The Mimara Museum came to be thanks to Ante Topić Mimar (Korušca, 1898 - Zagreb, 1987) who donated his art collection. During his adventurous life, Mimara stayed in Paris, Berlin, München, Tangier, Salzburg, and Zagrebu, where he met with many famous European collectors of the first half of the 20th century. His love for art and culture (he studied painting in Rome) contributed to gathering of an impressive art collection comprised of 3750 artifacts from all periods of the history of mankind. The collection of the Museum came to be on the basis of a donation contract made between Mimara, the Socialist Republic of Croatia and the Council of the City of Zagreb on October 6th 1973 and October 29th 1986. The Mimara Museum was opened for public on July 17th 1987, and it is located in the Rooseveltov trg 5, Zagreb. The Museum holds no records about when Ante Topić Mimara came into possession of the artifacts, nor about where they were found.

The artifacts of the Egyptian provenance are kept in two collections, The Old Civilizations Collection, and The Glass Collection.

The collections contains also 32 artifacts of the Egyptian provenance dating from predynastic period to Late Antiquity. The collection includes following artifacts: a vessel from the early dynastic period (inv. num. ATM 230), a plate from the early dynastic period (inv. num. ATM 231), a small bottle from the early dynastic period (inv. num. ATM 233), a canopic lid from the Middle Kingdom (inv. num. ATM 228), a bronze Osiris statuette from the Middle Kingdom (inv. num. ATM 238), a wooden statuette of a porter from the Middle Kingdom (inv. num. ATM 243), a head of a Pharaoh from the late Middle Kingdom (inv. num. ATM 229), a shabti from the late Middle Kingdom (inv. num. ATM 232), a plate from the time of Amenhotep III (18th dynasty - the New Kingdom; inv. num. ATM 234), a terra cotta figure from the New Kingdom (inv. num. ATM 235), a scarab from the New Kingdom (inv. num. ATM 236), a bronze Horus statuette from the New Kingdom (inv. num. ATM 239), a female statuette from the New Kingdom (inv. num. ATM 244), a Osiris statuette from the New Kingdom (inv. num. ATM 245), a stone Apis figurine (inv. num. ATM 1376), two stone rabbit figurines (inv. nums. ATM 1376 a and b), a stone Anubis figurine (inv. num. ATM 1376 c), a stone Bes figurine (inv. num. ATM 1376 d), a wooden Horus statuette from the Third Intermediate Period (inv. num. ATM 242), a bronze Horus statuette from the Late Period (inv. num. ATM 237), a wooden Horus statue from the Late Period (inv. num. ATM 241), a bronze female figurine from the Greco-Roman period (inv. num. ATM 240), a bronze oil lamp from the Byzantine period (inv. num. ATM 357), a Coptic linen cloth with a rabbit and a fish image (5th - 6th centuries; inv. num. ATM 246), two Coptic terra cotta menasampullas (6th c.; inv. nums. ATM 349 and ATM 351), two bronze Coptic oil lamps on a stand (6th c.; inv. nums. ATM 355 and ATM 361), a bronze Coptic oil lamp (6th c.; inv. num. ATM 356), a bronze Coptic candle-stick (6th c.; inv. num. ATM 358), and a bronze Coptic candle-stick (6th-7th centuries; inv. num. ATM 359). The collection contains three artifacts from the early dynastic period and eight Coptic artifacts which makes this collection unique in Croatia.

M.T.