What's New

The Past for Sale: New Approaches to the Study of Archaeological Looting

As highlighted in the recent UChicago News article Neubauer Collegium Conference Tackles Complex Issue of Archaeological Looting, the Neubauer Collegium for Culture and Society has established a project to address archaeological looting. "The Past for Sale: New Approaches to the Study of Archaeological Looting" brings together archaeologists, anthropologists, art historians, social scientists, public policy experts, and legal scholars, in hopes of finding better answers to one of the most intractable problems facing those who care about culture: how to stem the worldwide epidemic of looting of archaeological sites and shrines.

Lecture by Shaul Shaked on "The Jews of Bamiyan"

Shaul Shaked will give a lecture on "The Jews of Bamiyan: A Community of Traders and Scholars in Eleventh-Century Khorasan" on Thursday, March 12, 2015, at 4:30 pm in Breasted Hall at the Oriental Institute.

Oriental Institute Statement on Cultural Destruction in Iraq

On February 26, 2015, a video was released online by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) that showed a group of men destroying important sculptures from the sites of Hatra and Nineveh housed in the Mosul Museum, as well as sculptures at the Assyrian site of Nineveh, also in Mosul, Iraq. The video was subsequently rebroadcast by multiple media agencies around the world. These acts have generated an international outcry, including from organizations that specialize in cultural heritage and the archaeology of the Middle East.

Read the Oriental Institute’s statement on cultural destruction in Iraq

Lecture by Amy Landau on "Threshold to the Sacred: The Ark Door of Cairo's Ben Ezra Synagogue"

Amy Landau, Ph.D., will give a lecture on "Threshold to the Sacred: The Ark Door of Cairo's Ben Ezra Synagogue" on Wednesday, April 15, 2015, at 5:00 pm in Breasted Hall at the Oriental Institute.

Smart Tabs Enabled for Online Collection Search

The online Collections Search has been updated with a smart tab feature to improve efficiency and user experience.

Conference on "Structures of Power: Law and Gender across the Ancient Near East and Beyond" at the Oriental Institute

A conference on "Structures of Power: Law and Gender across the Ancient Near East and Beyond" will be held on March 6-7, 2015 in Breasted Hall at the Oriental Institute. This conference seeks to contribute new dimensions to the study of gender relations and law in the ancient world as a whole, and particularly in the ancient Near East. It will host a varied group of experts who will discuss the ancient Near Eastern cultures of Egypt, Mesopotamia and Hatti, the classical world of Greece and Rome, ancient China, Zoroastrianism, and the monotheistic religions of Judaism and Islam.

Lecture by Paul Walker on "The Fatimid Caliphate and Its Non-Muslim Subjects"

Paul Walker, Ph.D., will give a lecture on "The Fatimid Caliphate and Its Non-Muslim Subjects" on Wednesday, April 1, 2015, at 5:00 pm in Breasted Hall at the Oriental Institute.

Lecture by Tasha Vorderstrasse on the Fustat Material in the Oriental Institute

Tasha Vorderstrasse, Ph.D. and co-curator for the special exhibit A Cosmopolitan City: Museum, Christians, and Jews in Old Cairo, will give a lecture about the new special exhibit on Monday, March 2, 2015, at 10:00am in the Breasted Hall of the Oriental Institute.

Lecture by Eric Cline on "1177 BC: The Year Civilization Collapsed"

Dr. Eric Cline, Professor of Classics and Anthropology, Chair of the Department of Classical and Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations, and Director of the Capitol Archaeological Institute at The George Washington University, in Washington D.C., will give a lecture on his award-winning book "1177 BC: The Year Civilization Collapsed" at the Oriental Institute on Wednesday, February 25, at 7:00 pm.

Lecture by Tasha Vorderstrasse on "A Cosmopolitan City: Muslims, Christians, and Jews in Old Cairo"

Tasha Vorderstrasse, Ph.D. and co-curator for the special exhibit A Cosmopolitan City: Museum, Christians, and Jews in Old Cairo, will give a lecture about the new special exhibit on Saturday, March 7, 2015, at 5:00 pm in the LaSalle Banks Room of the Oriental Institute.