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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
Every day I walk though the Archaeologists & Travelers in Ottoman Lands to get to my office and I’m reminded of a rather funny commercial for Snapple. There’s a striking resemblance between the explorer who exclaims, “We Found Better Stuff!” and Osman Hamdi Bey who is a key subject in our Archaeologists & Travelers in [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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, [...]
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. [...]
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 [...]
Scarecrow with cow’s skull, 1932, Damghan, Iran. Penn Museum Image 83373.
