ship to Jaffa. Together with them, a unique collection of Egyptian artifacts collected by Otto von Richter in Upper Egypt was loaded onto the ship. Then Richter continued his journey alone - he visited Palestine, Syria and Anatolia. There were many plans ahead, which were not destined to come true. On August 13, 1816, on his way to Persia, where a post at the Russian embassy awaited him, the young scientist died of acute dysentery.
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Shortly before his death, he managed to send his father home everything that he managed to collect in Egypt. After the death of his son, Otto von Richter's father transferred all the antiquities and manuscripts of his son to the Museum of the Imperial Dorpat University.
Bust of a woman - ancestor of the family. XIII century BC Limestone, painting.
A hundred years later, during the First World War, due to the approach of the front, the collection was taken to Voronezh, subsequently forming part of the exposition of the Art Museum. I. N. Kramskoy.
Cover for the priestess's mummy, fragment. XI - X century BC Wood, painting.
So in Voronezh, the unique sarcophagus of the tsarist scribe (one of the best such monuments in Europe), an overlay on the priestess's mummy, numerous statuettes, scarabs, ushabti - only 159 items - were found and are still preserved.
Ushabti. 1 - VII - VI century BC, 2 - 4th century BC Faience.
In 1941, the collection underwent another evacuation, now to Omsk. More than 1,300 museum items left in the occupied Voronezh were lost. The Egyptian collection was once again lucky - its losses were minimal, about 30 items were lost, mainly amulets. In 1945, the exhibition in Voronezh was restored.
The sun god Ra-Horakhte in the guise of a golden falcon on one of the planes of the pyramidon. XIII century BC Limestone.
Richter's collection is still part of the permanent exhibition of the museum, so if you are in Voronezh, do not hesitate to drop by.