[4] The first object having an association with Egypt to arrive in Turin was the Mensa Isiaca in 1630, an altar table in imitation of Egyptian style, which Dulu Jones suggests had been created for a temple to Isis in Rome.

[5] This exotic piece spurred King Charles Emmanuel III to commission botanist Vitaliano Donati to travel to Egypt in 1753 and acquire items from its past.

The time Champollion spent in Turin studying the texts is also the origin of a legend about the mysterious disappearance of the "Papiro dei Re", that was only later found and of which some portions are still unavailable.

The building itself was remodelled in celebration of the 2006 Winter Olympics, with its main rooms redesigned by Dante Ferretti, and "featured an imaginative use of lighting and mirrors in a spectacular display of some of the most important and impressive Pharaonic statues in the museum collection.

The new logo, the coordinated image and the exhibition system have been designed by the studio Migliore+Servetto Architects, whose founders, Ico Migliore and Mara Servetto, are creative advisor for the museum.