Volume 64 / Number 2

2022

Spotlight On: Hidden Ancient Sites Seen From the Air

On The Cover: Prehistoric hunting traps in the black basalt desert (Harra) in eastern Jordan, as visible in a declassified U-2 spy plane photo captured 30 January 1960. These traps, called “desert kites”, have long tails that sometimes link to form chains stretching for miles. U-2 photographs of archaeological sites are the subject of a new exhibition U-2 Spy Planes & Aerial Archaeology (see page 11).

Vol. 64 / No. 2

By: Amanda Mitchell-Boyask

From the Publisher: A Bird’s-Eye View

AS ERIC HOBSON NOTES on page 14, when Percy C. Madeira set off on the “Central American Expedition of the […]

Vol. 64 / No. 2

By: Christopher Woods, Ph. D.

From the Williams Director: Physical and Philosophical Transformation

Dear Friends, In our last issue of Expedition, I took stock of the many changes which have occurred at the […]

Dr. Meskell at the Taj Mahal, July 2022. Photo by Shubanghni Gupta.

Vol. 64 / No. 2

UNESCO World Heritage at 50: A Conversation with Lynn Meskell

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the World Heritage Convention, UNESCO’s flagship program to save the world’s cultural and […]

Vol. 64 / No. 2

By: CD Green

Wisdom of the Ancestors: Why Museum Politics Matter

Buried in the lush and green mountains of northern New Caledonia—named by colonizers after the verdant ranges of Scotland—I was […]

Vol. 64 / No. 2

U-2 Spy Plane Images Reveal Ancient Landscapes

Over the course of four years, working over a light table in a darkened room in the National Archives, landscape […]

Vol. 64 / No. 2

By: Eric Hobson

Archaeology Takes Wing: The Penn Museum’s 1930 Aerial Expedition to the Yucatan

In October 1929, fifty-year old Philadelphia banker and lawyer Percy C. Madeira, Jr., tracked with great interest Charles A. Lindbergh’s […]

Vol. 64 / No. 2

By: Lauren Ristvet, Virginia Herrmann, Eric Hubbard and Joanna S. Smith

At a Crossroads of Culture: Creativity and Innovation in a Region Known for Conflict

On November 19, 2022, the Penn Museum will open the doors of the new Eastern Mediterranean Gallery, subtitled “Crossroads of […]

Vol. 64 / No. 2

By: Erhan Tamur

Goddesses, Mothers, Rulers: Womanhood in an Ancient Patriarchal Society

The exhibition She Who Wrote: Enheduanna and Women of Mesopotamia, ca. 3400–2000 BC, is on view at the Morgan Library […]

Vol. 64 / No. 2

By: José Hernández

Analyzing Guastavino Akoustolith Tiles

Since antiquity, reverberation and echo have been linked to monumental, vaulted spaces. Classical Roman temples and medieval Gothic cathedrals produced […]

Vol. 64 / No. 2

By: Aylar Abdolahzadeh and Sarah Linn

The Ksâr´Akil Rockshelter: A Corridor of Change and Innovation

The Museum Assistantship Program was started with the goal of pairing Penn Museum projects in need of research assistance with […]

Vol. 64 / No. 2

By: Jennifer Brehm, Rorujorona Ferrell and Haibin Wechsler

Bringing Cross-Cultural Learning to Philadelphia Classrooms

Thousands of school students each year participate in a global education program called International Classroom. The International Classroom program started […]

Vol. 64 / No. 2

By: Ava Cappitelli

Gifts of Objects Enhance American and Asian Section Collections

At its June 2022 meeting, the Penn Museum Acquisitions Committee voted unanimously to accept three collections of objects and four […]

Vol. 64 / No. 2

By: Jane Hickman

The Harriet Tubman Museum in Cape May, New Jersey

Under dangerous circumstances, with “slave catchers” close behind, the men and women of the Underground Railroad risked death to lead […]

Vol. 64 / No. 2

Welcome News

New Director of Collections The Penn Museum was pleased to welcome Laura Hortz Stanton as Director of Collections on September […]

Vol. 64 / No. 2

Membership Matters

Member Events, Enjoyed and Invited Penn Museum Visionaries Take New York On April 29 Visionaries joined Brian Rose, Ferry Curator […]