Museum of History and Civilizations

Originally the Rabat Archaeological Museum, the core structure was built in the 1920s under the French protectorate to house the Service des Antiquités du Protectorat, a colonial government institution. In 1930, the decision to transform the building into a nationwide archaeological museum would see a major transfer of artefacts to Rabat, many of which had been largely uncovered in Volubilis and Chellah, following systemic excavations initiated in 1915 by Marshal Lyautey. Subsequently, new showrooms were built around the administrative nucleus to organize collections.^[4] By 1957, the building sat in its final architectural form.

Since 2014, the museum has been under the care and protection of the National Foundation of Museums.^[4] After a year-long period of closure prompted by renovations, the museum was reopened to the public under its current name in April 12, 2017.^[5] The budget of the restoration project was 5.5 million Moroccan dirhams.^[6]

Beyond the preservation of rare ancient art, the museum brings into light far earlier periods of Moroccan history that are less familiar (and often misunderstood) to much of the general public. The museum encourages in particular Moroccans to visit, as explained by museum curator Fatima-Zahra Chbiri at the 2017 reopening:^[6]

"I especially invite the Moroccan public to visit the new museum. The patrimony exhibited here is largely unknown, particularly among Moroccan [citizens]."

The museum can be organised into three eras, displayed across three rooms, a patio, and a garden.^[7] All artefacts were exclusively discovered at archaeological sites in Morocco.^[8]

Prehistory

The prehistoric collections cover the Paleolithic, Neolithic and Bronze Ages, with archaeological material documenting human presence and material culture in Morocco during these periods.^[9]

Hall of Marbles

White marble sculptures in display, originally found across Iulia Valentia Banasa, Tamoussida, and Chellah.

Late antiquity

Objects dating from the transitional period between antiquity and the arrival of Islam document religious life in late-antique Morocco. The collection includes material associated with both Jewish and Christian religious practices.^[10][11]

• 
  Bronze Arm
• 
  Bronze horse found in Volubilis
• 
  Cato the Younger
• 
  Eros // Cupid
• 
  Ptolemy of Mauretania
• 
  Theseus & the Minotaur.
• 
  Neptune
• 
  Ephebos

• Marrakech Museum
• Museum of Contemporary Art (Tangier)
• Joudia Hassar-Benslimane