The Australian Museum, Sydney, was the first public museum in Australia. Founded in 1827, it was first known as the Sydney Museum or the Colonial Museum until 1836 when it was officially named the Australian Museum. As the Museum’s early development was based on the ‘encyclopaedic museum’ model of the 19th century, the Australian Museum’s collection houses over 18 million scientific and cultural objects and specimens from around the world. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the Australian Museum subscribed to the Egyptian Exploration Fund, from which it received around 30% of its Egyptian collection.