The small Egyptian collection of the Civic Museum, formed in the years immediately following the foundation of the institute in 1871, has become a great research opportunity thanks to the network of collaborations activated by the Museum, in particular the chair of Egyptology of the University of Bologna for the study of the finds and the head of the Egyptian section of the Civic Archaeological Museum of Bologna, who oversaw an articulated program of targeted diagnostics and conservation maintenance, capable of answering the questions that a nineteenth-century collection, never studied before, had posed, involving leading experts of the sector.

The exhibition is characterized by an explicit reference to the origins of the collection with an "ephemeral apparatus" that reproduces the nineteenth-century shop windows, but the methods of display and communication and the graphics reflect a contemporary language, adequate to tell "the stories of Egypt" to all types of public.

In fact, the exhibition does not tell the story of ancient Egypt, but many small stories that emerged from the research project: collecting stories of dukes, illustrious Modenese and obscure antique dealers; stories of thefts and finds; of trips to Egypt and the unraveling of royal mummies transformed into public events; stories emerged from the diagnostics that determined sex, age and, where possible, information on the pathologies and causes of death of the mummified human remains, giving them a small part of their identity.

The finds in the collection are distributed over a wide chronological period and can be traced back to the themes of royalty, funerary ritual and Templar devotion. “Ushabti” statuettes, canopic jars, amulets, scarabs, votive bronzes are exhibited. The “star” of the exhibition is the mummy of a child - restored in front of the public by Cinzia Oliva - and recently endowed with a face, thanks to anthropological research combined with the skill of a well-known 3D designer. There are also some human heads and limbs, as well as three small stuffed crocodiles and some linen bandages from the royal mummies of Thutmose III and Ramses II, discovered in Deir el-Bahari in 1881.

The exhibition and the catalog, published by L'insegna del Giglio, are curated by Cristiana Zanasi, Museo Civico Archeologico Etnologico.