Category Archives: Fun Friday Image of the Week

Can You Caption This Photo?

By Amy Ellsworth | Published: July 25, 2011

Please write my caption here or here!

Also posted in Egypt, Museum | 1 Response

Narcissus

By Amy Ellsworth | Published: March 30, 2011

Spring, by small degrees, is inspiring the bulbs to show off their blooms in the the courtyard at the Penn Museum. The daffodils, with oddly narrow trumpets, are nodding visitors inside as if to say, “The Silk Road mummies may be gone, but we still have a really cool exhibit here! I swear! I’m a [...]

Also posted in Museum | 1 Response

Fun Friday Image of the Week – Woman Smoking a Water Pipe, Iran 1932

By Amy Ellsworth | Published: January 28, 2011

A woman water pipe smoker “Kaliunchi” (‘nargilah’ in Arabic and Turkish) in a teahouse in Damghan, Semnan Province, Iran in 1932. Penn Museum Image #83371. Iran was an important part of the Silk Road trading routes. One of the many food items traded along the silk road was pistachios, a main export of Damghan. At [...]

Also posted in Secrets of the Silk Road | Tagged , | 2 Responses

Fun Friday Images of the Week: Camels!

By Amy Ellsworth | Published: January 21, 2011

Since we started planning for Secrets of the Silk Road, almost every powerpoint presentation I’ve seen has been festooned with pictures of camels. We’ve spent many a coffee break needling over whether or not the camels peppering the latest powerpoint were Bactrians or Dromedaries. Bactrian camels have two humps! Surely, you knew that already. At [...]

Also posted in Museum, Secrets of the Silk Road | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Responses

Fun Friday Image of the Week – Bororo Boy in Brazil

By Amy Ellsworth | Published: January 14, 2011

George Rawls (left) and a Bororo boy named Tari (right) during the Penn Museum’s Matto Grosso Expedition in Brasil, 1941 My former  archivist colleagues were charged with the task of scrubbing the Archives Image Database. Out of their own genuine love for the collection (and not due to a lack of work, mind you) they created [...]

Also posted in Museum | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Fun Friday Image of the Week – The Sphinx

By Amy Ellsworth | Published: December 17, 2010

Sphinx of Ramesses II in front of the Main Entrance of the Penn Museum, covered with snow. The Sphinx was moved into the building in 1916, and the Lower Egyptian Gallery was built around the sphinx in 1926. Penn Museum image 140759. I just rubbed my hands together and blew into them to get them [...]

Also posted in Museum | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Fun Friday Image of the Week – 2,500 Year-old Dress Looks Like New

By Amy Ellsworth | Published: December 3, 2010

Pullover wool dress, ca. 5th-3rd century BCE. Excavated from Tomb No. 55 of Cemetery No. 1, Zaghunluq, Charchan, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, China. © Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region Museum. This is one of the objects coming to the Penn Museum in the Secrets of the Silk Road exhibition in February 2011. I am trying to [...]

Also posted in Secrets of the Silk Road | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Fun Friday Image of the Week – Long-nose Gods from Guatemala

By Amy Ellsworth | Published: November 12, 2010

These stone pendants from Alta Verapaz, Guatemala, depict the common theme of the “long-nosed God”, frequently identified with Chac, the rain god. The motif is also associated with a figure known as the jester God, a symbol of rulership. From left: H. 7 cm., H. 5.1 cm., H. 3.6 cm. Penn Museum Objects NA11371, NA11375, [...]

Posted in Fun Friday Image of the Week | Tagged , | 1 Response

Fun Friday Image of the Week – Babies and Puppies from 1904

By Amy Ellsworth | Published: November 5, 2010

Annie Mitchell, baby Clement Mitchell, and Pido the dog in Ukiah, CA 1904 On verso of photograph: “Girl is Annie Mitchell and baby is Clement Mitchell, children of Clara Mitchell (later Williams) and Tom Mitchell from the Yokayo Rancheria near Ukiah, CA. The dog’s name is Pido. Information courtesy of the Held-Page Library, Ukiah, CA. [...]

Posted in Fun Friday Image of the Week | Tagged , , , , | 1 Response

Fun Friday Image of the Week – Sunglasses from 7th-9th Century AD

By Amy Ellsworth | Published: October 22, 2010

Quite possibly the first pair of sunglasses ever made. Not only did they keep out sun glare, but they also kept out all that sand that was blasting around the Taklamakan desert. Imagine if you were a Silk Road merchant sitting on your camel, peddling your silks and spices. You’d probably want to sport this [...]

Also posted in Secrets of the Silk Road | Tagged , , | 1 Response