Volume 64 / Number 3
2023
Spotlight On: A Crossroads of Culture
On The Cover: Opening weekend visitors taking in the scale of the restored sarcophagus from Beth Shean in the Eastern Mediterranean Gallery. See page 36.
Vol. 64 / No. 3
By: Lauren Ristvet, Virginia Herrmann, Eric Hubbard and Joanna S. Smith
From the Guest Editors: Exploring a Cultural Crossroads
THE EASTERN MEDITERRANEAN GALLERY, opened November 19, 2022, celebrates the Penn Museum’s history of excavation and research in the cultural […]
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Vol. 64 / No. 3
By: Christopher Woods
From the Williams Director: A Multicultural World, Like Our Own
Dear Friends, In our last issue of Expedition, I looked forward to welcoming you to our newly reimagined Eastern Mediterranean […]
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Vol. 64 / No. 3
Unveiling the Eastern Mediterranean Gallery
In November 2022, a series of events celebrated the unveiling of our reimagined Eastern Mediterranean Gallery—a wonderful opportunity to invite […]
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Vol. 64 / No. 3
By: Joanna S. Smith
Views from Land and Sea: Displaying a Late Bronze Age Ship
Sea-going trade expanded in the Mediterranean in the Late Bronze Age (ca. 1600–1100 BCE). The catastrophes that led to the […]
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Vol. 64 / No. 3
By: Joanna S. Smith
Object Stratigraphy: Recycling in the Ancient World
Assemblage and stratigraphy are fundamental concepts for understanding archaeological sites and these ideas bookend the Eastern Mediterranean Gallery. At one […]
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Vol. 64 / No. 3
By: David Mulder
Facing the Past: Anthropoid Sarcophagi From Beth Shean
It is rare that an artifact lets us put a face on antiquity, making a museum visitor feel that they […]
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Vol. 64 / No. 3
By: Virginia R. Herrmann
From Trash to Historical Treasure: Stamped Handles From Gibeon in Judah
In Gibeon, Where the Sun Stood Still, James B. Pritchard, director of the Penn Museum’s 1956–1962 excavations at this site […]
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Vol. 64 / No. 3
By: Joanna S. Smith
Votive Offerings: At the Sanctuary of Apollo at Kourion
People from all over the Mediterranean traveled to a sanctuary at Kourion, Cyprus, to worship, consult, and seek the protection […]
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Vol. 64 / No. 3
By: Joanna S. Smith
Cyprus in the Penn Museum
The Eastern Mediterranean Gallery that opened in November 2022 significantly augments the number of Cypriot objects on permanent display in […]
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Vol. 64 / No. 3
By: Virginia R. Herrmann
An Ivory Sphinx from Nimrud
Browsing through the Eastern Mediterranean Gallery, a casual visitor might be struck by the strongly Egyptian flavor of a small, […]
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Vol. 64 / No. 3
By: Eric Hubbard
Prayer and Protection: Ritual Acts and Magical Objects in the Ancient Eastern Mediterranean
Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) is a lot older than you might think. For millennia, the diverse peoples of the Eastern […]
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Vol. 64 / No. 3
By: Lauren Ristvet
Family Portraits: From Palmyra to Philadelphia
Palmyra, “the city of palms,” was one of the most important trade centers of the ancient world. An oasis city […]
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Vol. 64 / No. 3
By: Eric Hubbard
Archaeology, Archives, & Empire: Excavating Beth Shean in British Mandate Palestine
Penn Museum archaeologists entered the Eastern Mediterranean region within an atmosphere of imperialism. Most of the material in the Eastern […]
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Vol. 64 / No. 3
By: Janessa Reeves
On the Rim of a Volcano: A World War II Story From the Archives
From 1934 to 1954 the Penn Museum conducted excavations at the site of Kourion, in Cyprus, encompassing a range of […]
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Vol. 64 / No. 3
By: Lauren K. Mccormick
Paint: A Fourth Dimension of Sculpture
In 1956 and 1957, the University of Pennsylvania excavated Al Jib, a site located about six miles northwest of Jerusalem […]
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Vol. 64 / No. 3
By: Cole Gaboriault and Susan Zare
Undergraduate Research in CAAM
The minor in archaeological science offered by the Museum’s Center for the Analysis of Archaeological Materials (CAAM) consists of six […]
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Vol. 64 / No. 3
By: Jennifer Brehm and Li Edwards
Celebrating Lunar New Year with the American Chinese Museum
CultureFest! is a popular program for families, intended to introduce visitors to traditions, practices, and art from the regions of […]
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Vol. 64 / No. 3
Remembering Museum Friends
During fall 2022, the Penn Museum family was deeply saddened by the passing of Board of Advisors emeritus member A. […]
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Vol. 64 / No. 3
Welcome News
Engaging Community Voices On December 12th, the Museum was pleased to welcome members of the newly formed Penn Museum Community […]
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Vol. 64 / No. 3
By: Virginia R. Herrmann and Adam Smith
The Alphabet: A Remarkable Journey from Sinai to Beijing
The alphabet*—it’s a seemingly simple invention with a deeper history and longer journey than many people realize. The ancestor of […]
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