Iraq's Ancient Past - Rediscovering Ur's Royal Cemetery

Penn Museum’s world-renowned mesopotamian collection from Ur is the centerpiece of a new exhibition exploring Iraq’s ancient cultural heritage.

At the the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology in October 2009 opens a new long-term exhibition: Iraq's Ancient Past.

The exhibition will contain field notes of previous expeditions to the region, photographs, archival documents as well as more than 220 extraordinary ancient artifacts unearthed at the excavation.

The Ram-Caught-in-the-Thicket, the Great Lyre with a gold and lapis lazuli bull's head, Queen Puabi's jewelry, an electrum drinking tumbler, and a gold ostrich egg, as well as the Queen's headdress and other treasures, large and small will go on display at the Penn Museum.

But it's not just Iraq's Past that's on display, the exhibition looks to the present and future as well, exploring the ongoing story of scientific inquiry and discovery made possible by those excavations, and the pressing issues around the preservation of Iraq's cultural heritage today.

Iraq's Ancient Past is co-curated by the Penn Museum's Richard L. Zettler, Associate Curator-in-Charge of the Near East Section, and Holly Pittman, Curator in the Near East Section.