ABSTRACT
In April 2018, the Penn Museum will open the first phase of its planned reinstallation of the permanent collection of approximately 120,000 objects held by its Near East and Babylonian Sections. 13 The new exhibition, entitled “Middle East Gallery,” will cover more than 6,000 sq. ft. and is divided into three architecturally defined spaces on the first floor of the museum. About 1,300 objects primarily derived from excavations in Iraq and Iran will be on view. In a later phase of the museum’s “Great Transformation,” 14 a second, adjacent gallery will present objects from excavations in Syria-Palestine and the eastern Mediterranean, especially those from Beth Shean and Gibeon. A third and final gallery presenting Middle Eastern material will display examples of the cuneiform, Aramaic, Hebrew, and Arabic writing traditions within a comparative and cross-cultural presentation of writing.
