Kelsey Museum of Archaeology facts for kids
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| Former name | Museum of Classical Archaeology |
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| 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 |
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Newberry Hall
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| 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 located on the University of Michigan campus in Ann Arbor, Michigan. This museum is part of the university's College of Literature, Science, and the Arts.
It holds a huge collection of over 100,000 artifacts. These items come from ancient and medieval times. They show us what life was like in the Mediterranean and Near East. Besides showing off its amazing exhibits, the museum also supports research. It helps with fieldwork (digging up old sites) and offers educational programs. These programs are for everyone, including schoolchildren like you!
Contents
Discovering Ancient Worlds
The Kelsey Museum's story began even before it officially opened. Francis Kelsey, a Latin professor at the University of Michigan, started the collection. He wanted to help his students truly understand the ancient world. In 1893, he bought his first items. These included 108 lamps, vases, and building pieces. He got them from an archaeologist digging in Carthage, Tunisia. He also bought many more objects from dealers in other cities.
These early finds, plus thousands of coins, became the start of the university's collection. Professor Kelsey kept adding to it until he passed away in 1927. He collected things like pottery, small terracotta figures, painted stucco, and tombstones. He also found everyday items, glass, and ancient papyri.
Big Digs and New Discoveries
In 1924, Professor Kelsey got money for bigger excavations. These digs happened at sites around the Mediterranean Sea. Soon, many artifacts were shipped back to Ann Arbor. From Karanis, Egypt, nearly 45,000 objects arrived. They showed "how daily life was lived in Egypt under Roman rule."
That same year, digs in Seleucia-on-the-Tigris in Iraq uncovered 13,000 more items. In 1925, Kelsey asked an Italian artist, Maria Barosso, to paint copies of murals. These murals were from the Villa of the Mysteries in Pompeii. Today, you can see these beautiful watercolor copies in a special room at the museum.
The Museum's Home: Newberry Hall
The building where the museum is now was first built for students. It was a place for religious services and meetings. The Detroit architects Spier & Rohns designed it. Construction started in 1888 and finished in 1891.
The building is called a "massive, asymmetrical Richardsonian Romanesque building." It's made of rough, local fieldstone. It has a cool tower with a pointy roof on one corner. Fancy arches and brick patterns make the heavy stone look interesting. The building cost $40,000 and was named Newberry Hall. This was to honor John S. Newberry, whose wife helped pay for it. You can still see "Newberry Hall" carved on the front!
The university first rented Newberry Hall in 1921. It started keeping its ancient artifacts there in 1928. Finally, the university bought the building in 1937. In 1953, the museum was named after Professor Kelsey. Newberry Hall became a Michigan State Historic Site in 1971. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1972. It's one of the oldest buildings still standing at the University of Michigan.
Modernizing the Museum
By the early 1990s, the museum needed some updates. It was getting crowded, and some artifacts needed better care. In 1993, the museum closed for renovations. It reopened in 1994. A new third floor was added, and a special climate-controlled area was built. This area helps keep artifacts safe from changes in humidity and temperature.
New features included a conservation lab (where experts fix old items). There was also a study area, a fire safety system, and a new security system. An elevator was added to make the building more accessible. This big project cost $1.3 million.
In 2003, Edwin and Mary Meader gave a huge gift of $8 million. This money helped build a new wing at the back of the museum. This was the largest gift ever for the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts at that time. The new wing, designed by Hammond Beeby Rupert Ainge Inc., was finished in 2009. It's called the William E. Upjohn Exhibit Wing. It added over 20,000 square feet for study, storage, and display. Before, the museum could only show less than 1% of its collection. Now, it can display many more amazing artifacts! The wing was named after Mary Meader's grandfather, William E. Upjohn, a famous pharmacist. The museum reopened to the public in November 2009.
Amazing Artifact Collections
The Kelsey Museum's permanent exhibition is in the William E. Upjohn Exhibit Wing. It shows many artifacts and artworks from the ancient and medieval worlds. These come from the Mediterranean and Near East. The collection includes items from ancient Egypt, Greece, Rome, and Islamic cultures.
With over 100,000 artifacts, the museum has some very rare objects. These are important for studying archaeology. The collection also includes excavation records and 25,000 old photographs.
Highlights of the Collection
Here are some of the most important things you can see:
- About 45,000 everyday objects from the Graeco-Roman Egyptian town of Karanis. This is the largest collection outside the Cairo Museum.
- Around 8,500 pieces of Parthian pottery. It's one of the biggest collections outside Iraq.
- About 375 Latin inscriptions (ancient writings). This is the largest collection in the West.
- Around 5,900 early Byzantine and Islamic fabrics.
- 1,300 pieces of ancient glass from known locations.
- More than 40,000 ancient coins, including ancient Greek coins.
- A nearly complete set of Description de l'Égypte. This book was made during Napoleon's 1798 campaign in Egypt.
- A special collection of Roman brick stamps.
- A collection of Egyptian mummy masks.
- 7,400 old photos and 25,000 archive photos. These show 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 has a colorfully painted ancient Egyptian mummy. You can see amulets, different glass vessels, ancient Greek pottery, and ancient Roman sculpture.
Archaeological Fieldwork
The Kelsey Museum has been doing fieldwork for almost 100 years. This means they send teams to dig at archaeological sites. They learn about ancient cultures by carefully uncovering and studying what people left behind.
Past Excavations
Here are some places where the Kelsey Museum has dug in the past:
- Antioch of Pisidia, Turkey: 1924
- Carthage, Tunisia: 1925
- Karanis, Egypt: 1924–35
- Seleucia-on-the-Tigris, Iraq: 1927–37
- Saint Catherine's Monastery at Mount Sinai, Egypt: 1958–65
- Qasr al-Hayr al-Sharqi, Syria: 1964–71
- Tel Anafa, Israel: 1968–86
- Paestum-Poseidonia, Italy: 1981–98
- Leptiminus Archaeological Project, Leptiminus, Tunisia: 1990–99
- Pylos Regional Archaeological Project, Pylos, Greece: 1991–96
Current Fieldwork Projects
The Kelsey Museum is still busy with exciting digs today! Here are some of the places they are currently working:
- Abydos, Egypt: since 1995, led by Janet Richards.
- Tel Kedesh, Israel: since 1997, led by Sharon C. Herbert and Andrea M. Berlin.
- Gabii, Italy: since 2007, led by Nicola Terrenato.
- Aphrodisias, Turkey: since 2007, led by Christopher Ratté.
- Vani, Republic of Georgia: since 2009, also led by Christopher Ratté.
- S. Omobono Sanctuary, Rome, Italy: since 2009, led by Nicola Terrenato.
- El-Kurru, Sudan: since 2013, led by Geoff Emberling.
See Also
- University of Michigan Papyrus Collection
