During my recent visit to San Francisco I took a tour of the art museum in the Legion of Honor, and among the treasures I found a number of ancient Egyption artifacts (which I’ll be sharing with you at a later date). Until I discovered this episode of California’s Gold, originally aired in March 2001, I had no idea that San Jose, California, was home to another very distinguished collection of Egyptian objects. This Egyptian Museum is currently open on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays and looks like a really wonderful place to wander for a few hours. One website has ranked it #3 on a list of Best Things To Do in San Jose; in the Rosicrucian Park you will find not only a beautifully landscaped garden but an on-site planetarium!

Join Huell on this ancient adventure as he explores The Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum in San Jose. Architecturally inspired by the Temple of Amon at Karnak, it houses the largest collection of Egyptian artifacts on exhibit in the western United States — including objects from pre-dynastic times through Egypt’s early Christian era.

Fascinated by the ancient culture, Dr. H. Spencer Lewis, began collecting Egyptian, Assyrian, and Babylonian artifacts over 65 years ago. In 1932 a building was built in San Jose to house the growing collection, and the original Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum was opened to the public.

Huell gets a very special tour of this extensive collection of human and animal mummies, canopic jars, ushabtis, and detailed funerary boats and models. Discover colorful and precious jewelry, pre-dynastic pottery, glass and alabaster vessels, bronze tools, sculpture, and Coptic textiles.

(Click on the linked image below to see the video.)