Discovering New Pasts

The OI at 100

edited by Theo van den Hout

Book cover: Discovering New Pasts

Extent: 428 pages

Publisher: Institute for the Study of Ancient Cultures

Subjects: Ancient Egypt, Ancient Near East

Language: English

Hardback (Published)

(September 2019)

ISBN: 9781614910497

11.5 x 10 inches

Price: $133.95

In stock

In celebration of the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago’s centennial year, a personalized history of the OI’s work past and present. Learn the story of the Institute’s development-from being one man’s dream to becoming one of the world’s pre-eminent authorities on over ten thousand years of human civilization.


In celebration of the OI’s centennial year, over sixty different authors and contributors have come together to provide a personalized history of the OI’s work past and present. In these pages we invite you to join us on an adventure. Explore the legacy of James Henry Breasted and the institute he founded. Discover the inner workings of the OI and its museum. Travel across multiple continents to learn about groundbreaking research. Enjoy a unique collection of nearly six hundred images, all in one publication for the first time. Learn the story of the institute’s development – from being one man’s dream to becoming one of the world’s preeminent authorities on over ten thousand years of human civilization.

Foreword. John Rowe Introduction. Christopher Woods Note from the Editor. Theo van den Hout Authors & Contributors Map of the Ancient World Timeline of the Ancient Middle East BEGINNINGS 01. Seeking Permanence Seeking Permanence: James Henry Breasted and His Oriental Institute. Jeffrey Abt 02. Architecture of the OI Architecture of the OI. Susan J. van der Meulen THE INSTITUTE 03. Museum Introduction. Jean M. Evans A History of the OI Museum. Emily Teeter The Tablet Collection. Susanne Paulus Keeping the Past Present: A Short History of the OI Museum Archives. Anne Flannery Conservation: One Hundred Years of Change. Laura D'Alessandro Registration. Raymond Tindel & Helen McDonald 04. Education OI Volunteer Program. Terry Friedman, Sue Geshwender & Janet Helman Youth and Family Programs. Calgary Haines-Trautman 05. Research Archives A Kind of Paradise: The Research Archives of the OI. Foy Scalf CAMEL. Anthony Lauricella 06. Publications Makin' Books: OI Publications. Charissa Johnson AREAS OF RESEARCH 07. Egypt Egypt: Where the OI Began. Brian P. Muhs The Epigraphic Survey, 1924-2019. W. Raymond Johnson & J. Brett McClain Chicago House: Technological Innovations in Epigraphic Recording. W. Raymond Johnson & J. Brett McClain The Chicago Demotic Dictionary. Janet H. Johnson & Brian P. Muhs The Coffin Texts Project. Robert K. Ritner The "Ancient Egyptian Paintings" Project. Robert K. Ritner The Mummy Label Database (MLD). Francois Gaudard, Raquel Martin Hernandez & Sofia Torallas Tovar Tell Edfu. Nadine Moeller & Gregory Marouard 08. Mesopotamia Mesopotamian Archaeology at the OI. McGuire Gibson, Karen Wilson & Jean M. Evans Assyriology and the Assyrian Dictionary. Martha T. Roth 09. Iran The Past and Present of the OI's Work in Iran. Abbas Alizadeh & Matthew W. Stolper 10. Afghanistan OI Cultural Heritage Preservation Projects in Afghanistan. Gil Stein 11. Anatolia Hittite and Anatolian Studies at the OI. Richard Beal 12. Levant Northwest Semitics in the OI: Recollections of the Last Half Century. Dennis Pardee The OI'S Expedition to Megiddo, 1925-39. Eric H. Cline 13. Nubia The OI and Nubia. Bruce B. Williams & Lisa Heidorn 14. Islamic OI Projects from the Islamic Period: Texts and Archaeology. Tasha Vorderstrasse APPENDICES Directors of the OI Curators of the Museum Advisory Council and Breasted Medallion Awardees A Few Faces of the OI OI Founding Documents University of Chicago Campus Map

  • Edited by T P J van den Hout