The Victoria Museum of Egyptian Antiquities

The first inventory of Egyptian antiquities in the University's possession, from 1882, mentions 33 objects. This modest collection was then part of the Museum of Nordic Antiquities. Over the coming decades, the collection was increased and enriched through several donations from Karl Piehl, Professor of Egyptology, who acquired objects during his travels in Egypt.

In 1889, the collection amounted to over a thousand objects and became a museum in its own right, with Karl Piehl as its first director. In 1891 the collection was expanded further by the purchase of plaster casts of Egyptian monumental art from Berlin; the following year, the then Crown Princess Victoria (1862-1930) donated a number of objects she had acquired previously, during a stay in Egypt. In gratitude for her donation, the collection of Egyptian antiquities was named after its royal benefactor in 1895.