Alexandrian Archaeology (1798–1903). A ‘Local Archaeology’

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The history of Alexandrian archaeology and of its archives is closely linked to the history of the city itself and of the institutions created by a cosmopolitan society, which aimed to exalt ancient Alexandria, which was reincarnated in its eyes in contemporary Alexandria. Before the creation of the Municipality of Alexandria in 1890, and then that of the Graeco-Roman Museum and the Archaeological Society of Alexandria in the following years, archaeology was most often in the hands of amateurs and collectors of diverse origins. At a time when cultural diplomacy was developing in the eastern Mediterranean, Alexandria remained outside the scope of the Great Powers and of state archaeological expeditions.