page_title: Max Herz
section_title: First Director of the Arab Museum
hierarchical_section_title: Max Herz / Activities / First Director of the Arab Museum
caption_attribution_description: English: The old building of the Arab Museum in the ruinous mosque of al-Hakim. Postcard c. 1895.
context_page_description: Max Herz Hungarian architect, conservator, museum director and architectural historian, active in Egypt.
context_section_description: In 1880 Khedive Tawfiq entrusted Julius Franz Pasha with the foundation of the Arab Museum (at present: Museum of Islamic Arts). In 1892 the Comité put Herz in charge of the museum, and in 1902 he was appointed director. This happened in connection with the inauguration of the new museum building designed by Alfonso Manescalco. Until then the museum collections were housed in temporary buildings in the ruinous al-Hakim mosque (380-403/990-1013); the post of director did not exist. Herz published the museum's catalogue in French in two editions; both were translated into English and the second edition also appeared in Arabic translation.  In addition to descriptions of the objects, they contain a concise account of the history of Arab-Islamic art according to the fields represented in the museum's collections and thus they still possess eminent scholarly value on a general level.
caption: The old building of the Arab Museum in the ruinous mosque of al-Hakim.
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