Find out more about ancient Egyptian collections in Dumfries and Galloway and Scottish Borders.

Dumfries and Galloway

Dumfries and Galloway Council Museums

The Egyptian collection in Dumfries comes from two main sources; Dr Thomas Boyle Grierson (1818–1889) and the family of Roderick Hannah.

Dumfries-born Dr Thomas Boyle Grierson created a museum in Thornhill for the purpose of educating young people, farm hands and apprentices. Many of the objects were gifted to him as payment for medical treatment.

Following his death in 1889, the Museum was placed in a trust and the collections were ultimately dispersed in 1965. The Egyptian material was retained in Dumfries for teaching purposes. Some of Grierson’s collection was acquired from Dr James Grant Bey, the Cairo-based Aberdeenshire physician who formed the collections of the University of Aberdeen.

Roderick Hannah ran a cotton farm in the Delta, his collection of ceramic and glass was collected from his fields and was supplemented by purchases.  

Please note: No public display of the Egyptian material currently 

Collections size: >140 objects

Scottish Borders

Hawick Museum (Live Borders)

Formed by the Hawick Archaeological Society in 1856 and opened in the current location in 1910, Hawick Museum displays the history of the local area.

The ancient Egyptian collection is centred on the donation of 38 ceramic vessels from the excavations of John Garstang at Esna, donated in 1907. Hawick Museum was the first venue for Discovering Ancient Egypt, a National Museums Scotland touring exhibition in 2019.

Collections size: >50 objects