The (English: National Museum of Antiquities) is the national archaeological museum of the Netherlands, located in Leiden. It grew out of the collection of Leiden University and still closely co-operates with its Faculty of Archaeology. The museum calls itself "the national centre for archaeology" and focuses on ancient Egypt, the ancient Near East, the classical world of Greece, Etruria and Rome and the early (prehistoric, Roman and Medieval) Netherlands. Current collection The current collection of the museum is divided in the following categories: Ancient Egypt Ancient Near East Etruscan civilization Ancient Greece Ancient Rome Prehistoric Netherlands Roman Netherlands Medieval Netherlands In the central hall of the museum stands an original Egyptian temple, the Temple of Taffeh, which was taken apart in Egypt and reconstructed in the museum as part of the International Campaign to Save the Monuments of Nubia. History of the collection Reuvens takes charge The collection of the Rijksmuseum van Oudheden began with an inheritance in 1743. After the death of Gerard van Papenbroek, his collection was bequeathed to Leiden University. The bequest comprised about 150 antiquities and was published in 1746 by a professor of the university. It was put on public display but poorly cared for until half a century later when it would finally get an official curator. This curator was classicist Dr. Caspar Reuvens, the world's first archaeology professor. Along with his duties as a professor at the university came the care of the archaeological cabinet, then consisting mainly of the Papenbroek inheritance. Reuvens quickly added other collections from both within and outside Leiden to the university's antiquities. Antiquities from the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam were transferred to Leiden with government support in 1825. Some pieces from the Thoms Collection were among the favorites of the director of the Amsterdam museum. It was agreed that these would not be moved to Leiden until after his directorship. These became part of the Leiden collection in 1844. In 1826, a collection of prehistorical materials arrived from the Museum of Natural History. The contributions of Rottiers The growth of the National Museum of Antiquities would prove to be depended much more upon foreign investments. Despite the gathering of antiquities from various Dutch organizations, the really important additions to the museum would come from buying personal collections. Among the first of these was the first Rottiers Collection. It belonged to a retired Flemish colonel who had begun collecting during a