Honored Leaders

The Archaeological Society of Alexandria  -

Biography:

The Society was founded in 1893, to serve the purpose of developing the fast-growing city of Alexandria, and saving and preserving the monuments of the Ancient city. The original objective of the Society, as a non-profit NGO, was to organize coordinated research, fund excavations, and to increase the public awareness of ancient monuments. Research papers and excavation reports were published in the Bulletin de la Société d’Archéologie d’Alexandrie, initiated in 1898. With the growth of the Society it gained a good and solid reputation which led many scholars and great explorers to contribute to its activities as members or visiting lecturers. 

In 1946, the Society moved to its present premises in the same building as the Graeco-Roman Museum, and a library as well as a collection of artifacts could then be displayed for its advantage. The Society was started by a group of European Victorian archaeologists, then a group of dedicated Egyptian scholars joined. A restoration of the premises is planned in the near future, which hopefully will enable more people to visit and enjoy the premises of the Society. During the 1930s, Prince Omar Toussoun, the Honorary President of the Society, carried out the salvation of some monuments submerged under the waters of Abukir bay, of which the beautiful head of Alexander the Great became one of the masterpieces of the Graeco-Roman Museum collection. 

In the 1990s, the Society decided to support the young Egyptians underwater archaeologists, and a team was provided with the required diving suits and equipment, and were involved in a series of training courses that resulted in a group of well-trained underwater archaeologists who became the Egyptian pioneers who founded the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA).

During 2000, the Society supported the joint project of the SCA and the American Institute of Nautical Archaeology to transfer the basement in the Citadel of Qait Bay into exhibit halls for the display of artifacts that have been salvaged from the sea, in addition to a hall for changeable exhibition.