Visit the Museum
A different kind of museum-going experience
- Museum Hours: Tuesday–Sunday, 10:00am–4:00pm.
- Individuals:
- No reservation required.
- Suggested Admission Fee (payable at entry): Adults $10, Children (12 & under) $5.
- Adult & Family Group Visits:
- Includes Groups of 10 or more; Groups led by their own guide.
- Required registration and admission fee.
- Click here for more information and to register.
- School & Youth Group Visits:
- Required registration and admission fee.
- Click here for more information and to register.
- Members: Admission is always free for Members and the UChicago community (students, faculty, and staff with UChicago ID) and their guests; if you're not yet a member, become one today.
Mesopotamian temple statues and gifts in the Mesopotamian Gallery
The world-renowned OI Museum aims to understand, reveal, and protect the earliest human civilizations.
Right at 58th and University is one of the world’s greatest centers for understanding the story of our lives as humans together; envisioned as a “laboratory for the study of the rise and development of civilization,” the Oriental Institute is the University of Chicago’s—and one of the world’s—very first interdisciplinary institutes. The OI is also a world-renowned museum, housing some 350,000 artifacts, excavated mainly by OI archaeologists, and a comprehensive archive that documents our fieldwork and other research. Together, the Oriental Institute Museum collections comprise one of the best resources in the world for the ancient Middle East, allowing us to understand, reveal, and protect the past.
The OI Museum displays objects recovered by OI excavations in permanent galleries devoted to ancient Egypt, Nubia, Persia, Mesopotamia, Syria, Anatolia, and the Levant, as well as rotating special exhibitions. As you explore these galleries, you’ll discover how people thousands of years ago forged a collective identity—confronting, as we do today, issues of autonomy, diversity, and unity. We start here. Whether you’re a current, aspiring, or amateur archeologist, artist, humanist, scientist, historian, philosopher, or linguist, we invite you to visit and learn about the beginnings of our lives as humans, together.
THE OI BY THE NUMBERS
350,000
approximate number of artifacts in the collection, primarily excavated by OI archaeologists
5,000
approximate number of artifacts on display
Colossal satue of king Tutankhamun
OI Museum Special Exhibitions
Artifacts Also Die (Opening April 5, 2023)
Making Sense of Marbles: Roman Sculpture at the OI (September 15, 2022–March 12, 2023)
Contemporary Art Installations
The Suq Gift Shop Hours
Wednesday, Saturday–Sunday
10:00am–4:00pm
Visit The Suq online.
Support the OI!
Your donation helps keep the galleries open and free to the general public. To make a gift, visit oi.uchicago.edu/give today. To support OI scholarship and fieldwork year round, consider becoming a member. Join us at oi.uchicago.edu/member.
Visitor & Explorer's Guides
Download the OI Museum Visitor Guide (gallery guide)
Download the OI Museum Explorer's Guide (family activity guide)
Photography Policy
Photography is permitted in the museum galleries. Use of tripods, monopods, selfie sticks, or additional lighting units, however, is not permitted. To request publication-quality image files from our Digital Archives (including object, exhibition, and archival photographs and illustrations) and to obtain permission for publication, visit Photo Requests and Permissions.
Sketching Policy
Visitors and groups may only use pencil and must have a notebook or clipboard to use. Leaning on cases is not permitted.
Items Not Permitted in the Galleries
Food or drinks, backpacks, umbrellas, parcels or bags larger than 11”x13”, and e-cigarettes and vaporizers. Also, please refrain from talking on any cellular devices while inside the galleries.
Parking
For information on parking around campus, please visit the University of Chicago Visitor Parking webpage.
Accessibility
Please visit our Accessibility webpage.
*The museum elevator is currently undergoing maintenance, which impacts ADA accessibility to our restrooms and classroom spaces. This work is ongoing through March of 2023. ADA accessible bathrooms are available in the campus building across the sidewalk from the OI. We apologize for this inconvenience.
HOW WE’RE PREPARING
Welcome back! The OI Museum follows public health protocols under the guidance of the University of Chicago. Our OI Museum protocols are reviewed regularly so that we may make adjustments as necessary. We are supporting a safe museum space by:
Public Health Practices
- All visitors coming to the University of Chicago campus, including visitors to the OI Museum, are required to adopt the University’s COVID-19 health protocols.
- OI Museum visitors are not required to show proof of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test as a condition of admission, and face coverings are optional.
Cleaning
- We are enhancing and increasing the frequency of cleaning and sanitation, especially for high-traffic areas and high-touch surfaces.
Training
- Before returning to the OI Museum, all of our employees will complete the University of Chicago’s COVID-19 training and health attestation.
QUESTIONS?
Please email us at oi-visitors@uchicago.edu.
