The collection has two hundred and thirty eight objects, making it the second largest of the kind in Croatia. It developed out of gifts to the Patriotic Museum at the end of the 19th century; among the well-known donors are the Amerling brothers, Tonko Kurajica and Ivo Nardeli.

The five Amerling brothers were great benefactors and donors, and in 1872 Frano and Nikola gave to the museum, among other objects, a collection of items from Ancient Egypt. Expert appraisals have shown that most of them are authentic, and date to the 3rd Intermediate Period (1069-664 BC), via the Saite Period (664-525 BC) to the Late Period (525-322 BC) and the Hellenistic (322-30 BC) and the Roman Period (40 BC – AD395).

The collection mainly consists of amulets, statuettes of deities, scarabs and jewellery. Particularly valuable at the ushabti figures and amulets with various scenes: for example, trinities, two feathers, eyes, dwarfs or, most popular of all, scarabs.

Among the objects is a mummy composed of parts of several human bodies, the trunk made of straw. This was the crafty creation of illegal merchants of the 19th century, a time when there was an enormous interest in Egyptian artefacts among museums and collectors.