Papyrus Collection of the Austrian National Library

Housed in the Neue Burg wing of the Hofburg, the Papyrus Collection of the Austrian National Library holds roughly 180,000 objects covering some 3,000 years of Egyptian history, making it one of the largest collections of its kind in the world. Its core is the Rainer Collection, acquired in 1899 from the Fayyum find, with hieroglyphic, Coptic, Greek, Arabic and Hebrew texts. In 2001 UNESCO added the collection to its Memory of the World register. The attached Papyrus Museum presents letters, contracts, tax receipts and schoolbooks from ancient Egypt, showing how close the daily routines of farmers, clerks and pupils were to ours. A quiet, focused exhibition tucked away from the crowds of the Kunsthistorisches Museum nearby.