March 18, 2014

As part of its Electronic Publications Initiative, the Oriental Institute Publications Office announces the Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) release of its Spring News & Notes 2014.

March 3, 2014

A new Research Archives Acquisitions List for November 2013, December 2013 and January 2014 is now available.

January 22, 2014

As part of its Electronic Publications Initiative, the Oriental Institute Publications Office announces the Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) publication of Annual Report 2012-2013.

January 13, 2014

The Oriental Institute's National Museum of Afghanistan cultural heritage project was featured on the cover of the New York Times. You can read the linked article here: Saving Relics, Afghans Defy the Taliban.

January 8, 2014

Information detailing the Oriental Institute's 2014 Symposium, The Early/Middle Bronze Age Transition in the Ancient Near East: Chronology, C14, and Climate Change to be held March 7-8, 2014, in the Institute's Breasted Hall, is now available.

December 16, 2013

The Oriental Institute - National Museum of Afghanistan Partnership and Cultural Heritage Protection Work

December 10, 2013

As part of its Electronic Publications Initiative, the Oriental Institute Publications Office announces the Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) release of its Winter 2014 News and Notes.

November 15, 2013

The Oriental Institute has a new article: Saving the Cultural Heritage of Afghanistan

October 5, 2013

The Oriental Institute has a new Mini-Exhibit: Power and Legacy: The Cyrus Cylinder and Persian Expressions of Kingship

September 10, 2013

JOB OPENING: Director of the Center for Ancient Middle Eastern Landscapes (CAMEL)

Director of the Center for Ancient Middle Eastern Landscapes (CAMEL)

The Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago invites applications for a position to lead the Center for Ancient Middle Eastern Landscapes (CAMEL), a leading research and training program that seeks to understand the ancient cultures of this region through a longitudinal study of its landscapes. This is accomplished via the systematic collection of contemporary and historical spatial data, the development of new methodologies for analyzing the data and facilitation of other researchers’ field projects in the utilization of these technologies, methods, and data sets.

Applicants must have expertise and field experience directing archaeological surface surveys and landscape archaeology projects in the Near East/Egypt. In addition, applicants must have expertise in Geographic Information Systems (GIS), and should have expertise in one or more of the following areas: geomorphology, remote sensing, geography, or quantitative modeling of settlement systems. Experience in grant writing is highly desirable. The successful applicant is expected to teach up to two courses per year on survey and other aspects of landscape archaeology. A Ph.D. is required.

To apply for this position, please apply online at the University of Chicago’s job posting website at http://jobs.uchicago.edu

Job posting number: 093275
Review of applications will begin on October 1, 2013
Inquiries can be directed to oi-administration@uchicago.edu with the subject heading “CAMEL Director Search.”

The University of Chicago is an Affirmative Action / Equal Opportunity Employer

August 20, 2013

The Oriental Institute has a new special exhibit Our Work: Modern Jobs – Ancient Origins, an exhibition of photographic portraits, explores how cultural achievements of the ancient Middle East have created or contributed to much of modern life.

The exhibit is curated by Jack Green and Emily Teeter.

The exhibit catalog is available at https://oi.uchicago.edu/research/pubs/catalog/oimp/oimp36.html.

May 28, 2013

The Oriental Institute Annual Report for years 1928, 1934, 1938-39, 1954-1959 are now available in the Acrobat Portable Document Format (pdf) . There are no Annual Reports for the intervening years. Links to its respective entries have been added to the homepages for numerous Institute archaeological and philological projects and departments. This completes the electronic publication of all Oriental Institute Annual Reports!

April 18, 2013

The Oriental Institute Annual Report for years 1960-1969 and 1970-1979 are now available in the Acrobat Portable Document Format (pdf) . Links to its respective entries have been added to the homepages for numerous Institute archaeological and philological projects and departments.

February 19, 2013

The 2011-2012 Oriental Institute Annual Report is now available in the Acrobat Portable Document Format (pdf) . Links to its respective entries have been added to the homepages for numerous Institute archaeological and philological projects and departments.

February 14, 2013

As part of its Electronic Publications Initiative, the Oriental Institute Publications Office announces the Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) release of its Winter 2013 News & Notes publication.

February 13, 2013

As part of its Electronic Publications Initiative, the Oriental Institute Publications Office announces the Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) publication of:

February 11, 2013

Information regarding a new research project, the Mummy Label Database (MLD), is now available. It is a joint project of the CSIC (Instituto de Lenguas y Culturas del Mediterráneo y Oriente Próximo, Centro de Ciencias Humanas y Sociales – CSIC), Madrid, and of the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago. This project, whose editors are Sofía Torallas Tovar (CSIC), Raquel Martín Hernández (CSIC), and François Gaudard (University of Chicago), is focused on making already-published mummy labels easily accessible to scholars as an on-line database.

February 4, 2013

Take part in an Oriental Institute Travel Program, and accompany Oriental Institute Assistant Professor of Egyptian Archaeology, Dr. Nadine Moeller, on her tour to "Egypt’s Oases. A Journey through the Western Desert," November 22 – December 9, 2013.

February 1, 2013

A new Research Archives Acquisitions List for August 2012 is now available, and the June and July 2012 lists have been revised since they were posted last month.

January 31, 2013

The Oriental Institute’s Integrated Database Project aims to provide public access to information about the diverse research and object-based collections managed and cared for by the Oriental Institute.

As part of the Oriental Institute’s Integrated Database Project, the Research Archives Online Catalog has taken on a new look and feel, added new functionality, and has a new home. We welcome you to check-out the new online catalogue here:

The project has been over eight years in the making, and has involved migrating data from the older Collections and Research Archives databases to the new KE EMu (Electronic Museum) database, and creating a ‘front end’ website portal to access the information. This launch includes both the Research Archives and the majority of the museum objects, not just those in the galleries, in the online database.

This is Phase One of a multistage project. We are currently working on transferring the Image database as part of Phase II, which is why you will generally not yet see images of objects on collections searches. Periodic reports on the progress of Phase II will be presented on the OI website.

January 22, 2013

A new article by Prof. Norman Golb, "Aspects Of The Roles Of Truth And Fiction In The Current Struggle Over The Meaning Of The Dead Sea Scrolls," is now available for download in the Adobe Acrobat (pdf) format.

A recent publication of an official agency of New York City contains a series of startling claims regarding my role in the study and understanding of the Dead Sea Scrolls. Always hopeful of a truthful appraisal of the Scrolls and their significance, I present here, seriatim, an analysis of that document for the thoughtful consideration of serious readers.

January 17, 2013

The text panels from the museum's current exhibit, “Between Heaven and Earth: Birds in Ancient Egypt,” are now available in both Spanish and Chinese translations in the Adobe Portable Document Format (pdf).

January 16, 2013

New Research Archives Acquisitions Lists for May 2012 thru July 2012 are now available.

January 14, 2013

As part of its Electronic Publications Initiative, the Oriental Institute Publications Office announces the Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) publication of:

January 10, 2013

The Oriental Institute Publications Office announces a new print publication:

As part of its Electronic Publications Online, the Oriental Institute Publications Office announces the Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) publication of:

The eighth in the Oriental Institute Seminar Series, this volume contains papers that emerged from the seminar Iconoclasm and Text Destruction in the Ancient Near East and Beyond, held at the Oriental Institute April 8-9, 2011. The purpose of the conference was to analyze the cases of and reasons for mutilation of texts and images in Near Eastern antiquity. Destruction of images and texts has a universal character; it is inherent in various societies and periods of human history. Together with the mutilation of human beings, it was a widespread and highly significant phenomenon in the ancient Near East. However, the goals meant to be realized by this process differed from those aimed at in other cultures. For example, iconoclasm of the French and Russian revolutions, as well as the Post-Soviet iconoclasm, did not have any religious purposes. Moreover, modern comprehension of iconoclasm is strongly influenced by its conception during the Reformation.

This volume explores iconoclasm and text destruction in ancient Near Eastern antiquity through examination of the anthropological, cultural, historical, and political aspects of these practices. Broad interdisciplinary comparison with similar phenomena in the other cultures and periods contribute to better understanding them.

January 8, 2013

A new article by François Gaudard, Birds in the Ancient Egyptian and Coptic Alphabets," is now available for download in the Adobe Acrobat (pdf) format.

January 2, 2013

A new article by Prof. Norman Golb, "The Current Exhibit (2012-2013) At The Cincinnati Museum Center Touching On The Dead Sea Scrolls," is now available for download in the Adobe Acrobat (pdf) format.

There can be no doubt that a beautiful exhibit on Ancient Israel has opened recently in Cincinnati — one that without question should be seen by all people of good will interested in the ancient origins of our humanistic culture. This is especially true of the many stunning displays of artifacts, stonework, amulets, ossuaries, stamp-seals, bathing-pools, pottery figurines and still other realia drawn from the daily life of the people of Ancient Israel, and now to be seen on a scale never before contemplated for overseas presentation. It must certainly be Dr. Israel Dahari of the Israel Antiquities Authority who has brought together the multiple strands of this exhibit and fashioned them into a coherent and esthetic whole. A variation of the exhibit was previously presented at Discover Times Square in New York City and the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia.

All the more is this to be wondered given the fact that, while the above-mentioned displays occupy the major part of the exhibition, it is another element, i.e. presentation of a goodly number of Dead Sea Scrolls, that takes primary billing in the publicity expended for the exhibition. It is this one feature that casts the only a regrettable shadow over the exhibition, and which as a matter of common sense and fairness cries out for correction.

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