Online Collections
Explore Penn Museum collections information, images, archival films, and more.
Notice for Collections Content
These records describe cultural and historical items that may be culturally sensitive. Records may document human remains or contain names, images, or recordings of deceased individuals. Records might include language that is outdated, offensive, or incorrect. These are based on past collecting practices and interpretations and may not reflect current views and values of the Penn Museum. See Statements and Policies for more information and updated practices.
We update records regularly and encourage and welcome members of descendant communities, scholars, and others to contact us with feedback, questions, or concerns.
World Heritage
2022-2023 Lecture Series
Since 1972, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has designated locations of cultural and natural significance that are of outstanding value to humanity as World Heritage Sites. These sites comprise a breathtaking panorama of our world’s greatest treasures, both natural and man-made, located in 167 countries. Learn about a selection of these sites.
Watch Series
Nippur, Iraq
Located in the marshes of southern Mesopotamia, in modern-day Iraq, Nippur was one of the most sacred cities in the ancient Middle East. Between 1889 and 1900, the University of Pennsylvania was the first American institution to carry out archaeological excavations in this region. It revealed a multi-layer site with a long and complicated history, and, most significantly, a library of inscribed cuneiform tablets that have formed the basis of our understanding of the first literate society in the world, the Sumerians.
Sitio Conte, Panama
In the early 20th century, the Conte family noticed that the shifting course of the Rio Grande de Coclé was exposing ancient burials on the river’s edge. In 1940, the Penn Museum excavated Sitio Conte (Conte Site) and found archaeological evidence of a large cemetery including an impressive burial of a chief that had been buried with lots of gold and numerous other individuals.