OI? ISAC!

April 4, 2023 9:37 PM

The Institute for the Study of Ancient Cultures, West Asia & North Africa, is the new name for the University of Chicago's renowned Oriental Institute. Founded in 1919, ISAC has been a leader in the archaeology, history, and anthropology of Ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, and the surrounding cultures and civilizations. The institute has also actively disseminated its work to the general public, including a museum and a public lecture series shared on YouTube.

A few selected lectures from ISAC:

Ancient pottery for beginners: why archaeologists study ceramics

Old Europe: house, fire, the goddess, and ambiguity, on attempts to reconstruct the culture(s) of the original peoples of Europe before it was supplanted by that of the Indo-Europeans

Digging up Armageddon: Chicago's search for the lost city of Solomon, a history of an effort to discover history

In the wake of the Phoenicians: makers of the Mediterranean

Hattusa: a journey to central Turkey, a "virtual visit" to the capital of the ancient Hittite empire

Debts, crime, and prison: daily life in Babylonia ca. 1200 BC

The Ark before Noah: a great adventure, a tale and lecture by the very charismatic Assyriologist Irving Finkel about the flood myth of ancient Mesopotamia and his attempts to learn what kind of boat Utnapishtim might have used

1177 BC: the year civilization collapsed

Meluhha: the Indus civilization and its contacts with Mesopotamia

posted by biogeo (8 comments total)

That museum is an absolute Chicago hidden gem.
posted by kickingtheground at 9:56 PM on April 4, 2023 [3 favorites]

Finkel in the boat is a joy.
posted by clew at 11:27 PM on April 4, 2023

I should talk to them about some bad copper I once got sold...
posted by Faint of Butt at 4:39 AM on April 5, 2023 [11 favorites]

My first job was as a security guard at this museum. Had the overnight shift during the summers. It's one of my favorite places.

Haven't been back in a really long time so I hope it's still out on display... my favorite thing back in the day was a mummified baby crocodile, so tiny, with its little toothy snoot sticking out of its wraps.

Edit to add: google found me a photo!
posted by phunniemee at 5:37 AM on April 5, 2023 [14 favorites]

The Archaeology Channel has lots of online videos and an annual film festival in May in Eugene, Oregon.
posted by neuron at 9:09 AM on April 5, 2023 [1 favorite]

This is great! Time enough. I have only been to Chicago once, and this museum was on my to-do list before I knew when we were going. It was a bit hard to find, and when we left we were suddenly underdressed for the weather, to the point that I thought my mom was going into hypothermia. All was eventually well, though -- I think that happens to every Chicago tourist.

The piece that made the biggest impression on me -- I won't say my favorite -- is an Assyrian relief. As you may know, the Assyrians were the absolute worst. I mean, none of the ancient empires were nice, but they generally brought culture and so forth, whereas these guys just did atrocities and ugly statues. This enormous wall carving commemorated a victory over a rebel lord who was flayed alive on the walls of his city. You see much grosser and more lurid props in movies about mummy curses and so forth, but the simple horror of the real thing, the mild archaic smiles of the figures ... Anyway, I really wish I could identify it now. I want to say that the king was one of the Sargons and the rebel was named Yaram-Sin, but both these names are totally flooded on Google, so I can't be sure without asking.
posted by Countess Elena at 9:26 AM on April 5, 2023 [1 favorite]

(cw: flaying alive)
Speak of the devil, I did find it -- unless there are more than one of these depictions, which is not impossible, but I remember the look of this. The rebel was Yahu-Bihdi of Hama, and the king was Sargon II.
posted by Countess Elena at 9:31 AM on April 5, 2023 [3 favorites]

I don't know, the Nimrud panels are pretty impressive.
posted by praemunire at 2:40 PM on April 5, 2023