ABSTRACT
Museums and the Ancient Middle East is the first book to focus on contemporary exhibit practice in museums that present the ancient Middle East. Bringing together the latest thinking from a diverse and international group of leading curators, the book presents the views of those working in one particular community of practice: the art, archaeology, and history of the ancient Middle East.
Drawing upon a remarkable group of case studies from many of the world’s leading museums, including the British Museum, the Louvre, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Ashmolean Museum, and the Vorderasiatisches Museum in Berlin, this volume describes the tangible actions curators have taken to present a previously unseen side of the Middle East region and its history. Highlighting overlaps and distinctions between the practices of national, art, and university museums around the globe, the contributors to the volume are also able to offer a unique insight into the types of challenges and opportunities facing the twenty-first century curator.
Museums and the Ancient Middle East should be of interest to academics and students engaged in the study of museums and heritage, archaeology, the ancient Near East, Middle Eastern studies, and ancient history. The unique insights provided by curators active in the field ensure that the book should also be of great interest to museum practitioners around the globe.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
part I|1 pages
Introductory
chapter 2|12 pages
Museum displays and the creation of the ancient Middle East
part II|1 pages
Perspectives from national museums
chapter 4|20 pages
170 years of curatorial practices and audiences at the Louvre
chapter 6|14 pages
Unlocking architectures—communicating cultures
chapter 7|13 pages
And now for something completely different
part III|1 pages
Perspectives from art museums
chapter 9|10 pages
Exhibiting interaction
chapter 10|15 pages
Negotiations in museum practice
part IV|1 pages
Perspectives from university museums
chapter 12|22 pages
Between visuality and context
chapter 13|21 pages
The Middle East Gallery at the Penn Museum
chapter 14|14 pages
The Archaeological Museum of the American University of Beirut and its educational role
chapter 15|15 pages
Beyond display
part V|1 pages
Commentary