Books by (former) OI folk

Nina Bruhns, former student at the OI and member of the staff of the Research Archives in the early 80s found her way to oihistory. She said nice things about her time at the OI, "To this day it gets a special mention as my alltime favorite job".

She also passes along news of her new book : Shoot to Thrill, which draws heavily on her days doing fieldwork in the Sudan.

News: Gold of Kush

Letter from Sudan: The Gold of Kush

Archaeology,
Volume 62 Number 6, November/December 2009

by Geoff Emberling

When frequent ARCHAEOLOGY contributor Andrew Lawler reported on the construction of Sudan's massive Merowe Dam on the Nile River at Hamdab, some 220 miles north of the capital Khartoum ("Damming Sudan," November/December 2006), innumerable ancient sites were about to be flooded. The disastrous situation also posed a humanitarian crisis, as those in the water's path were systematically forced from their homes. The following year, University of Chicago archaeologist Geoff Emberling joined an international salvage effort to document sites before they disappeared..

See the chronicle of news about the Oriental Institute.

Lectures at the OI in Celebration of the 500th Convocation

Lectures in Celebration of the 500th Convocation

Friday, Oct. 9, 2009

1:30-2:30 p.m.

“Transgressing Disciplines,” Robert McCormick Adams Jr., PhB’47, AM’52, PhD’56,
Department of Anthropology, University of California, San Diego. Hosted by the Department of Anthropology.
Location: Oriental Institute, Breasted Hall

Upcoming Exhibit at the OI: “Pioneers to the Past: American Archaeologists in the Middle East, 1919–20”

Pioneers to the Past: American Archaeologists in the Middle East, 1919–20

The Oriental Institute Museum will present an exhibit entitled “Pioneers to the Past: American Archaeologists in the Middle East, 1919–20” from January 12 to August 30, 2010.

James Henry Breasted had received a large donation from John D. Rockefeller, Jr. to establish the Oriental Institute in 1919 and quickly organized an expedition to travel across the Middle East to acquire objects for the Institute and identify sites for excavation. World War I had just ended, the political map of the Middle East had not yet been redrawn, and it was a dangerous time to be travelling through the region. The exhibit will present the incredible adventure story of the Breasted expedition through photographs, excerpts from letters, original documents from the archives, and objects purchased on the trip.

The trip also raises a number of issues about American involvement in the Middle East that still resonate today. How do archaeologists relate with people living in the areas they study? Whose history do archaeologists study and write? What is the relationship between archaeology and international politics?

Read more about the exhibit here.

New on the OI website

A couple of interesting new items on the OI web presence

What’s New

October 6, 2009

The 'Highlights From The Collection' web page for Ancient Egypt has been updated. Thirteen objects from the Oriental Institute Museum’s collection are described in detail, accompanied by twenty-two photographs.

September 29, 2009

An Introduction and Guide to the Oriental Institute Research Archives is now available for download in Adobe Acrobat (pdf) format.

OI 3D

There is a cute little 3D model of the Oriental Institute building here, built a couple of years ago with Google SketchUp. Even better, you can View the model in context in Google Earth.



And for other University of Chicago buildings rendered like this go here.