Penn Museum Exhibitions 2008-09

Penn Museum's current roster of special presentations and permanent installations demonstrates its continued commitment to the study of human history, culture and diversity.

Penn in the World: Twelve Decades at the University of Pennsylvania Museum (May 8-September 28, 2008)

Learn about the history, fieldwork and research conducted by Penn Museum's scholars through archival materials and objects from the institution and university. Assembled by undergraduate and graduate students from the interdisciplinary Halpern-Rogath Seminar, this presentation describes the museum, its architecture and the many programs it conducts in the United States and abroad. On display are historic photographs, documents, architectural renderings and artifacts from expeditions.

Fulfilling a Prophecy: The Past and Present of the Lenape in Pennsylvania (September 13, 2008-September 9, 2009)

The Lenape Indians of southeastern Pennsylvania were forced to migrate westward in the 18th Century. Thought to have disappeared from the state by the end of the 1700s, direct descendents did remain in Pennsylvania, some of them having married European settlers. More than 60 ancient masks, dolls, toys and examples of traditional art from Lenape private collections are joined by one dozen archaeological objects from Penn Museum. Together they explain these people's enduring cultural legacy.

Himalaya: Land of the Snow Lion (October 4, 2008-March 1, 2009)

Forty-five black and white images by photographer Andrea Baldeck describe the history and culture of Tibet. The "land between heaven and earth" is illustrated through insightful pictures of architecture as well as landscapes, portraits and still lifes. The influence of modernity on this once remote region of Asia is evident in Baldeck's works on paper.

Treasures from the Royal Tombs of Ur: Selected Objects

One of the most important archaeological discoveries of the 20th Century was that of the royal tombs of Ur in southern Iraq. Conducted jointly by Penn Museum and the British Museum in the 1920s, the excavations yielded magnificent Mesopotamian objects from the height of Sumerian culture (2600-2500 B.C.) during Ur's Third Dynasty. On display are a reconstructed bull-headed lyre, the famously misnamed Ram in the Thicket (a statuette of a goat entwined in a bush) and the headdress of Queen Puabi. The objects are supplemented by excavation photographs and explanatory texts that recount the expedition's history.

Amarna, Egypt's Place in the Sun

The exhibition presents more than 100 ancient objects that describe the short-lived capital of the monotheistic "heretic" pharaoh Akhenaten (r. 1353-1336 B.C.) and the birthplace of his successor Tutankhamun (r. 1332-1322 B.C.). Royal and religious statuary, monumental reliefs, gold jewelry, personal accoutrements of the ruler and his family, as well as sculptors' workshop materials, provide a balanced view of the Amarna Period (ca. 1353-1336 B.C.) and the theological, artistic and cultural changes that occurred during turbulent years when Akhenaten professed a religion devoted to the Aten or solar disk.

Worlds Intertwined: Etruscans, Greeks, and Romans

This four-gallery reinstallation of more than 1000 Mediterranean antiquities, organized thematically, explores the civilizations of ancient Greece and Italy. The Greeks' daily life, religion, commerce, death and burial practices of the Greek are described through painted vases, marble statues, bronze armor and coins. The Etruscans are revealed in fine pottery, cinerary urns and carved sarcophagi, terracotta architectural elements, jewelry and arms and armor. Marble and bronze works, engraved gems, glassware, portraits and household items illustrate the cultural achievements of the Romans.

Other Installations

Among Penn Museum's many displays that provide in-depth explanations of human culture are: The Egyptian Mummy: Secrets and Science; Canaan and Ancient Israel; Buddhism: History and Diversity of a Great Tradition; Raven's Journey: The World of Alaska's Native People; and Living in Balance: The Universe of the Hopi, Zuni, Navajo and Apache.

Greek & Roman Sculpture Gallery (ca. 1905)

Monastery Courtyard, Bhutan (2003)

Ram in the Thicket, Sumer (ca. 2650-2550 B.C.)

Royal Family Worships Aten, Egypt (1353-1336 B.C.)

Relief with Aten's Hands, Egypt (1353-1336 B.C.)

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