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Sara Yorke Stevenson Mediterranean Section records, 1875-1904 (inclusive)

Extent:

0.4 linear foot

Abstract:

Sara Yorke Stevenson was closely involved with creating both the University Archaeological Association and the Department of Archaeology and Paleontology, the two organizations that merged and eventually became the Penn Museum. In 1891, she accepted an appointment as curator of the Egyptian Section; in 1892, she also became curator of the Mediterranean Section. In addition to her curatorial responsibilities, she succeeded Stewart Culin as secretary of the Board of Managers in 1894 and served as secretary until 1904, when she became president and chairman. In early 1905, however, she resigned both from the Board and as curator. The textual records comprising the Sara Yorke Stevenson curatorial subgroup consist primarily of correspondence about developing the Mediterranean collection. These records are divided into two series. Series 1 includes correspondence about acquiring potential collections; Series 2 contains documentation about collections that have been acquired.

Held at: University of Pennsylvania: Penn Museum Archives [Contact Us]

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Hermann V. Hilprecht Near East Section records, 1892-1913 (inclusive)

Extent:

2.7 linear feet

Abstract:

Hermann Volrath Hilprecht, eminent Assyriologist, arrived in the United States in 1886, summoned by the Sunday School Times to edit their oriental section. He was also appointed Professor of Assyriology at the University of Pennsylvania. The following year, Hilprecht assumned the duties of Curator of the Babylonian and General Semitic section of the Museum of Archaeology at Penn. Hilprecht was the scientific director for the Babylonian expedition to Nippur. In all, he worked on four expeditions, specializing in the interpretation of the cuneiform tablets. The Hermann V. Hilprecht Near East section records consist of five boxes of data. The folders had been previously organized into correspondence, collections, publications and controversy divisions. During processing, the correspondence was placed more appropriately in general, curatorial and publishing subdivisions. The collection folders as well as the majority of the publication data required only placement in chronological order.

Held at: University of Pennsylvania: Penn Museum Archives [Contact Us]

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Henry N. Michael papers, 1938-2004 (inclusive)

Extent:

6.0 cubic feet (4 records storage cartons of papers, 1 records storage carton of index cards and 1 records storage carton of visual materials)

Abstract:

Henry N. Michael was an anthropologist and geographer whose research on growth rings in ancient bristlecone pine trees allowed him to develop Carbon 14 calibration, or “correcting scale.” This scale helped to resolve problems in radiocarbon dating in archaeology. Dr. Michael also published a number of works translated from Russian on various aspects of Arctic archaeology and ethnography, along with folklore of Arctic people. Holdings include research and field notes on his trips to the White Mountains in California to collect bristlecone pine samples, testing of wood samples at the Penn Museum Radiocarbon Lab, and notes and drafts of publications and translations.

Held at: University of Pennsylvania: Penn Museum Archives [Contact Us]

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William N. Bates Mediterranean Section records, 1904-1938 (inclusive)

Extent:

1.6 linear foot

Abstract:

William N. Bates (1867-1949) was born and educated in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Bates curated the Mediterranean Section of the Penn Museum from 1904 to 1911. In 1940, the University of Pennsylvania awarded him an honorary doctorate. The William N. Bates curatorial subgroup consists of two folders of general correspondence from 1904 to 1915.

Held at: University of Pennsylvania: Penn Museum Archives [Contact Us]

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Edith Hall Dohan Mediterranean Section records, 1912-1943 (inclusive)

Extent:

1.8 linear foot

Abstract:

Edith Hayward Hall Dohan (1877-1943) curated the Mediterranean collection from 1912 to 1915 and from 1920 to 1943. A classical archaeologist, she received her A.B. from Smith College in 1899 and her Ph.D. from Bryn Mawr in 1908. A classical archaeologist, she received her A.B. from Smith College in 1899 and her Ph.D. from Bryn Mawr in 1908. In 1904, she joined Harriet Boyd Hawes and Richard Seager in excavating Gournia in Crete, from which experience she developed her doctoral thesis, The Decorative Art of Crete in the Bronze Age, completed in 1907. Dohan returned to two other archaeological sites in Crete in 1910 and 1912, working under the auspices of the Penn Museum before becoming assistant curator of the Mediterranean Section in 1912. The records in the Edith Hall Dohan curatorial subgroup consist of four series: (1) correspondence; (2) collections; (3) administration; and (4) research. Records within each folder are arranged chronologically.

Held at: University of Pennsylvania: Penn Museum Archives [Contact Us]

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Stuart Fleming Papers, 1978-2009 (inclusive)

Extent:

5.0 linear feet

Abstract:

Fleming was appointed as Scientific Director of MASCA starting in 1978. Under his direction MASCA broadened its analytical techniques from a focus on Carbon 14 dating, to the inclusion of many other specialized scientific approaches to answering anthropological/archaeological questions, including other dating techniques such as Thermoluminescence and materials analysis techniques such as Proton Induced X-ray Emission (PIXE).

Held at: University of Pennsylvania: Penn Museum Archives [Contact Us]

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Rudolf Anthes Egyptian Section records, 1949-1962 (inclusive)

Extent:

0.6 linear foot

Abstract:

Rudolf Anthes, born in Hamburg, Germany in 1896, was a famed Egyptologist and Philologist who initially studied theology and oriental languages in his college and early graduate school programs. After serving in the German army in WWI, Anthes completed his Ph.D. in Egyptology and Philology at the University of Berlin. After WWII, Anthes was working as the Director of the Berlin Museum. However he was not happy with the policies of the new German Democratic Republic and the Penn Museum came to his rescue. Froelich Rainey and Ephraim Speiser asked Anthes to rejoin the staff as the Curator of the Egyptian section. The Rudolf Anthes Egyptian section records consist of one and one-half archival boxes of correspondence and administrative records.

Held at: University of Pennsylvania: Penn Museum Archives [Contact Us]

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Charles H. Rosher Dendereh records, 1897-1898 (inclusive)

Extent:

0.01 linear foot

Abstract:

Charles H. Rosher was a trained engineer who worked with W.M. Flinders Petrie on archaeological sites in Egypt. Flinders Petrie's recommendation of Rosher as a capable engineer to the Penn and Cairo Museums resulted in his employment to remove several monuments from a site in Tanis. As a part of his duties, Rosher was charged with obtaining a permit for the work. As the permit did not materialize, Sara Yorke Stevenson of the Egyptian section of the museum traveled to Cairo to expedite the process. The diplomacy required to obtain the necessary permits and approvals from the Egyptian governing authorities proved too difficult for even Mrs. Stevenson. While embroiled in the process however, she dismissed Rosher to work for three months with Flinders Petrie to gain basic archaeological skills. As fate would have it, due to delays, Petrie was not able to meet with Rosher nor to train him. Rosher did perform some work at Dendereh and surveyed at the Tanis site. A dispute over his request...(see more)

Held at: University of Pennsylvania: Penn Museum Archives [Contact Us]

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Eckley B. Coxe Jr. Expedition to Nubia 1899-1911, 1899-1911 (inclusive)

Extent:

1.4 linear feet

Abstract:

The Eckley B. Coxe Jr. Expedition to Nubia was among those Egyptian trips financed by Coxe during his short life. The expedition was headed by David Randall-MacIver of the University Museum and C. Leonard Woolley of the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford. Ancient Nubia, located in a corridor linking continental Africa and the Mediterranean, was rich in natural resources, especially gold. The northern part is now located under the Aswan Dam. The southernmost part is in modern day Sudan. Its people were culturally and linguistically different from the Egyptians and strong cultural interactions occurred in the ancient history of the region. Randall-MacIver and Woolley dug at Anibeh, Nasr Ibrim, Ma'am, Buhen, Areika and Karanog from 1907 to 1911. The records of the Nubia expedition include correspondence, notes, an object register, account books, photographs and oversize items that fill two archival boxes with additional oversize material in the map and print cases.

Held at: University of Pennsylvania: Penn Museum Archives [Contact Us]

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Clarence S. Fisher Giza Expedition records, 1914-1920 (inclusive)

Extent:

1.6 linear foot

Abstract:

From January 28 to March 9, 1915 Clarence Stanley Fisher (1876-1941) conducted excavations at Giza, assisted mainly by Ashton Sanborn, but also by H. Lyman Story and Alan Rowe. Bechari Mahfud was the field photographer. Fisher had worked as expedition architect at Giza with George Andrew Reisner in 1908-1910. A graduate from the University of Pennsylvania with a degree in Architecture, Fisher began his career as an archaeologist during the University Museum’s Fourth Expedition at Nippur (modern Iraq) in 1899-1900. The Records of the Clarence S. Fisher Giza Expedition are housed in two archival boxes of field notes and publication materials, one box of photographs and maps and drawings filed in the manuscript case.

Held at: University of Pennsylvania: Penn Museum Archives [Contact Us]