The ISAC Museum has been singled out for praise in the Financial Times as part of a feature highlighting some of Chicago’s best-kept secrets.
Financial Times Calls ISAC Museum an “Underrated” and “Gorgeous” Chicago Gem
September 23, 2026
Each gallery is eye-wateringly beautiful, so be sure to look up at the ceilings. ... You feel as though you might bump into Indiana Jones on the staircase. Not to be missed.
Published September 14, 2026, “FT readers respond: Chicago’s best-kept secrets” brings together recommendations from Chicago residents and regular visitors for places around the city that deserve greater attention. With the lead image of the Khorsabad Court Gallery’s human-headed winged bull (known as a lamassu) and a prominent place at the beginning of the piece, the Institute for the Study of Ancient Cultures Museum at the University of Chicago is singled out for particular accolades.
Calling ISAC “the most underrated and gorgeous museum in Chicago,” reader Bridget Petrites praised the Museum’s galleries, architecture, and collections from across the ancient Middle East and North Africa. She described the Museum as a “gem” on the University of Chicago campus and concluded simply: “Not to be missed.”
Colossal human-headed winged bull—lamassu (ISACM A7369)—in the Khorsabad Court Gallery.
The feature is accompanied by photographs of the ISAC Museum, including the monumental Assyrian lamassu in the Khorsabad Court Gallery and the Museum’s statue of Tutankhamun in the Egyptian Gallery.
Read the full feature in the Financial Times.
FT readers respond: Chicago’s best-kept secrets
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Statue of King Tutankhamun (ISACM E14088) in the Egyptian Gallery.