Fathom and the Oriental Institute

From 1999 to 2003, The University of Chicago was a participant in Fathom, a consortium of 14 leading educational and cultural institutions providing high-quality, free educational resources on the Internet:

Fathom Knowledge Network, founded in 1999, launched its Web site in the spring of 2000 with the goal of providing high quality educational resources to a global audience through the Internet. The Fathom academic consortium grew to include 14 leading educational and cultural institutions dedicated to that goal. The Fathom Web site ceased operations in March 2003.

During its operation, the Fathom Web site received visitors from more than 52 countries. Fathom users included students, professionals, educators, and lifelong learners. Over 65,000 of Fathom's visitors enrolled in courses and seminars.

Fathom expanded its content and created new formats to help reduce barriers to online learning, such as free seminar series and interdisciplinary learning centers. In 2001, Fathom was honored by Yahoo, and then in 2002 by Forbes, as a leading educational Web site. Fathom's alliances with the BBC, the AARP, and Elderhostel brought online learning to new and diverse audiences.

The Fathom Web site ceased operations in March 2003, but the University of Chicago Libraries archive offers access to the complete range of free content developed for Fathom by University of Chicago faculty, researchers, and departments. Among these are several contributions by staff and faculty of the Oriental Institute:

Dorman, Peter F.
Hatshepsut: Wicked Stepmother or Joan of Arc?

Epigraphic Survey
Lost Egypt: Photography and the Early Documentation of Egyptian Monument

Gibson, McGuire; Susan Kidwell; Paul Sereno
Why We Dig Up the Past

Golb, Norman
The Origins of the Dead Sea Scrolls

Hout, Theo P.J. van den
"I Have Given You my Advice": Educational Principles in the Hittite Empire
and
Miles of Clay: Information Management in the Ancient Near Eastern Hittite Empire

Johnson, Janet H.
Women's Legal Rights in Ancient Egypt

Teeter, Emily and Douglas J. Brewer
Ancient Egyptian Society and Family Life
and
Religion in the Lives of the Ancient Egyptians