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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.


Secrets of the Other Silk Road

By: Gabrielle Niu

At this point, one might be hard pressed to find a Philadelphian who has not heard of at least a whisper of the secrets hidden in sands of the ancient Silk Road. The Secrets of the Silk Road exhibition reveals and conceals secrets that are, in many ways, relevant to the entire spectrum of human […]

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Secrets of Silk Science

By: Gabrielle Niu

It is said that that the Chinese closely and successfully guarded the secrets of silk production until a Chinese princess was sent to marry the king of the Taklamakan Desert oasis, Khotan. As the story goes, this princess carried to her new kingdom silkworm cocoons hidden in her gowns and destroyed the Chinese monopoly on silk […]

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Inside Info: The Silk Road Exhibition

By: Josh

Hi! Social Media Josh here. Just got done my lunch break and decided to hop upstairs and pay a visit to the Secrets of the Silk Road Exhibition. The staff here really did an amazing job. The atmosphere, artifacts, music and mummies provide an experience that can’t be matched. The interactive portions all provide hands-on […]

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Penn Museum’s Own Piece of the Silk Road

By: Gabrielle Niu

During the height of the Silk Road and the bright beginnings of the Tang dynasty, China was ruled by one Emperor Tang Taizong. Taizong’s rule is remembered for its economic prosperity, cultural richness and cosmopolitanism, as well as for its unprecedented expansion of Chinese borders into the Western Xinjiang Regions. At the end of his life, he […]

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China’s Secret Mummies [VIDEO]

By: Josh

Victor Mair, Professor of Chinese Language and Literature at Penn, lends his expertise to this short documentary from National Geographic. Make sure to visit the Secrets of the Silk Road exhibit at the Penn Museum opening February 5th.

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Food from the Silk Road [PHOTO]

By: Josh

We’re working around the clock to ready the debut of our Secrets of the Silk Road exhibition in two weeks. But who can work on an empty stomach? The Pepper Mill Café at the Penn Museum invites guests to take a culinary journey along the Silk Road. The Café offers a changing variety of regionally-inspired […]

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Exhibiting “Secrets of the Silk Road”

By: Gabrielle Niu

The Penn Museum’s Exhibits Department has been developing the interactive features for the Secrets of the Silk Road exhibition opening February 5th! Watch this video for a sneak peek into the exhibition and click here to see photos of the department at work.

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Constructing “Secrets of the Silk Road”

By: Gabrielle Niu

The sands of the Taklamakan Desert are forming at the Penn Museum! See how the Xiaohe burial grounds are being transported to the Secrets of the Silk Road exhibition.

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Silk Road Makes Appearance on the Shanghai Art Scene

By: Gabrielle Niu

The transmission of Buddhism from India to China via the Silk Road and the consequent role that Buddhism has played in shaping Chinese culture inextricably ties the histories of the two nations together. However, while many in China are aware of India’s historical past, they are not as in touch with the accomplishments of modern […]

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Kashgar Revival?

By: Gabrielle Niu

Once the western oasis town that connected the Silk Road routes encircling the Taklamakan Desert, the city of Kashgar is re-emerging onto the global scene as a peculiar focus of Beijing’s “special economic” devotions.  Located in the Xinjiang Autonomous region in northwest China, Kashgar is approximately 4400km from Beijing and sits at the edge of […]

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