Built of Memory and Hope: Ancient Abydos

Built of Memory and Hope: Ancient Abydos
by Dr. David Wegner

 

 

 

Mount Lykaion, Greece: The Search for Zeus

Mount Lykaion, Greece: The Search for Zeus
by Dr. David Gilman Romano

 

Dr. David Gilman Romano, Senior Research Scientist in the Penn Museum’s Mediterranean Section and Mt. Lykaion Project Co-Director, offers this presentation of provocative new finds from the current excavations by the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, the University of Arizona, and the Greek Archaeological Service. In particular, the ash altar of Zeus at Mt. Lykaion in Arcadia has revealed new clues about the origins of the cult on the mountaintop sanctuary. According to Greek mythology, Zeus, the father of the Greek pantheon of gods and goddesses, was born on Mt. Lykaion. Mycenaean dedications found at the altar this summer continue to shed light on what may be the earliest beginnings of Zeus in mainland Greece.

Who is the Real Persepolis?

Who is the Real Persepolis?
by Lauren Ristvet

Explore why Persepolis, originally built in 515 BCE, and an UNESCO World Heritage Site in Iran, is the title of the award-winning graphic novel memoir. Dyson Assistant Curator Lauren Ristvet will share her thoughts, as well as more information about the important Iranian site. The event will conclude with an optional short tour of the Museum’s Islamic gallery, which features a variety of Iranian pieces.

Abydos, Egypt by David O'Connor

Ancient Abydos
by Dr. David O'Connor

Dr. David O'Connor speaks at the Abydos Symposium held by American Research Center in Egypt Pennsylvania Chapter.

Museums, Antiquities, and Cultural Property

Museums, Antiquities, and Cultural Property
by Dr. James Cuno

On November 2, 2009 the Museum hosted an evening lecture "Museums, Antiquities, and Cultural Property" by James Cuno, President and Director of The Art Institute of Chicago and author of Who Owns Antiquity? Museums and the Battle over Our Ancient Heritage. 

Community Engagement in Archaeology

Community Engagement in Archaeology
by Dr. Ian Hodder

Ian Hodder, Dunlevie Family Professor of Stanford University and excavator since 1993 of the 9,000 year old Neolithic site of Catalhoyuk in central Turkey, discusses how archaeologists have an obligation to educate the community in which they work about the site's environmental, economic, and social context, to conserve the site's paintings, plasters, and mud walls, to present the site to the public, and to develop reflexive methods in archaeology.

Kluge: The Haphazard Construction of the Human Mind

Kluge: The Haphazard Construction of the Human Mind
by Dr. Gary Marcus

Neanderthals

Did Neanderthals Bury their Dead?
by Dr. Harold Dibble, University of Pennsylvania

Ancient Kourion

The Land of Kuri: How American and Cypriot Archaeologists Revealed the Past of the Island's Southern Shore
by Dr. Stuart Swiny, Director, Institute of Cypriot Studies, University at Albany

The ancient city kingdom of Kourion, on the south coast of Cyprus, has been the focus of archaeological investigation for nearly 150 years. Its location and natural resources attracted the earliest settlers to the island, and its prominence has continued into modern times. Dr. Swiny will provide an overview of the region's archaeology, showing how it represents a microcosm of Cypriot antiquity as a whole. He will emphasize some of the most important discoveries as well as the colorful individual explorers who made them.

Clive Gamble - Evolution of Our Social Brain

Breaking the Mind Barrier: The Archaeology and Evolution of Our Social Brain
by Dr. Clive Gamble

Ur of the Chaldees

Ur of the Chaldees
by Dr. Richard Zettler
Dr. Zettler discusses Sir Leonard Woolley's discoveries from the Royal Tombs of Ur in modern day Iraq.

Trojan War

The Trojan War: Myth or Fact
by Dr. C. Brian Rose
Dr. Rose highlights recent excavations at Troy.

Lascaux

Lascaux
by Dr. Utsav Schurmans
In 1940, a group of boys discovered ancient caves in the south of France, with 17,000 year old paintings and artifacts made by our early ancestors.

China's First Emperor

China’s First Emperor: Man and the Empire for all Eternity
by Dr. Nancy S. Steinhardt
Examine the funerary world of the First Emperor, who in death broke with the millennial-old precedent of sacrificial burial and instead had thousands of life-size clay warriors accompany him into the afterlife.

 

Pompeii 79 AD

Pompeii A.D. 79: The Treasure of Rediscovery
by Dr. C. Brian Rose
Catch an overview of what Pompeii was like 2,000 years ago, before it was buried by thick layers of ash and mud when the volcanic Mt. Vesuvius erupted, freezing one moment in the cities’ history.

Angkor Wat

Angkor!
by Dr. Joyce C. White
Deep in the jungles of Cambodia, ruins of a forgotten kingdom called Angkor came to the attention of 19th century Europe with the publication of sketches by naturalist Henri Mouhot.