11/15
Penn Museum
A tour of the ancient world—in Mandarin
A tour of the ancient world—in Mandarin
The Penn Museum offers tours of its exhibits in Mandarin, increasing cross-cultural access to its invaluable assemblage of objects on display, the only known museum in Philadelphia with regularly scheduled tours in the language.
Egypt on display
Egypt on display
Penn Museum opens a new Ancient Egypt exhibition to display artifacts and their conservation during its Building Transformation project.
Marking the winter solstice, from Neolithic times to today
Marking the winter solstice, from Neolithic times to today
For millennia, people have marked the winter solstice with rituals and celebrations—and they continue to do so today. Penn Museum anthropologists Lucy Fowler Williams and Megan Kassabaum discuss both ancient and contemporary customs associated with attending to the shortest day of the year.
Penn Museum programming revamped
Penn Museum programming revamped
With building renovations underway, the Penn Museum has freshened up its roster of fun things to do.
A new take on the 19th-century skull collection of Samuel Morton
A new take on the 19th-century skull collection of Samuel Morton
After unearthing and analyzing handwritten documentation from scientist Samuel Morton, doctoral candidate Paul Wolff Mitchell drew a new conclusion about the infamous 19th-century collection: Though Morton accurately measured the brain size of hundreds of human skulls, racist bias still plagued his science.
Collective grief over loss from Brazil’s National Museum fire
Collective grief over loss from Brazil’s National Museum fire
Members of the Penn Museum’s archeological community discuss the devastation felt over the destruction of an invaluable piece of world history.
In the News
Artnet News
Do these ancient seals unlock clues to the origins of writing?
Holly Pittman of the School of Arts & Sciences and Penn Museum helped contribute to a study arguing that ancient Sumerian seals used to brand products shaped the formation of cuneiform, humanity’s earliest known example of writing.
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NPR
Olympic prizes: How did we get to the three medals?
Brigitte Keslinke of the Penn Museum says that the primary prizes won by victors of the ancient Olympics were crowned wreaths.
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Kokomo Tribune-Indiana
Tribune-Star Editorial: Cheer on Terre Haute talent in Olympics
The ancient Games were primarily a part of a religious festival in honor of Zeus, according to the Penn Museum.
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The Conversation
Reconstructing heritage after war: what we learned from asking 1,600 Syrians about rebuilding Aleppo
In a co-authored survey of residents of the Syrian city of Aleppo, PIK Professor Lynn Meskell identifies four key themes for the reconstruction of heritage sites after conflict.
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BBC
From Ancient Egypt to Roman Britain, brewers are reviving beers from the past
Patrick McGovern of the School of Arts & Sciences and Penn Museum oversaw the first hi-tech molecular analysis of residues found in bronze drinking vessels during a 1950s excavation of an ancient Turkish tomb.
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Time
Why Indigenous artifacts should be returned to Indigenous communities
The Penn Museum is noted for creating its “Native American Voices: The People—Here and Now” exhibit with the help of tribal representatives.
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