The museum houses Sweden's most important archaeological collections of ancient and historical relics from the Mediterranean countries. With its well-balanced selection of artifacts and exceptionally fine collections, the museum is one of the few in the world to give visitors a summary in reasonable time of the Mediterranean countries' rich and exciting history, from the earliest traces of humans in Mesopotamia and Egypt to the early Christian and Islamic cultures. The museum is in central Stockholm, in a former bank built in 1905 with a neo-classical interior, unique in Scandinavian architectural history and therefore well worth seeing itself. The museum's Oriental café gives visitors a magnificent view of the Royal palace and the centre. The Egyptian exhibition illuminates various aspects of life in the Egypt of the Pharaohs. Mummies, mummy cases and other burial finds reflect the ancient Egyptians' beliefs about the afterlife. The Museum's exceptional Cyprus collection is without parallel elsewhere in the world. A unique collection of offerings from a sacred site was excavated by the Swedish Cyprus expedition of 1927-31. The museum's collections of antiquities, including sculptures, marbles and unique cork models of buildings, are displayed in the museum's central hall. The Near East and Islamic collections come from places such as Iran and Turkey. The museum uses the development of Islamic art between the 7th and 19th centuries to show the importance of Islamic culture as the heir to the cultures of antiquity and Christianity. The museum also houses a Gold Room with a fine collection of ancient silver and gold jewellery.