Harvard Museum of the Ancient Near East

Harvard Museum of the Ancient Near East We are a FREE museum that explores the rich history of cultures connected by the family of Semitic languages.

Founded as the Harvard Semitic Museum in 1889, the museum moved into its present location in 1903. From the beginning, it was the home of the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations, a departmental library, a repository for research collections, a public educational institute, and a center for archaeological exploration. Among the Museum's early achievements were the first scientifi

c excavations in the Holy Land (at Samaria in 1907-1912) and excavations at Nuzi and Tell el-Khaleifeh in the Sinai, where the earliest alphabet was found. During World War II, the Museum housed Naval offices and was closed to the public. In the 1970's, academic activities resumed in the museum, which is again home to the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations, and to the University's collections of Near Eastern archaeological artifacts. These artifacts comprise over 40,000 items, including pottery, cylinder seals, sculpture, coins and cuneiform tablets. Many are from museum-sponsored excavations in Israel, Jordan, Iraq, Egypt, Cyprus, and Tunisia. In 2020, the museum was renamed the Harvard Museum of the Ancient Near East to better reflect the diversity of its collections. The museum remains dedicated to the use of these collections for the teaching, research, and publication of Near Eastern archaeology, history, and culture. Exhibitions include a full-scale replica of an Iron Age house, life-sized casts of famous Mesopotamian monuments, authentic mummy coffins, and tablets containing the earliest forms of writing. Like the artifacts it displays, the museum itself has a rich and nuanced history.

Now on view! The Art and Discovery of Idu's Tomb.Artist Joseph Lindon Smith traveled to—and painted—sites all over the w...
01/03/2025

Now on view! The Art and Discovery of Idu's Tomb.

Artist Joseph Lindon Smith traveled to—and painted—sites all over the world, and he returned almost every year to Egypt, joining George Reisner at the “Harvard Camp” dig house headquarters west of the famous Giza Pyramids, or wherever Reisner happened to be excavating in Egypt or Sudan.

Reisner told him: “You’ve accomplished the impossible. Each painting is an archaeological record correct in details, but beautiful as a picture.”

These images became an important type of documentation, since back then there was no color photography in archaeology. Smith painted this interior of an Egyptian tomb—the tomb of Idu—in 1925. It’s now on view in From the Nile to the Euphrates: Creating the Museum.

See the website to learn more about Idu, his tomb, the excavations, and Smith. https://tinyurl.com/ArtDiscoveryIduTomb

Detail of “False door” and statue from the tomb of Idu, 1925. Joseph Lindon Smith (American, 1863–1950). Egypt (Giza, tomb of Idu, G 7102). Dynasty 6, 2338–2170 BC. Oil on canvas. HMANE 2024.1.1

“You are on a critical mission for the ruler of your kingdom,” says the ancient Assyrian palace overseer. “You must not ...
12/11/2024

“You are on a critical mission for the ruler of your kingdom,” says the ancient Assyrian palace overseer. “You must not fail to deliver your message and gift to the king of Nineveh.”

Use the Snapchat lens "The Art of Intimidation: Journey to Ancient Assyria" for an augmented reality experience in the gallery to bring casts of palace wall sculptures to life with color, animation, and narration. https://tinyurl.com/ArtofIntimidation

Winter in Boston is the perfect time to duck into a museum for the day. The Mediterranean Marketplaces exhibition explor...
12/06/2024

Winter in Boston is the perfect time to duck into a museum for the day.

The Mediterranean Marketplaces exhibition explores how the movement of goods, peoples, and ideas around the ancient Mediterranean transcended the boundaries of language, religion, or culture.

We are open 11am-4pm Sunday through Friday. Try the audio tour to receive more information on the items in the exhibit!

12/03/2024

Harvard Online Membership Form

We recently hosted a talk with Nadine Abdel Ghaffar, founder of Art D’Égypte. She started the organization in response t...
11/26/2024

We recently hosted a talk with Nadine Abdel Ghaffar, founder of Art D’Égypte. She started the organization in response to a lack of public spaces in Egypt for people to view contemporary art.

Ghaffar took the HarvardX online course “Pyramids of Giza: Ancient Egyptian Art and Archaeology” with Barbara Bell Professor of Egyptology and Harvard Museum of the Ancient Near East Director Peter Der Manuelian to prepare to work at Giza.

“[The Pyramids] is a monument that everyone on the face of the earth knows,” Ghaffar said. “I think it’s a symbol of hope to humanity, because when you think about it there were wars, pandemics, and it’s still there.”

Read the Gazette article: https://tinyurl.com/GhaffarHMSC

In 2016, French Egyptian curator Nadine Abdel Ghaffar founded the organization Art D’Égypte in response to a problem she was seeing: a lack of public spaces in Egypt for people…

Let a Harvard student guide you through the Harvard Museum of the Ancient Near East. Explore the Mediterranean Marketpla...
11/21/2024

Let a Harvard student guide you through the Harvard Museum of the Ancient Near East. Explore the Mediterranean Marketplaces: Connecting the Ancient World exhibition and find out how the movement of goods, peoples, and ideas around the ancient Mediterranean transformed the lives and livelihoods of people at all levels of society.

Touch replicas and smell “ancient” scents as the students bring the past alive. Available during the Harvard academic year on Sundays at 1:00 pm, October 6, 2024–April 27, 2025. See the website for blackout dates: https://tinyurl.com/HMANETours

Don't miss a free night at our partner museum, the Harvard Museum of Natural History, this coming Thursday, 11/21. This ...
11/18/2024

Don't miss a free night at our partner museum, the Harvard Museum of Natural History, this coming Thursday, 11/21. This special edition of , and the last of the season, celebrates Native American Craft Beer Brewers and includes tastings of local beers (ID required). https://tinyurl.com/NativeAmericanBrewers

We’re giving a shoutout to the local beers curated for this Thursday’s free ArtsThursdays: Celebrating Native American Craft Brewers 5-9 pm. https://tinyurl.com/NativeAmericanBrewers

Featuring speakers from the New Mexico-based Bow & Arrow Brewing Co.— the first-ever Native women-owned brewery in the United States —and the Beer Culture Center, we’ll also be serving up craft brews from these local brewers: Notch Brewing, Lamplighter Brewing Co., Long Live Beerworks, Dorchester Brewing Company, and Hot Plate Brewing Co. We hope you can enjoy with us!

𝐵𝑒𝑒𝑟𝑠 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑏𝑒 𝑎𝑣𝑎𝑖𝑙𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑒 𝑎𝑡 𝑎 𝑐𝑎𝑠ℎ 𝑏𝑎𝑟 (𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑖𝑑 𝑔𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑛𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝐼𝐷 𝑟𝑒𝑞𝑢𝑖𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑢𝑚𝑒 𝑎𝑙𝑐𝑜ℎ𝑜𝑙𝑖𝑐 𝑏𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑔𝑒𝑠)

11/13/2024

There's still time to sign-up for tonight's talk "Forever Is Now: Contemporary Art at the Pyramids of Giza," centered around a contemporary art exhibition at the 4500-year-old UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Pyramids of Giza.

Join Nadine Abdel Ghaffar, founder and curator of CulturVator|Art D’Égypte, to explore how contemporary art intersects with ancient history, and how artists from diverse backgrounds use this historical space to celebrate humanity’s timelessness and the search for meaning and connection in art.

Register here: https://tinyurl.com/ForeverIsNowGiza. Free event parking at the 52 Oxford Street Garage starting at 5:00 pm.

There's nothing like autumn in Cambridge. Admission is always free. Open 11am-4pm Sunday through Friday. 🍂🍁
11/10/2024

There's nothing like autumn in Cambridge. Admission is always free. Open 11am-4pm Sunday through Friday. 🍂🍁

New Teen Saturdays Workshop: Animating Ancient Assyria! Teen Saturdays Workshops are designed to build community and imp...
11/04/2024

New Teen Saturdays Workshop: Animating Ancient Assyria! Teen Saturdays Workshops are designed to build community and improve the museum experience for multicultural and Spanish-speaking teens.

In this workshop, on November 9th teens can visit an ancient Assyrian royal palace with augmented reality, and watch stone monuments spring to life with color and movement!

Details and leer en español: https://tinyurl.com/AnimaciondelAsirioAntiguo

Forever Is Now is a contemporary art exhibition at the 4500-year-old UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Pyramids of Giza. J...
10/30/2024

Forever Is Now is a contemporary art exhibition at the 4500-year-old UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Pyramids of Giza.

Join Nadine Abdel Ghaffar, founder and curator, CulturVator| Art D’Égypte, for a FREE hybrid lecture on November 13th to explore how contemporary art intersects with ancient history, and how artists from diverse backgrounds use this historical space to celebrate humanity’s timelessness and the search for meaning and connection in art.

Against the backdrop of ancient Egypt’s cultural heritage, the contemporary installations are a testament to the continual evolution of art, the transformative power of storytelling, and cross-cultural exchange.

Advanced registration is recommended: https://tinyurl.com/ForeverIsNowGiza

Photo Credit: Hesham E Saifi

The Harvard Crimsonn asked Gaia Bencini, a Ph.D. candidate in Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations studying Egyptolo...
10/24/2024

The Harvard Crimsonn asked Gaia Bencini, a Ph.D. candidate in Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations studying Egyptology, 15 questions about Egyptology, Hieroglyphics, and the “Dreaming the Sphinx” virtual reality app. https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2024/10/18/gaia-bencini-15q/

Bencini says, “Students can experience being there without having to travel to Egypt. Looking into the deep past is a little bit like looking into the future. It’s so distant in time that we have lost so many connections to it that it’s like a rediscovery of how humans can be.”

The Egyptology PhD candidate sat down with FM to discuss Ancient Egyptian artifacts, translating hieroglyphs, and misconceptions about the ancient Near East.

Check out our new searchable collections database! This ancient blue glass flask might have held kohl—a black eye makeup...
10/17/2024

Check out our new searchable collections database! This ancient blue glass flask might have held kohl—a black eye makeup still used today as eyeliner. It’s one of over 40,000 artifacts that are now searchable online. The flask is on view in the Mediterranean Marketplaces exhibition.

The museum cares for many items including pottery, cylinder seals, sculpture, coins, and cuneiform tablets. Many are from museum-sponsored excavations in Israel, Jordan, Iraq, Egypt, Cyprus, and Tunisia. See categories of artifacts such as collection highlights, glass, Egypt, Mesopotamia, and tablets. The database is a work in progress and will be augmented periodically. https://tinyurl.com/SearchCollections

Forever Is Now is a contemporary art exhibition at the 4500-year-old UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Pyramids of Giza. A...
10/02/2024

Forever Is Now is a contemporary art exhibition at the 4500-year-old UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Pyramids of Giza. Against the backdrop of ancient Egypt’s cultural heritage, the contemporary installations are a testament to the continual evolution of art, the transformative power of storytelling, and cross-cultural exchange.

Join Nadine Abdel Ghaffar, founder of CulturVator| Art D’Égypte, for a FREE hybrid lecture on Wednesday, November 13th to explore how contemporary art intersects with ancient history, and how artists from diverse backgrounds use this historical space to celebrate humanity’s timelessness and the search for meaning and connection in art.

Advanced registration is recommended: https://tinyurl.com/ForeverIsNowGiza.

George Reisner helped to revolutionize archaeological methods in both the Old World and the New. In the biography, Walki...
09/24/2024

George Reisner helped to revolutionize archaeological methods in both the Old World and the New. In the biography, Walking Among Pharaohs: George Reisner and the Dawn of Modern Egyptology (Oxford Academic (Oxford University Press) distinguished Egyptologist Peter Der Manuelian considers Reisner’s life within the context of Western colonialism, racism, and nationalism.

Peter is the distinguished Barbara Bell Professor of Egyptology in both the Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations and the Anthropology Departments at Harvard, and director of the Harvard Museum of the Ancient Near East. The Tozzer library is hosting an event on October 9th to celebrate Der Manuelian’s research on one of America’s greatest Egyptian archaeologists.

Wednesday, October 9th, 5:30pm-7:00pm
Tozzer Library, 21 Divinity Ave, Cambridge, MA

This event is open to all, but space is limited. Reserve your spot: https://bit.ly/TozzerBook2024.

Between 1908–1910, Harvard’s George Reisner found some of the most iconic pieces of ancient Egyptian art at the Menkaure...
09/12/2024

Between 1908–1910, Harvard’s George Reisner found some of the most iconic pieces of ancient Egyptian art at the Menkaure Valley Temple at Giza.

Join Ancient Egypt Research Associates - AERA President Mark Lehner for a FREE hybrid lecture on October 16th to learn about new findings that span 300 years.

Advance registration is recommended: https://tinyurl.com/RediscoveringSculpturesGiza

09/04/2024

The Art of Intimidation: Journey to Ancient Assyria is an augmented-reality Snapchat lens that brings to life the casts of sculpted panels from the royal palaces of ancient Nineveh and Nimrud (in what is now Iraq). Scenes are variously celebratory, imposing, and violent: all designed to demonstrate the kings’ power around 640 BC.

Research in archaeological science and art history was used to help the Harvard Museum of the Ancient Near East visitors explore royal palace life. Use your phone to try the app in the galleries. Then sit with the curator as he shares how decisions about color, music, voice, and clothing were made using science, history, and creativity.

To register for this event, visit https://bit.ly/4cQDHFo

We welcome you to attend our first lecture of the season, "Uncovering Stars in an Egyptian Temple: The New Sky over Esna...
08/30/2024

We welcome you to attend our first lecture of the season, "Uncovering Stars in an Egyptian Temple: The New Sky over Esna," on September 18. Available in person and virtually. https://tinyurl.com/UncoveringStars

The front vestibule of the temple of Esna is one of the last examples of ancient Egyptian temple architecture. This lecture, delivered by Christian Leitz, Director of the Department of Egyptology, Institute for Ancient Near Eastern Studies (AINES), Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen, will give an overview of a recent restoration project, including a reveal of the astronomical ceiling.

Advance registration is recommended. Free parking.

Geological Lecture Hall, 24 Oxford Street, Cambridge Special Lecture Event – Online & In Person Speaker: Christian Leitz, Director of the Department of Egyptology, Institute for Ancient Near Eastern Studies (AINES), University of Tübingen, Germany The front vestibule–or pronaos–of the temple ...

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Founded as the Harvard Semitic Museum in 1889, the museum moved into its present location in 1903. From the beginning, it was the home of the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations, a departmental library, a repository for research collections, a public educational institute, and a center for archaeological exploration. Among the museum's early achievements were the first scientific excavations in the Holy Land (at Samaria in 1907-1912) and excavations at Nuzi and Tell el-Khaleifeh in the Sinai, where the earliest alphabet was found. During World War II, the museum housed Naval offices and was closed to the public. In the 1970s, academic activities resumed in the museum, which is again home to the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations, and to the University's collections of Near Eastern archaeological artifacts. These artifacts comprise over 40,000 items, including pottery, cylinder seals, sculpture, coins, and cuneiform tablets. Many are from museum-sponsored excavations in Israel, Jordan, Iraq, Egypt, Cyprus, and Tunisia.

In 2020, the museum was renamed the Harvard Museum of the Ancient Near East to better reflect the diversity of its collections. The museum remains dedicated to the use of these collections for the teaching, research, and publication of Near Eastern archaeology, history, and culture. Exhibitions include a full-scale replica of an Iron Age home, life-sized casts of famous Mesopotamian monuments, authentic mummy coffins, and tablets containing the earliest forms of writing. Like the artifacts it displays, the museum itself has a rich and nuanced history.