Kelsey Museum of Archaeology facts for kids
The
| Former name | Museum of Classical Archaeology |
|---|---|
| Established | 1928 |
| Location | Newberry Hall 434 S. State St Ann Arbor, Michigan |
| Type | archaeology museum |
| Accreditation | American Alliance of Museums |
| Collections | prehistoric through medieval times |
| Collection size | >100,000 |
| Owner | University of Michigan |
|
Newberry Hall
|
|
 |
|
 Location in Michigan
Location in the United States
|
|
| Location | 434 S. State Street Ann Arbor, Michigan |
| Area | 1 acre (0.40 ha) |
| Built | 1888 |
| Architect | Spier and Rohns (original building) Hammond Beeby Rupert Ainge Inc. (2003 addition) |
| Architectural style | Richardsonian Romanesque |
| NRHP reference No. | 72000660 |
| Added to NRHP | March 24, 1972 |
The Kelsey Museum of Archaeology is a cool place to explore ancient history! It's an archaeology museum located at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The museum is part of the university's College of Literature, Science, and the Arts.
It holds a huge collection of over 100,000 artifacts from ancient and medieval times. These objects come from the amazing civilizations of the Mediterranean and the Near East. Besides showing off its permanent and special exhibits, the museum also supports research and fieldwork. It also runs fun educational programs for everyone, including students.
Contents
Discovering Ancient Worlds: The Kelsey Museum's History
The story of the Kelsey Museum started even before it officially became a museum. The person who began collecting these amazing artifacts was Francis Kelsey. He was a professor of Latin at the University of Michigan from 1889 until 1927.
How the Collection Began
Professor Kelsey started gathering artifacts in 1893. He wanted to help his students truly understand the ancient world. His first purchases included 108 lamps, vases, and building materials. These came from Alfred Louis Delattre, a Jesuit priest and archaeologist digging at Carthage in Tunisia.
Kelsey also bought 1,096 more objects from dealers in places like Tunis, Rome, Capri, and Sicily. Along with thousands of coins given to the university in the 1880s, these items formed the very first part of the university's archaeological collections. Kelsey kept adding to the collection until he passed away in 1927.
What Kind of Artifacts Did Kelsey Collect?
The artifacts Kelsey collected were very diverse. They included:
- Pottery
- Terracotta figurines
- Painted stucco (a type of plaster)
- Inscribed tombstones
- Objects from daily life
- Glass items
- Pieces from tombs
- Ancient writings on papyri
Bringing Excavation Finds to Michigan
In 1924, Professor Kelsey got money to fund digs at sites around the Mediterranean. He then started sending many artifacts back to Ann Arbor. That same year, nearly 45,000 objects arrived from Karanis, an ancient town in Roman Egypt. These finds showed "in detail how daily life was lived in Egypt under Roman rule."
Also in 1924, digs at Seleucia-on-the-Tigris in Iraq uncovered another 13,000 objects. In 1925, Kelsey asked an Italian artist named Maria Barosso to paint watercolor copies of the murals from the Villa of the Mysteries at Pompeii. These beautiful replicas are now in a special room at the museum.
Newberry Hall: The Museum's Home
The building where the Kelsey Museum is located today has its own interesting history. It was first built for the Students' Christian Association. This group used it for religious services and other meetings.
Building Design and Construction
The building was designed by the Detroit architectural firm of Spier & Rohns. Construction started in 1888 and finished in 1891. It's described as a "massive, asymmetrical Richardsonian Romanesque building." It's made of rough, local fieldstone.
The building has a hip roof with cross-gables. Its front is dominated by a three-story corner turret with a pointed roof. Decorative colonettes (small columns), arches, and brick bandcourses make the heavy stone structure more interesting. The building was officially opened on July 21, 1891, and cost $40,000. It was named Newberry Hall after John S. Newberry, a railroad magnate, whose widow gave $18,000 for its construction.
From Student Hall to Museum
The university first leased Newberry Hall in 1921 for classrooms. In 1928, it started housing its collection of ancient artifacts there. Finally, the university bought the building in 1937. In 1953, the museum was named in honor of Professor Kelsey.
Newberry Hall was recognized as a Michigan State Historic Site in 1971. It was also added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1972. It's one of the oldest buildings still standing on the University of Michigan campus!
Modernizing the Museum Building
By the early 1990s, the museum was getting too crowded. Artifacts were showing wear, and there wasn't enough storage space. So, the museum closed in July 1993 for big renovations and reopened in October 1994.
During this time, a new third floor was added. This space used to be a choir loft from when the building was a Christian Association hall. A new climate-controlled area was also added. This "Sensitive Artifact Facility and Environment" space helps keep artifacts safe. It controls humidity and temperature to make sure the objects last a long time.
Other improvements included a new registry, a conservation lab, and an objects study area. A water-sprinkler fire control system, a new security system, and an elevator were also installed. The building also became more handicapped accessible. This $1.3 million project was funded by gifts and grants from various sources.
Adding the William E. Upjohn Exhibit Wing
In 2003, Edwin and Mary Meader, who were big supporters of the university, gave an $8 million gift. This was to expand the museum with a new wing at the back. At the time, this was the largest gift ever to the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts.
The Meader gift, plus a $200,000 grant, covered the entire $8.2 million cost. The Chicago architectural firm of Hammond Beeby Rupert Ainge Inc. designed the new addition. In 2009, the William E. Upjohn Exhibit Wing was finished. This wing added over 20,000 square feet of study, storage, and display space. It's also climate-controlled.
Before this wing, the museum could only show less than 1 percent of its collection. The new space allowed the museum to display many more artifacts to the public. The wing was named after Mary Meader's grandfather, William E. Upjohn, a famous pharmacist. The museum reopened to the public with its new wing in November 2009.
Exploring the Kelsey Museum's Collection
The Kelsey Museum's permanent exhibition is in the William E. Upjohn Exhibit Wing. It features many amazing artifacts and artworks from the ancient and medieval worlds. These come from the Mediterranean and Near East regions.
What You Can See in the Collection
The collection includes archaeological artifacts from:
- Ancient Egypt
- The Near East
- Greece
- Rome
- Etruscan culture
- Coptic (early Christian Egypt)
- Persian (ancient Iran)
- Islamic civilizations
Besides its more than 100,000 artifacts, the museum also has some very rare objects. These are important for studying archaeology. The collection also includes excavation records and an archive of 25,000 archaeological and fine arts photographs.
Highlights of the Collection
Some of the most important items at the museum include:
- About 45,000 daily-life objects from the Graeco-Roman Egyptian town of Karanis. This is the largest collection of its kind outside of the Cairo Museum.
- Around 8,500 pieces of Parthian pottery. This is one of the biggest collections outside Iraq.
- About 375 Latin inscriptions. This is the largest collection in the West.
- Around 5,900 early Byzantine and Islamic textiles (fabrics).
- 1,300 provenanced glass fragments and vessels (meaning their origin is known).
- More than 40,000 ancient coins, including ancient Greek coins.
- A nearly complete set of Description de l'Égypte. This huge book series was made during Napoleon's 1798 campaign in Egypt.
- A notable collection of Roman brick stamps.
- A collection of Egyptian mummy masks.
- 7,400 albumen prints and 25,000 archival photos. These are related to Mediterranean archaeology from the late 1800s and early 1900s.
- A large watercolor painting of the Villa of the Mysteries murals from ancient Pompeii.
The collection also features a colorfully-painted ancient Egyptian mummy. You can also see amulets, various glass vessels, ancient Greek pottery, and ancient Roman sculpture.
Archaeological Fieldwork and Discoveries
The Kelsey Museum has been involved in archaeological fieldwork for almost 100 years. Its past excavations and other fieldwork have taken place at many important archaeological sites around the world.
Past Excavations and Research Sites
Here are some of the places where the Kelsey Museum has conducted fieldwork:
- Antioch of Pisidia, Turkey: 1924
- Carthage, Tunisia: 1925
- Karanis, Egypt: 1924–1935
- Dimé (Soknopaiou Nesos), Egypt: 1931
- Terenouthis, Egypt: 1935
- Seleucia-on-the-Tigris, Iraq: 1927–1932, 1936–1937
- Sepphoris, Israel: 1931
- Saint Catherine's Monastery at Mount Sinai, Egypt: 1958, 1960, 1963, 1965
- Qasr al-Hayr al-Sharqi, Syria: 1964, 1966, 1969–1971
- Apollonia, Libya: 1965–1967
- Cyrene, Libya: 1969, 1971
- Dibsi Faraj, Syria: 1972
- Tel Anafa, Israel: 1968–1973, 1978–1986
- Paestum-Poseidonia, Italy: 1981–1986, 1995–1998
- Coptos and the Eastern Desert, Egypt: 1987–1995
- Leptiminus Archaeological Project, Leptiminus, Tunisia: 1990–1999
- Pylos Regional Archaeological Project, Pylos, Greece: 1991–1996
- Southern Euboea Exploration Project, Euboea, Greece: Michigan involvement: 1996, 2000, 2002, 2005
- The Vorotan Project, Armenia: 2005
Current Archaeological Projects
The Kelsey Museum is still actively involved in exciting fieldwork today! Here are some of the current projects they are supporting:
- Abydos, Egypt: from 1995 - led by Janet Richards
- Tel Kedesh, Israel: from 1997 - led by Sharon C. Herbert and Andrea M. Berlin
- Gabii, Italy: from 2007 - led by Nicola Terrenato
- Aphrodisias, Turkey: from 2007 - led by Christopher Ratté
- Vani, Republic of Georgia: from 2009 (a partnership between U-M and Institute for the Study of the Ancient World at New York University) - led by Christopher Ratté
- S. Omobono Sanctuary, Rome, Italy: from 2009 - led by Nicola Terrenato
- El-Kurru, Sudan: from 2013 - led by Geoff Emberling
Images for kids
-
Newberry Hall, the home of the Kelsey Museum.
See also
- University of Michigan Papyrus Collection
