Provenance

Each ancient object you will encounter in this exhibit has what archaeologists call its own provenance, or ownership history. Some objects were purchased by the museum’s early directors while others were gifts from wealthy patrons. One of these patrons, Mrs. William Gold Hibbard, Jr., lived in Chicago in the early twentieth century. She subscribed to the Egypt Exploration Fund (now the Egypt Exploration Society) and donated money in exchange for regular shipments of ancient Egyptian objects. The EEF’s excavations were conducted during Britain’s occupation of Egypt and many objects were taken out of Egypt under the pretense that they had little value.

Though various in their provenance, all of the ancient objects in this exhibit have been stripped of their provenience, the larger archaeological context that tells scholars the most about when, how, and by whom artifacts were used. Because early excavators primarily saw these objects as profitable display-pieces, they did not necessarily document their scientific “chain of custody,” and there is much we will never know about them. In some cases, objects may have been acquired through illegal excavations. Others are probably forgeries.

Despite our limited information, these objects confirm that the many peoples of the Middle East, Europe, and Africa were connected through war, trade, and immigration. Spanning two millennia, this exhibit helps us to see cultural exchange in action: the blending of Egyptian and Greco-Roman painting styles, the adoption of Etruscan pottery techniques by peoples in what is now Poland, and much more.