The South African Cultural History Museum forms part of the IZIKO Museums of Cape Town. Artefacts are displayed in a number of buildings situated in and around Cape Town.
The collections of the South African Cultural History Museum are on display in the Slave Lodge, the second oldest building in Cape Town. The original building - erected in 1679 - served as a lodge for the slaves of the Dutch East India Company (VOC). Initially it was a single storey building, but in the mid-18th century a second storey was added. In 1807 the British government moved the slaves to other premises and subsequently the building served as the first post office, library and the Supreme Court.
The ancient Egyptian collection is a small, but comprehensive collection incorporating artefacts from the Predynastic to Roman times. The main bulk of the artefacts dates from the early Dynastic period (3050 - 2686 BC) and was excavated at Kafr-Tarkhan by Sir William Matthew Flinders Petrie (d. 1942) on behalf of the British School of Archaeology during the 1911/12 and 1912/13 seasons. Tarkhan is 59 kilometres south of Cairo, but the pottery styles relate to the south, indicating the influence of the southern culture in the First Dynasty.
The Ancient Collection also has a number of artefacts from the Ancient Near East (pottery, cylinder seals, cuneiform tablets), Roman items and a small, but excellent collection of Greek vases (black-on-red and red-on-black).
Opening hours:
Monday to Friday: 09h30 - 16h30
Saturday 09h30 - 13h00.
