Rio museum fire: What was in the National Museum of Brazil?

Brazil's national museum was home to 20 million cultural, scientific and historical artefacts 
Georgia Chambers5 September 2018

Brazilians watched in horror this week as their national museum went up in flames, destroying an estimated 90 per cent of its priceless artefacts.

The fire began on Sunday night after the 200-year-old museum closed to the public. Although no injuries were reported, hundreds of the establishments cultural, scientific and historical relics were lost in the blaze.

Founded by Dom João VI on August 6, 1818, The National Museum of Brazil, or Museu Nacional, is home to some of Latin America's greatest natural and anthropological histories.

Today, the former imperial mansion houses dinosaur fossils, sabre-toothed tiger skeletons, hundreds of stuffed birds, mammals and fish and remarkable exhibits of the people of Brazil.

The museum's 20 million items are divided into several sections, including biological anthropology, archaeology, ethnology, geology, palaeontology and zoology.

Rio de Janeiro National Museum fire

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What's in the National Museum of Brazil?

The museum's most famous artefact is the 12,000-year-old Luzia, the oldest human skeleton found in Brazil.

The museum also has an impressive collection of mummies and sarcophagi from Ancient Egypt, including the coffin of Sha-Amun-In-Su, a singer priestess who lived in Egypt around 800 BC.

The museum proudly displays a host of artefacts central to Brazil's indigenous population. The native articles portray the encounter between indigenous artists and artisans, masters of clay, braids, plumeria, music and war, with naturalists, military men, religious and ethnologists.

In addition, there are at least 1,800 artefacts from Amerindian civilizations of the pre-Columbian era.

Its palaeontology collection features the mounted Maxakalisaurus topai, considered to be the largest dinosaur found in Brazil.

Rarer artefacts include the throne of the African king Adandozan, donated by the ambassadors of the king to the regent prince Dom João in 1811.

What artefacts were saved?

It's not yet known what artefacts were saved in the fire, but firefighters' spokesman Robadey told Globo News: "We were able to remove a lot of things from inside with the help of workers of the museum."

People around the world have been mourning the loss of a significant chunk of Brazil's history.

President Michel Temer (MDB) said in a statement:

"The value of our history cannot be measured by the damage to the building that housed the royal family during the Empire." It is a sad day for all Brazilians."

Officials have pledged £1.8million to shore up the building and more funds to rebuild it.

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