It isn't immediately apparent, but the Oriental Institute Museum's latest permanent exhibit, "Ancient Nubia," is a celebration of both the old and the new.
For the old, 650 of the world's most significant artifacts from Nubia (which was in what is now Sudan in northeastern Africa) are on display -- some for the first time.
It's a small, though significant, sampling of the Nubian artifacts housed in the museum's permanent collection, says Oriental Institute director Geoff Emberling. "We have over 15,000 Nubian artifacts, we haven't even catalogued them all, much less have the space to display them."
The objects that made the cut are well worth the visit. One of the prize artifacts is one of the world's oldest saddles, which was excavated from the burial site of a royal body guard.
"The leather was twisted and gnarled when they found it, but it was intact," Emberling says. "The detail on it is incredible."
Also featured in the permanent exhibit is an entire case devoted to archery, something the Nubians were known for.
"The earliest Egyptian term for Nubia was 'the land of the bow,'" says. "We have a leather quiver that is also a beautiful, heavily-detailed piece."
A special exhibit gallery will also house a collection of photographs taken during a University of Chicago expedition in Nubia over 100 years ago. The expeditions were headed by noted Egyptologist (and Oriental Institute founder) James Henry Breasted.
The exhibit also marks the opening of the new Nubian Gallery at the museum and an end to an ambitious 10-year, $15 million project.
The University of Chicago has had a center of ancient Near Eastern studies since it was founded in 1891. As early as 1896, the department collection was housed in what was called the Haskell Oriental Museum. The department soon outgrew that space with subsequent private donations to the department and the university's underwriting of several archeological projects. In 1931, the Oriental Institute opened in its present home, thanks in part to a generous donation by John D. Rockefeller Jr.
Little had changed since the museum had first opened its doors, though. The massive renovation project including the installation of climate-control devices, enabling more of the museum's permanent collection to be displayed.
Emberling says the renovation also gave staffers a chance to rethink the layout of the space.
"One of our most famous objects is a winged, Assyrian bull, and for years it stood at the end of the Egyptian Gallery simply because it was the only spot where it would fit," Emberling says. "Now, thankfully, it's in its proper home in the Mesopotamian Gallery."
In addition to space requirements, the gallery spaces have been laid out with some thought to geography.
"We try to give you a sense of what it would be like to travel from country to country," Emberling says. "So, you start at Mesopotamia, move through Assyria to Turkey and then down the coast to ancient Israel and finally Egypt." The displays have also been retooled. Initially, the museum primarily served the needs of academics and its displays reflected this. There was a series of bays with cases. Information on the cases was limited and aimed at scholars.
Display cases are now state of the art and patron-friendly.
"Without dumbing things down, we've managed to provide non-academics with a rich, historic context for the artifacts and the art," Emberling says. "You really are able to get the bigger picture now."
And that's where Emberling and crew are walking the finest of lines. The Oriental Museum is still affiliated with the University of Chicago and thus still an academic institution.
"There's definitely a bit of tension," Emberling says. "There's a different set of values between research and the presentation of artifacts to the public. It's a challenge to provide the richness of our faculty and collection in an academic setting and still make everything as broadly accessible as possible.
"Researchers from all over the world have said our collection is on par with the British Museum and the Louvre."
Thanks to the Museum's redesign, Chicagoans will now know it, too.
"Ancient Nubia" is a permanent exhibit. The photo exhibit "Lost Nubia: Photographs of Egypt and the Sudan 1905-07" runs through May 7. The Oriental Institute Museum is located 1155 E. 58th. Open Tuesdays, Thursdays-Sundays 10 a.m.-6 p.m. and Wednesdays 10 a.m.-8:30 p.m. Suggested donation $5 adults, $2 children under 12. (773) 702-9520.
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