“Oh Unas, you have not gone away dead, but alive.” The Pyramid Text quoted here tells us that the ancient Egyptians believed in the continued influence of the dead in the lives of the living. The dead in ancient Egypt were supernatural intermediaries, folk heroes, and some were even deified, worshiped as gods in the […]
Drop-in Activity For International Archaeology Day, "shrink" yourself down to "walk" into an ancient Maya vessel using augmented reality! Maya women were often essential for uniting kingdoms. When a marriage was arranged between Maya royal families, kings would exchange gifts like this ceramic three-legged plate for serving chocolate. Use the museum's iPad as a "magic […]
In recent years more than four hundred ancient tombs, dating from the 6th century BCE to the 3rd century CE, have been discovered on the West Bank at Aswan, Egypt, near the Aga Khan mausoleum. A multidisciplinary team, including the Egyptian-Italian Mission, has found more than a hundred individuals along with their funerary equipment. Piacentini […]
Stephanie Mach (Diné), Curator of North American Collections, Peabody Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology, Harvard University Cynthia Wilson (Diné), Native and Indigenous Rights Fellow, Religion and Public Life Program, Harvard Divinity School Wade Campbell (Diné), Assistant Professor of Archaeology and Anthropology, Boston University Join Stephanie Mach (Diné), Peabody Museum Curator of North American Collections and […]
Much like today, ancient “consumers” were connected to distant markets. Both basic and precious goods from faraway lands “shipped” to royal palaces, elite estates—sometimes even rural households—and technological advances in craftsmanship and commerce transcended boundaries of language, religion, or culture to spread rapidly. Mediterranean Marketplaces explores how the movement of goods, peoples, and ideas around […]
WINNER OF THE NORDIC:DOX AWARD 2022 Denmark, Greenland / 2022 Our most basic understanding of the origins of life was recently turned upside down when Greenlandic scientist Minik Rosing discovered the first traces of life on Earth in a small fjord near Isua, Greenland. His discovery predated all previous evidence by over 300 million years. […]
Venture on archaeological expeditions around the world in this annual event for all ages. Talk with archaeologists who study ancient Egyptian, Aztec, and Inca civilizations and more. Try ancient cuneiform writing and a new app that animates detailed wall art in Assyrian palaces. Peer beneath the ground with a virtual reality experience, and check out […]
Leonardo López Luján, Director, Proyecto Templo Mayor; Senior Research Professor, National Institute of Anthropology and History, Mexico City The Proyecto Templo Mayor of the Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia (INAH) was created in 1978 after the discovery of a huge monolith depicting Coyolxauhqui, the Aztec moon goddess. Since then, other impressive public monuments and […]
What treasures are found in the Harvard University paleontology collections? Meet Harvard paleontologists to find out! See their favorite fossils, learn about their research, and ask them your questions. Join us to celebrate National Fossil Day with short talks and table-top presentations for all ages. Regular museum admission rates apply. Free event parking at the […]
Free Public Lecture – Online & In Person Margaret Geoga, Assistant Professor of Egyptology, The University of Chicago “The Teaching of Amenemhat” is the only ancient Egyptian literary work to describe the assassination of a king. Told from the perspective of the murdered Pharaoh Amenemhat I, the poem is remarkable for its grim subject matter […]
Free Public Lecture – Online & In Person 2025 Hallam L. Movius, Jr. Lecture Series Louise Leakey, Director, Koobi Fora Research Project; Research Professor, Department of Anthropology, Stony Brook University; National Geographic Explorer at Large Kenya’s fossil-rich Turkana Basin has been—for over five decades—a cornerstone in unraveling the story of human origins in Africa. In […]
Speaker: Florence Dunn Friedman, Visiting Scholar, Department of Egyptology and Assyriology, Brown University King Menkaure’s Fourth Dynasty pyramid temples at Giza were once filled with statues. The surviving statues represent some of the finest in ancient Egyptian sculpture. Crafted for eternity, these statues served as “bodies” through which the king could function in this life […]
