Ennigaldi-Nanna's Museum

Ennigaldi-Nanna's museum is the earliest known public museum. It dates to circa 530 BCE. The curator was Ennigaldi, the daughter of Nabonidus, the last king of the Neo-Babylonian Empire. It was in the state of Ur, in the modern-day Dhi Qar Governorate of Iraq, roughly southeast of the famous Ziggurat of Ur.

History

When archaeologists excavated certain parts of the palace and temple complex at Ur they determined that the dozens of artifacts, neatly arranged side by side, whose ages varied by centuries, were actually museum pieces - since they came with what was finally determined to be "museum labels". These consisted of clay cylinder drums with labels in three different languages. Ennigaldi's father Nabonidus, an antiquarian and antique restorer, taught her to appreciate ancient artifacts. Her father is known as the first serious archeologist and influenced Ennigaldi to create her educational antiquity museum.

The palace grounds that included the museum were at the ancient building referred to as E-Gig-Par, which also had her living quarters. The palace grounds also included the palace subsidiary buildings.

Contents

When archaeologist Leonard Woolley excavated the ruins of the museum, its contents were discovered to be labeled, using tablets and clay drums. Many of the artifacts had been originally excavated by Nabonidus, Ennigaldi's father, and were from the 20th century BCE. Some artifacts had been collected previously by Nebuchadnezzar. Some are thought to have been excavated by Ennigaldi herself. The items were many centuries old already in Ennigaldi's time and came from the southern regions of Mesopotamia.

Ennigaldi stored the artifacts in a temple next to the palace where she lived. She used the museum pieces to explain the history of the area and to interpret material aspects of her dynasty's heritage.

The "museum labels" (the oldest such known to historians) for the items found in the museum were clay cylinders with descriptive text in three languages.

Some of these artifacts were:

* A kudurru, Kassite boundary marker (carved with a snake and emblems of various gods).
* Part of a statue of King Shulgi
* A clay cone that had been part of a building at Larsa.

References

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{{Authority control

530s BC
Defunct museums
History of museums
Babylon
Ur
Archaeological museums in Iraq
6th-century BC establishments