logo

Welcome to the Penn Museum blog. First launched in January 2009, the Museum blog now has over 800 posts covering a range of topics in the categories of Museum, Collection, Exhibitions, Research, and By Location. Here you’ll hear directly from our staff and Penn students about their work, research, experiences, and discoveries. To explore the Museum's other digital content, visit The Digital Penn Museum.


Ur Digitization Project: November 2012

By: Brad Hafford

Archival documents of the month Spotlight on Field Photo Numbers 912, 1616, 1617, and 2350) The Enormity of the Task I’ve been on the road most of this month in meetings and conferences in both London and Chicago. At these meetings I and many others involved have been promoting the Ur project and reporting on […]

Read the Blog Post


Food Dish [Object of the Day #121]

By: admin

Bowls of this unique, elegant form come from the islands of Wuvulu and Aua, in the Bismarck Archipelago (Papua New Guinea). The culture of these two islands is actually Micronesian rather than Melanesian, and the minimalist feel of these bowls is typical of the Micronesian aesthetic.  Although an early visitor reported seeing them used to […]

Read the Blog Post


Lime Container [Object of the Day #120]

By: admin

  Small wooden container used to carry powdered lime. In many parts of the world lime, chopped areca nut and betel leaf are combined and formed into a quid which is sucked and chewed as a mild stimulant.  The practice is called betel chewing. This lime container, with a lid carved in the form of […]

Read the Blog Post


Bronze Cuirass [Object of the Day #119]

By: Ann Brownlee

  This heavy bronze cuirass served as a warrior’s chest protector.  Only the front part survives of what was originally a cuirass made of two pieces fastened at the shoulders and sides.  The surface is decorated with a raised geometric pattern of rows of triangles and dots.  The elements of the pattern meet at a […]

Read the Blog Post


Wine Jar [Object of the Day #118]

By: Josef Wegner

Most ancient Egyptian pottery tends to be very utilitarian: rough vessels used for day to day purposes, the pots and pans of the land of the pharaohs. Occasionally, however, Egyptian potters produced beautifully decorated wares. Techniques such as slipping and polishing, incised decoration, modeling, and painted decoration (as in this example) produced Egypt’s fine wares. […]

Read the Blog Post


Mysteries of Kourion

By: Tessa de Alarcon

I am working on a year long project conducting a condition survey of the objects at the Penn Museum from Kourion, Cyprus, that were excavated under the direction of George McFadden. This may not sound all that glamorous, but it has some definite perks.  In particular it means that I get to examine and photograph […]

Read the Blog Post


Q & A with DJ Quizzy Jeff

By: Darien Sutton

Don’t miss Penn Museum Quizzo night every 2nd Wednesday of the month, from 6 – 8 pm. Join us next on Wednesday, December 12, when newest quiz master DJ Quizzy Jeff gets inside your head for three rounds of quizzo fun! Jeff Barg is an urban planner at the Pennsylvania Horticulture Society. Some may remember […]

Read the Blog Post


African Basket [Object of the Day #117]

By: Alyssa Kaminski

  This round basket is from our African collection. It it made from twine and interlacing plant fibers. These materials are woven together to create the beautiful geometric patterns that cover the object. Penn Museum Object #AF1835A See this and other objects like it on Penn Museum’s Online Collection Database

Read the Blog Post


Chinese Painting [Object of the Day #116]

By: Stephen Lang

  This painting, named “A Pair of Doves”  by Yi Yuanji, depicts two spotted doves (Streptopelia chinensis ) amid sprays of soft bamboo with a pile of rocks from which grows a small stunted tree. The time of year is most likely autumn or early winter. The signature of Yi Yuanji, 易元吉, is found on the face of […]

Read the Blog Post


Ceremonial Object [Object of the Day #115]

By: admin

Pearl shell disc with incised geometric patterns filled with red ochre. Such discs were worn by Australian Aboriginal men, suspended from belts, as pubic ornaments.  They were also highly valued objects of exchange, traded hundreds of miles into the interior of Australia from the northwest coast, where they were made.  The incised patterns are typical […]

Read the Blog Post