Ashmolean Museum in Oxford has revealed that the new Ancient Egypt and Nubia (present day Sudan) galleries are to open on 26 November, following a £5m development project.

Lord Sainsbury's Linbury Trust, the Selz Foundation and other trusts have funded the work, which aims to build on the success of a new extension opened at the museum in 2009.

Rick Mather Architects have led the redesign and display of four existing Egyptian galleries, as well as the extension into the restored Ruskin Gallery formerly occupied by a shop.

Collections are to be presented under the themes of Egypt at its Origins; Dynastic Egypt and Nubia; Life after Death in Ancient Egypt; and The Amama Revolution.

Egypt in the Age of Empire and Egypt meets Greece and Rome are the other themes that will present the Ashmolean's collection of ancient Egyptian and Nubian artefacts when complete.

Ashmolean director Dr Christopher Brown said: "Rick Mather's design for the galleries now allows us to display material that, for reasons of conservation, has not been seen for up to half a century."

Professor Andrew Hamilton, vice-chancellor of the University of Oxford, added: "These remarkable collections are among the most important outside Egypt and one of the Ashmolean's most popular attraction."

Details: www.ashmolean.org

Image: Architectural impression of one of the new Egyptian Galleries at the Ashmolean Museum (c) Rick Mather Architects