View source for Institute for the Study of Ancient Cultures

{{Short description|Near Eastern studies center and museum}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2025}}
{{infobox museum
| name            = Institute for the Study of Ancient Cultures<br>West Asia & North Africa
| image           = Image:Orientalinstitutedoors.jpg
| caption         = ''East Meets West'' tympanum, designed in 1931 by sculptor [[Ulric Ellerhusen]]
| coordinates     = {{coord|41|47|22|N|87|35|52|W|display=inline,title}}
| established     = 1919
| location        = University of Chicago<br />1155 E 58th Street<br />[[Chicago, Illinois]]
| type            = Archaeology; languages
| website         = {{URL|isac.uchicago.edu}}
}}

The '''Institute for the Study of Ancient Cultures, West Asia & North Africa''' ('''ISAC'''), formerly known as the '''Oriental Institute''', is the [[University of Chicago]]'s interdisciplinary research center for ancient [[Near East]]ern studies and [[archaeology]] [[museum]]. Established in 1919, it was founded for the university by Egyptology and ancient history professor [[James Henry Breasted]] with funds donated by [[John D. Rockefeller Jr.]] It conducts research on ancient civilizations throughout the Near East, including at its facility, Chicago House, in [[Luxor, Egypt]]. The institute also publicly exhibits an extensive collection of artifacts related to ancient civilizations and archaeological discoveries at its on-campus building in [[Hyde Park, Chicago]]. According to anthropologist William Parkinson of the [[Field Museum]], the ISAC's highly focused "near Eastern, or southwest Asian and Egyptian" collection is one of the finest in the world.<ref name=Johnson>{{Cite news |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/museums/ct-ent-oriental-museum-chicago-100-years-0922-20190919-hx7jj5lzezdb3ngocj4htwv65q-story.html |title=The Oriental Institute has a 100th birthday makeover wish — to no longer be Chicago's 'hidden gem' |last=Johnson |first=Steve |date=19 September 2019 |work=[[Chicago Tribune]] |access-date=2019-09-25}}</ref>

==History==
[[File:Oriental Institute.jpg|thumb|University of Chicago Institute for the Study of Ancient Cultures, West Asia & North Africa]]
In the early 20th century, James Henry Breasted built up the collection of the university's Haskell Oriental Museum, which he oversaw along with his field work, and teaching duties. He dreamed, however, of establishing a research institute, "a laboratory for the study of the rise and development of civilization," that would trace Western civilization to its roots in the ancient Middle East.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Breasted |first1=Charles |title=Pioneer to the past : the story of James Henry Breasted, archaeologist |date=2010 |publisher=University of Chicago |location=Chicago |isbn=9781885923677 |page=238}}</ref>

As [[World War I]] came toward a close, Breasted sensed an opportunity to use his influence in the new political climate to create opportunities for access to archaeology sites and their study. He wrote to [[John D. Rockefeller Jr.]], and proposed the foundation of what would become the Oriental Institute. Fundamental to the implementation of his plan was a research trip through the Middle East, which Breasted had optimistically suggested was ready to receive scholars again after the disturbances of the war. Breasted received a reply from Rockefeller pledging $50,000 over five years for the Oriental Institute. Rockefeller also assured University of Chicago president Harry Pratt Judson that he would pledge another $50,000 to the cause. The University of Chicago contributed additional support, and in May 1919 the Oriental Institute was founded.<ref name=UoC1>{{cite web|title=The Oriental Institute|url=http://oi.uchicago.edu/|publisher=University of Chicago|access-date=27 May 2013|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110211164727/http://oi.uchicago.edu/ |archive-date=11 February 2011}}</ref>

The institute is housed in a [[Gothic Revival]] building at the corner of 58th Street and University Avenue, which was designed by the architectural firm [[Mayers Murray & Phillip]]. Starting in 1996, the building was expanded and renovated, a process which took several years. The structure's [[Ludowici Roof Tile|Ludowici]] tile roof was fully replaced and repaired between 2000 and 2001, and the Institute allowed 250 of the 15,000 Ludowici tiles to be inscribed with messages in ancient languages to help raise funds for the effort.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Gawlik |first1=Kate |title=Preserving ancient history |url=https://www.professionalroofing.net/Articles/Preserving-ancient-history--04-01-2002/45 |work=Professional Roofer Magazine |publisher=National Roofing Contractors Association |date=April 2002}}</ref>

Construction was completed in 1930, and the building was dedicated in 1931.<ref name="ReferenceA">''The Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago'' In commemoration of the dedication of the Oriental Institute building, December fifth, 1931</ref> German American sculptor [[Ulric Ellerhusen]] designed the tympanum, titled ''East Meets West''. Figures from the East include a lion, [[Zoser]], [[Hammurabi]], [[Thutmose III]], [[Ashurbanipal]], [[Darius the Great]] and [[Khosrau II|Chosroes]]; the West is portrayed by a bison and [[Herodotus]], [[Alexander the Great]], [[Julius Caesar]], a [[Crusades|crusader]], an excavator, and an archeologist.<ref name="ReferenceA"/>

In the 1990s, [[Tony Wilkinson]], founded the 'Center for Ancient Middle Eastern Landscapes' based at the institute.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Stein|first1=Gil|title=Tony Wilkinson Remembrance|url=http://www.asor.org/news/2015/01/wilkinson.html|website=News|publisher=The American Schools of Oriental Research|access-date=22 January 2015|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150122213207/http://www.asor.org/news/2015/01/wilkinson.html|archive-date=22 January 2015}}</ref> Its role is to investigate the Middle East through [[landscape archaeology]] and the analysis of [[Geographic information system|spatial data]], including images from many decades of Middle Eastern aerial photography, and survey maps, as well as, modern satellite imagery.<ref>{{cite web|title=About CAMEL|url=https://oi.uchicago.edu/research/camel/about-camel|website=The Oriental Institute|publisher=The University of Chicago|access-date=22 January 2015|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150122212702/https://oi.uchicago.edu/research/camel/about-camel|archive-date=22 January 2015}}</ref>

===Name change===
In the 2010s, multiple organizations within the U.S. began reconsidering the use of the word "[[Orient]]al," as some scholars felt the word was alienating and that it had changed in popular meaning.<ref name="Callaway2018">{{cite journal |last1=Callaway |first1=Ewen |title='Oriental' archaeology society reconsiders its name |url=https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-018-07396-9 |journal=Nature |access-date=4 April 2023 |language=en |doi=10.1038/d41586-018-07396-9 |date=13 November 2018|s2cid=165616756 |url-access=subscription }}</ref> In March 2023, University of Chicago administrators announced they would be changing the name of the Oriental Institute. Interim director Theo van den Hout said, "[The Oriental Institute] name has caused confusion, often contributing to the perception that our work is focused on [[East Asia]], rather than [[West Asia]] and [[North Africa]]. Additionally, the word "oriental" has developed a pejorative connotation in modern English."<ref>{{cite news |last1=Kolodziej |first1=Charlie |title=The Oriental Institute is changing its name |url=https://www.hpherald.com/evening_digest/the-oriental-institute-is-changing-its-name/article_1470fc18-c363-11ed-ba1d-73b2932f15cd.html |access-date=18 March 2023 |work=Hyde Park Herald |date=15 March 2023}}</ref> In April 2023, the organization's name changed to the Institute for the Study of Ancient Cultures, West Asia & North Africa, abbreviated as ISAC.<ref name="Caine2023">{{cite news |last1=Caine |first1=Paul |title=The OI Gets Rebranded, Drops 'Oriental' From Name |url=https://news.wttw.com/2023/04/03/oi-gets-rebranded-drops-oriental-name |access-date=4 April 2023 |work=WTTW News |date=3 April 2023 |language=en}}</ref> The institute's new logo features a [[Nelumbo nucifera|lotus flower]], which is found in ancient Assyrian, Mesopotamian, and Egyptian art, as well as being a decorative motif on the ISAC building.<ref>{{cite web |title=The OI has changed its name to ISAC |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V_HOzo7sBaE |website=YouTube | date=4 April 2023 |publisher=The Institute for the Study of Ancient Cultures |access-date=4 April 2023 |language=en}}</ref>

==Research and collection==
[[Image:Bull head oriental institute chicago.jpg|thumb|upright|Head of a bull that once guarded the entrance to the Hundred-Column Hall in [[Persepolis]]]]
[[Image:Lammasu.jpg|thumb|A [[lamassu]] from the palace of [[Sargon II]] at [[Dur-Sharrukin]]]]
[[File:Head of a Sumerian female, from Khafajah, excavated by the Oriental Institute, Early Dynastic III, c. 2400 BCE. The Sulaymaniyah Museum.jpg|thumb|The head of this Sumerian female was excavated at Khafajah (4th season) by the Oriental Institute, now in the Sulaymaniyah Museum, Iraqi Kurdistan]]
The ISAC Museum has artifacts from digs in [[Egypt]], [[Israel]], [[Syria]], [[Turkey]], [[Iraq]], and [[Iran]]. Notable works in the collection include the famous [[Megiddo Ivories]]; various treasures from [[Persepolis]], the old [[Iran|Persian]] capital; a collection of [[Luristan bronze|Luristan Bronzes]]; a colossal 40-ton ''[[Lamassu]]'' from [[Khorsabad]], the capital of [[Sargon II]]; and a monumental statue of King [[Tutankhamun]]. The museum has free admission, although visitors are encouraged to donate.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://oi.uchicago.edu/visit/ |title=Oriental Institute |publisher=Oi.uchicago.edu |access-date=1 August 2016|url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160722211109/http://oi.uchicago.edu/visit |archive-date=22 July 2016 }}</ref>

The Institute for the Study of Ancient Cultures, West Asia & North Africa is a center of active research on the ancient Near East. The building's upper floors contain a library, classrooms and faculty offices, and its gift shop, the Suq, also sells textbooks for the university's classes on Near Eastern studies. In addition to carrying out many digs in the [[Fertile Crescent]], institute scholars have made contributions to the understanding of the origins of human civilization. The term "Fertile Crescent" was coined by J. H. Breasted, who popularized the connection of the rise of civilization in the Near East with the development of European culture.

In 2011, among other projects institute scholars completed publication of the 21-volume ''[[Chicago Assyrian Dictionary]]'', a basic cultural reference work. The effort was begun in 1921 by J. H. Breasted, and continued by Edward Chiera and [[Ignace Gelb]], with the first volume published in 1956. [[Erica Reiner]] as editor-in-charge led the research teams for 44 years. She was succeeded by Martha T. Roth, dean of humanities at the university. Similar dictionaries are under way, including the ''[[Chicago Hittite Dictionary]]'' and the ''[[Chicago Demotic Dictionary]]''.

===Chicago House===
The Institute oversees the work of Chicago House in [[Luxor, Egypt]]. The Egyptian facility, established in 1924, performs the Epigraphic Survey, which documents and researches the historical sites in Luxor. It also manages conservation at various sites.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://oi.uchicago.edu/research/projects/epi/#Introduction |title=Oriental Institute &#124; The Epigraphic Survey |publisher=Oi.uchicago.edu |access-date=12 September 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130906074048/http://oi.uchicago.edu/research/projects/epi/#Introduction |archive-date=6 September 2013 }}</ref>

==Persian tablets lawsuit==
{{further|Rubin v. Islamic Republic of Iran}}
In 2006, the Oriental Institute was the center of a controversy when a U.S. federal court lawsuit sought to seize and auction a valuable collection of ancient Persian tablets held by the museum. The proceeds were to compensate the victims of a [[Ben Yehuda Street Bombing#1997 bombing|1997 bombing in Ben Yehuda Street]], Jerusalem, an attack which the United States claimed was funded by Iran. The ruling threatened sale of an invaluable collection of ancient clay tablets, held by the Oriental Institute since the 1930s, but owned by Iran. The [[Achaemenid]] (or [[Persepolis]]<ref name=Allied>{{cite news | title = Iran, U.S. Allied in Protecting Artifacts | newspaper = Washington Post | date = 2006-07-18 | url = https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/17/AR2006071701177.html | first = Peter | last = Slevin | page = A03 | access-date = 2006-08-29 | url-status = live | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20060721093256/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/17/AR2006071701177.html | archive-date = 2006-07-21 }}</ref>) clay tablets were loaned for study to the [[University of Chicago]] in 1937.<ref name=Chicagorelease>{{cite news | url = http://www-news.uchicago.edu/releases/04/040428.tablets.shtml | title = University of Chicago returns ancient Persian tablets loaned by Iran | date = 29 April 2004 | access-date = 27 July 2006 | url-status = live | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20060803202139/http://www-news.uchicago.edu/releases/04/040428.tablets.shtml | archive-date = 3 August 2006 }}</ref> They were uncovered in Persepolis, Iran by American archaeologists from the university in 1933 and are legally the property of the [[National Museum of Iran]] and Iran's [[Ministry of Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism|Ministry of Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts]].<ref name = Sun-Times>{{cite news | url = http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-uofc27.html | publisher = [[Chicago Sun-Times]] | first = Andrew | last = Herrmann | date = 27 June 2006 | title = Victims claim win in fight for U. of C. tablets | access-date = 2006-07-27 | archive-date = 2020-06-13 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200613193537/https://chicago.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-uofc27.html/ | url-status = dead }}</ref><ref name=Farsnews>{{cite news | url = http://english.farsnews.ir/newstext.php?nn=8504070161 | title = Iranian Antiquities May Be Seized in Suit | date = 28 June 2006 | access-date = 27 July 2006 }}{{dead link|date=August 2023|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> The artifacts were loaned for study based on the understanding that they would be returned to Iran, which the OI had done in batches over the years.<ref name = Allied/> The tablets, from [[Persepolis]], the capital of the [[Achaemenid Empire]], date to about [[500s BC (decade)|500 BCE]].<ref name = Allied/><ref name = Chicagorelease/><ref name = Sun-Times />

The tablets give a view of daily life, itemizing such elements as the daily rations of barley given to workers in nearby regions of the empire. The tablets were sent to the capital to provide a record of what they were paying workers.<ref name = Sun-Times/> [[Gil Stein (archaeologist)|Gil Stein]], former director of the Oriental Institute, said that details largely concern food for people on diplomatic or military missions.<ref name = Allied/> Each tablet is about half the size of a deck of [[playing card]]s and has characters of a dialect of [[Elamite]], an [[extinct language]] understood by perhaps a dozen scholars in the world.<ref name = Allied/>

Stein described the tablets as providing "the first chance to hear the Persians speaking of their own empire".<ref name = Allied/> Charles Jones, Research Associate and Librarian at the Oriental Institute and tablet expert, compared them to "credit card receipts".<ref name = Chicagorelease /> Most current knowledge about the ancient Persian empire comes from the accounts of others, most famously the Greek storyteller [[Herodotus]].<ref name = Allied/> Stein added: "It's valuable because it's a group of tablets, thousands of them from the same archive. It's like the same filing cabinet. They're very, very valuable scientifically."<ref name = Allied/> The Oriental Institute had been returning them to Iran in small batches.<ref name = Chicagorelease/><ref name = Sun-Times/><ref name = Farsnews/> Since the 1930s, the institute had returned several hundred tablets and fragments to Iran and were preparing another shipment when the legal action began.<ref name = Allied/> An appeals court later overturned the order of seizure,<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=6425272925766221563&q=related:tCEQczkF-4Vn0M:scholar.google.com/&hl=en&as_sdt=0,14#%5B1%5D |title=''Rubin v. The Islamic Republic of Iran'', 637 F.3d 783 (7th Cir. 2011) |access-date=2018-04-05}}</ref> and in 2018, the [[United States Supreme Court]] affirmed [[Rubin v. Islamic Republic of Iran|the subsequent ruling]] that the collection cannot be taken from the Institute to satisfy the judgment.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/17pdf/16-534_6jfm.pdf |title=16-534 Rubin v. Islamic Republic of Iran |website=Supreme Court of the United States |access-date=5 April 2018 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180222145354/https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/17pdf/16-534_6jfm.pdf |archive-date=22 February 2018 }}</ref>

==Directors==

'''List of directors:'''<ref name="Directors">{{cite web|title=Directors of the Oriental Institute|url=https://oi.uchicago.edu/research/directors-oriental-institute|website=The Oriental Institute|publisher=University of Chicago|access-date=12 April 2018|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180413124620/https://oi.uchicago.edu/research/directors-oriental-institute|archive-date=13 April 2018}}</ref>
* 1919–1935: [[James Henry Breasted]]; inaugural director
* 1936–1946: [[John A. Wilson (Egyptologist)|John A. Wilson]]
* 1950–1960: [[Carl Hermann Kraeling]]
* 1962–1968: [[Robert McCormick Adams Jr.]]
* 1968–1972: George R. Hughes
* 1972–1981: John A. Brinkman
* 1981–1983: Robert McCormick Adams Jr. (second term)
* 1983–1989: [[Janet H. Johnson]]
* 1989–1997: William Marvin Sumner
* 1997–2002: Gene B. Gragg
* 2002–2017: [[Gil Stein (archaeologist)|Gil Stein]]
* 2017–2021: Christopher Woods
* 2021–2023: Theo Van Den Hout (Interim Director)<ref>https://www.facebook.com/OrientalInstitute/photos/a.10151241555369486/10158974002584486/?type=3 {{User-generated source|certain=yes|date=March 2022}}</ref>
* 2023–Present: Timothy P. Harrison<ref>https://isac.uchicago.edu/article/timothy-p-harrison-appointed-director-institute-study-ancient-cultures {{User-generated source|certain=yes|date=June 2023}}</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal|Asia}}
* [[Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 54]]
* [[Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 69]]
* [[Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 72]]
* [[Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 75]]

== Gallery ==
<gallery widths="170px" heights="170px" mode="packed">
File:Man-bull uc oriental institute capital 01.JPG|Reconstructed headstone from [[Persepolis]]
File:UC Oriental Institute early Persian 05.JPG|Prehistoric objects
File:UC Oriental Institute Persian collection item 05.JPG|Standard weight of the Achaemenid period
File:Periodo achemenide, tondo con leone alato d'oro, 550-300 ca.jpg|Golden winged lion
File:Persian relief oriental institute Chicago.jpg|Engraving of a lion on a wall from Persepolis
File:Tutankhamun oriental institute Chicago.jpg|A colossal statue of [[Tutankhamun]] from ancient Egypt
</gallery>

==References==
{{Reflist|2}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
*{{Official website|https://oi.uchicago.edu/}}
* [https://artsandculture.google.com/partner/the-oriental-institute The Oriental Institute in Google Cultural Institute]
*[http://www.etana.org/abzubib Abzu], a guide to open access material of the Ancient Near East
*[http://oi-archive.uchicago.edu/OI/IRAQ/iraq.html A database on the Oriental Institute's website] maintained by Clemens Reichel documenting artifacts stolen from the [[Iraq Museum]] in April 2003
*[https://persepolistablets.blogspot.com/ Persepolis Fortification Archive Project]
*[https://oihistory.blogspot.com/ The Oriental Institute: Fragments for a History of an Institution], collaborative project intended to focus ideas and thoughts on the history of the Oriental Institute of The University of Chicago

{{UChicago}}
{{Museums in Chicago}}

{{authority control}}

[[Category:1919 establishments in Illinois]]
[[Category:Ancient Near East organizations]]
[[Category:Archaeological museums in Illinois]]
[[Category:Art museums and galleries in Chicago]]
[[Category:Egyptological collections in the United States|Oriental Institute]]
[[Category:Hyde Park, Chicago]]
[[Category:Museums established in 1919]]
[[Category:Museums of the ancient Near East in the United States]]
[[Category:Oriental studies]]
[[Category:University museums in Illinois]]
[[Category:University of Chicago]]
[[Category:Research institutes of the University of Chicago]]
[[Category:Museums in Chicago]]
[[Category:Academic and educational organizations in Chicago]]