Take a scavenger hunt through our virtual collections, watch an OI lecture, relax with a coloring page, or try out ancient-themed crafts and activities.
You have reached the reference page for our weekly social media explorations! Here, you can access content referenced in our posts. No worries if you didn’t catch these in real time, each workbook, activity, video, and reading selection can be enjoyed on its own.
Be sure to follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, where you will find the latest activities and posts. We announce our themes each Monday and offer suggestions through Friday.
Check back often for new resources!
Week 1: The OI and Ancient Games
- Ancient Games Reading List
Board Games Inspired by the Ancient Middle East
D&D Monster Inspiration
Further reading - The Gaming Episode in the Tale of Setna
Online video - The Assyrian (folda)Bull from University of Chicago Magazine
Ancient Games Workbook
Activity sheets and workbook - Online Senet Game, built by Oliver Tsang and Jeffrey Huang at the University of Chicago.
Week 2: The OI and Film
- Star Wars and Religion, Russell Johnson, UChicago Divinity School
Online video - Demon Workbook
Activity sheets and workbook
Week 3: The OI and Ancient Epics
- 1000 Nights and Islamic Shadow Puppets
OI and Epics
Further reading - Judean and Egyptian Novellas of the Achaemenid and Hellenistic Periods, Joey Cross, NELC, UChicago
Online video - OI Epics Workbook
Activity sheets and workbook
Week 4: Household Items in the Ancient Middle East
- Ancient Household Items and Contemporary Counterparts
Household Items Reading List
Ancient Houseplans
Further reading - Facebook Live Chat: Egyptian Household Items with Catie Witt
(content starts at 6:10)
Online video - OI Household Items Workbook
Activity sheets and workbook
Week 5: The History of Wine
- Olmstead and the Chalice of Antioch
Further reading - OI Members' Lecture, Exploring the Roots of the Vine: The History and Archaeology of the Earliest Wine, Stephen Batiuk, University of Toronto
Online video - OI Virtual Scavenger Hunt, Wine
Activity sheets and workbook
Week 6: Music in the Ancient Middle East
- The Harp Players
Meresamun
Reconstruction of Music and Ancient Instruments
Clap Sticks and Sheet Music of Ancient Songs to Play at Home
Further reading - OI Music Workbook
Activity sheets and workbook
Week 7: Magic in the Ancient Middle East
- Magic in Ancient Egypt
Incantation Bowls
Further reading - OI Podcast: Awakening the Dead for Love, with Robert Ritner, Rowe Professor of Egyptology and Foy Scalf, head of OI research archives
Online video
Week 8: The OI Thanks Essential Workers
- Our Work
Further reading - Essential Workers Workbook
Activity sheets and workbook
Week 9: Art and Artists in the Ancient Middle East
- Ivories and Art of the Late Bronze Age
Ancient Art and Artists Reading List
Donato Bastiani
Sculpturs' Marks
Further reading - Taking Care of Color in Persepolis, Alexander Nagel, Smithsonian
Online video - Art and Artists Workbook
Activity sheets and workbook
Week 10: Landscape Archaeology
- Landscape Archaeology
CAMEL
Further reading - Petroglyphs and Kites in the Black Desert, OI Members' Lecture by Yorke Rowan, senior research associate professor in archaeology, OI
Online video - Landscape Archaeology Workbook
Activity sheets and workbook
Week 11: Food in the Ancient Middle East
- Eating in the Ancient Near East, News & Notes issue 237
Further reading - Ancient Food Workbook
Apricot Stew Recipe
Activity sheets and workbook
Week 12: Language in the Ancient Middle East
- Visible Language
The Rosetta Stone Cast
School Texts
Further reading - Medinet Habu and Tel el-Amarna: Tales of Blocks and Towers, Members' Lecture by W. Raymond Johnson, direcor of the Epigraphic Survey
Scribes at Work
Online video - Language and Writing Workbook
Activity sheets and workbook
Week 13: Companion Animals in the Ancient Middle East
- Ancient Egyptian Paintings, by Nina de Garis Davies
Companion Animals Reading List
Further reading - Companion Animals Workbook
Activity sheets and workbook
Week 14: Fashion and Beauty in the Ancient Middle East
- News & Notes Fashion Issue
Before the Pyramids
Further reading - Cleopatra's Hair
Online video - Fashion and Beauty Workbook
Activity sheets and woorkbook
Week 15: Astronomy in the Ancient Middle East
- Heaven on Earth
Astronomical Instrument
Further reading - Astronomical Timekeeping in Ancient Egypt
Online video - Astronomy Workbook
Activity sheets and workbook
Week 16: OI Excavates
- OI Fieldwork Map
Discovering New Pasts, The OI at 100, suggested: Mesopotamia, page 232 and Egypt, page 182
Zincirli OI project website
Further reading - Jr. Archaeologist Family Workshop
Remembering Katumuwa
Online videos - Archaeology Workbook
Activity sheets and workbook
Week 17: Creation Myths
- Between Heaven and Earth: Birds in Ancient Egypt
Late Bronze Age Tablet, Song of Silver
Further reading - Mythology Workbook
Activity sheets and workbook
Week 18: Mummies
- The Life of Meresamun, the mummy of a temple singer
The Mummy Label Database
Further Reading - Online Mummy Game
Secrets of the Mummies, OI Youth and Family Workshop
Online videos - Mummy Workbook
Activity sheets and workbook
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