449 Up and Down the Nile: The Beginning of a New Church Museum (1878)

In the winter of 1878, the Rev. William H. Benade (1816-1905 ) and John Pitcairn (1841-1916) were traveling in Egypt, one stop on an extended tour they had begun the previous June. Their purpose was to visit Europe, Egypt, and the Holy Land, spreading word about the New Church and the newly formed Academy of the New Church in Philadelphia. In Egypt they spent three months on the Nile traveling in a dahabiyah, the traditional Egyptian houseboat (see photo, top). Their boat, the Sylvia, left Cairo on January 10, 1878, traveling as far south as Abu Simbel.

One unexpected result of this tour was the beginning of the Academy’s museum. An entry in Pitcairn’s diary illustrates their gradual introduction to the antiquities market in Egypt:

“Arrd. Luxor 9 O’c. this morning . . . Called and paid our respects to the Am[erican] Consul an Egyptian named Ali Effendi Abu Murad. Long shebooks, coffee. Invited him to dine with us tomorrow evening. Purchased some Antiquities. This is the principal place for the manufacturing of antiquities. We are beginning to be able to judge between the genuine and the immitation [sic] . . . A great many vendors of Antiquities ply their avocation here. One of them took us to his house to show us a sitting figure, about a foot high for which he asked ₤30 Also a Roman head cut out of basalt . . . When we arrived at his house he gave a signal to the women who all disappeared, according to the custom. We were then ushered in to a house better than the average. The outside mud walls had no windows but we first came into a small court or yard where there were tame pigeons and two children playing. We were then conducted up stairs to a sort of portico or verandah where we were asked to be seated, a rug was placed on the mud floor and the Antiquities were placed before us” (John Pitcairn. Diary entry. 7 March 1878. Academy of the New Church Archives, Swedenborg Library, Bryn Athyn, PA). Continue reading » » » »