The Amathole Museum, formerly the Kaffrarian Museum is a

natural Nature is an inherent character or constitution, particularly of the ecosphere or the universe as a whole. In this general sense nature refers to the laws, elements and phenomena of the physical world, including life. Although humans are part ...

and

cultural history Cultural history records and interprets past events involving human beings through the social, cultural, and political milieu of or relating to the arts and manners that a group favors. Jacob Burckhardt (1818–1897) helped found cultural history ...

museum located in

King William's Town Qonce, formerly King William's Town, is a town in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa along the banks of the Buffalo River (Eastern Cape), Buffalo River. The town is about northwest of the Indian Ocean port of East London, South Africa, ...

in the

Eastern Cape The Eastern Cape ( ; ) is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. Its capital is Bhisho, and its largest city is Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth). Due to its climate and nineteenth-century towns, it is a common location for tourists. It is also kno ...

province of

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

. The museum houses a large collection of

mammal A mammal () is a vertebrate animal of the Class (biology), class Mammalia (). Mammals are characterised by the presence of milk-producing mammary glands for feeding their young, a broad neocortex region of the brain, fur or hair, and three ...

s and includes the taxidermied body of

Huberta, the hippopotamus Huberta (initially named Hubert; the sex was discovered after death) was a hippopotamus which travelled for a large distance across South Africa. In November 1928, Huberta left her waterhole in the St. Lucia Estuary in Zululand and over the next ...

The Xhosa Gallery, housed in the old post office building, concentrates on the cultural history of all tribes of the

Xhosa Xhosa may refer to: * Xhosa people, a nation, and ethnic group, who live in south-central and southeasterly region of South Africa * Xhosa language, one of the 11 official languages of South Africa, principally spoken by the Xhosa people See als ...

nation. The history section has artefacts, documents and photographs of local interest dating back to the 19th century. The Missionary Museum contains information on missionary endeavours in this area. The museum was founded in 1884 and was later opened to the public in October 1898. The name of the museum was changed from the Kaffrarian Museum to the Amathole Museum in 1999.

References

External links

Homepage of Amathole Museum website
Museums in the Eastern Cape Natural history museums in South Africa Qonce {{SouthAfrica-museum-stub