Scholars at the OI laid the foundations for the modern study of the ancient Middle East, with the work assuming an extraordinary array of forms: innovative, field-defining excavations and research projects across the Middle East; linguistic research that furthers the decipherment of ancient languages; the creation of cultural encyclopedias for long-lost civilizations; state-of-the-art satellite and digital imaging methods for the discovery of ancient settlements; and centers for the documentation and preservation of the region’s imperiled cultural heritage. The work continues today through excavations and research projects led by OI scholars in places such as Egypt, Iraq, Turkey and Afghanistan, as well as scholarship to reconstruct histories, literatures and religions of long-lost civilizations.

The research of the OI has uncovered new ways of seeing what connects humans and why—providing insights and perspectives not just into the ancient world but on the challenges we still face today, from environmental change to immigration to disruptive technologies.

“There, in the Fertile Crescent, human beings forged something remarkable: a collective identity and life,” Woods said. “To become “we,” they had to decide who leads, which ideas and behaviors to encourage and which to punish, and where they stood together in the world and in the cosmos—in other words, how to become humans, together.”

This knowledge is on display at the Oriental Institute Museum, which is home to 350,000 artifacts—making it the largest collection of ancient Middle East artifacts in the United States. A distinguishing feature of the museum’s collection is that it was primarily excavated by OI archaeologists rather than purchased.

As the institute celebrates its centennial, the OI is reflecting on this remarkable journey—and offering a range of activities to the public.

From Egypt to Chicago

In 1919, James Henry Breasted, the founder of the OI, set off on an eleven-month trip across the Middle East. Traveling by sea, land and air, he was one of the first Western scholars to explore extensively a region that he would later vividly describe as the Fertile Crescent. This trip shaped the work of the Oriental Institute for decades and would change how the ancient Middle East is studied and understood.