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class="menu__item" data-drupal-link-system-path="node/2689">History of ISAC</a> </li> <li class="menu__item"> <a href="/news" title="" class="menu__item" data-drupal-link-system-path="news">News Archive</a> </li> </ul> </div> </nav> </div> </aside> <a id="main-content"></a> <div id="content" class="column" role="main"> <div class="region region-highlighted column"> <div data-drupal-messages-fallback class="hidden"></div> </div> <div class="region region-content column"> <article class="node-3765 node-landing-page clearfix" role="article">  <div class="addthis_toolbox addthis_default_style addthis_16x16_style"> <p class="clearfix"> <a class="addthis_button_facebook"></a> <a class="addthis_button_twitter"></a> <a class="addthis_button_email"></a> <a class="addthis_button_compact"></a> <a class="addthis_counter addthis_bubble_style"></a> </p> </div>  <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>The Institute for the Study of Ancient Cultures was founded in 1919 by James Henry Breasted with the financial support of John D. Rockefeller Jr., and was originally envisaged as a research laboratory for the investigation of the early human career that would trace humankind’s progress from the most ancient days of West Asia and North Africa. The goal of the Institute for the Study of Ancient Cultures is to be the world’s leading center for the study of the ancient civilizations of West Asia and North Africa by combining innovation in theory, methodology, and significant empirical discovery with the highest standards of rigorous scholarship.</p> <p>The Institute for the Study of Ancient Cultures Museum was opened to the public in 1931. The majority of ISAC's collections are from its expeditions in West Asia and North Africa during the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s. A major reinstallation of the Museum, including the construction of a climate-controlled wing for housing collections and archives, took place in the 1990s and early 2000s. <meta charset="UTF-8" />A complete renovation of the Museum was completed in 2019 in celebration of ISAC's centennial. The Institute for the Study of Ancient Cultures is a unit within the University of Chicago and the name of the corporation is “The University of Chicago.” The corporation was originally incorporated on September 10, 1890.</p> </div> <div class="landing-feature-blocks"> </div> </article> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="footer-container"> <footer id="footer"></footer> <div class="new-footer"> <div class="footer-columns"> <div class="footer-col col1"> <a href="https://uchicago.edu"> <img src="/themes/custom/ucoi/images/uc_wordmark.svg" alt="UChicago Logo"> </a> </div> <div class="footer-col col2"> <div class="region region-footer-second-new column"> <div id="block-organizationname" class="block block-block-content block-block-content1aff4012-a69f-4fd2-868b-72aeb0150203"> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p><strong>Institute for the Study of Ancient Cultures</strong><br /> The University of Chicago<br /> 1155 E 58th St.<br /> Chicago, IL 60637</p> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="footer-col col3"> <div class="region region-footer-third-new column"> <div id="block-museumhours" class="block block-block-content block-block-contentf2f5df21-4081-474f-b985-810bf6f32f60"> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p><strong>ISAC Museum Hours:</strong><br /> Tuesday–Thursday, Saturday–Sunday<br /> 10:00am–4:00pm<br /> Friday<br /> 10:00am–8:00pm<br /><a href="https://oi100.uchicago.edu/visit-museum">Visitor Information</a></p> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="footer-col col4"> <div class="region region-footer-fourth-new column"> <div id="block-sociallinks" class="block block-block-content block-block-contentdc4852d3-47eb-4b00-8fd4-30e94bb4049f"> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p class="ss-icon ss-social-regular"><a href="https://app.e2ma.net/app/view:Join/signupId:1702534/acctId:1701634" title="Newsletter">mail</a> <a href="http://www.facebook.com/OrientalInstitute" title="Facebook">facebook</a> <a href="http://twitter.com/orientalinst" title="Twitter">twitter</a> <a href="https://www.youtube.com/c/TheOrientalInstitute" title="YouTube">youtube</a> <a href="/node/3708" title="RSS">rss</a></p> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="footer-copyright"> <p> <a href="/user/login?destination=%2Fnode%2F3765" class="login-link">©</a> 2024 The University of Chicago </p> </div> </div> </div> <script type="application/json" data-drupal-selector="drupal-settings-json">{"path":{"baseUrl":"\/","scriptPath":null,"pathPrefix":"","currentPath":"node\/3765","currentPathIsAdmin":false,"isFront":false,"currentLanguage":"en"},"pluralDelimiter":"\u0003","suppressDeprecationErrors":true,"google_analytics":{"account":"UA-3572058-1","trackOutbound":true,"trackMailto":true,"trackTel":true,"trackDownload":true,"trackDownloadExtensions":"7z|aac|arc|arj|asf|asx|avi|bin|csv|doc(x|m)?|dot(x|m)?|exe|flv|gif|gz|gzip|hqx|jar|jpe?g|js|mp(2|3|4|e?g)|mov(ie)?|msi|msp|pdf|phps|png|ppt(x|m)?|pot(x|m)?|pps(x|m)?|ppam|sld(x|m)?|thmx|qtm?|ra(m|r)?|sea|sit|tar|tgz|torrent|txt|wav|wma|wmv|wpd|xls(x|m|b)?|xlt(x|m)|xlam|xml|z|zip"},"user":{"uid":0,"permissionsHash":"568c874a7286c8ee0b25d28ba4ca6b13e94a558d5d3609b623fd2a3f6d51a728"}}</script> <script src="/core/assets/vendor/jquery/jquery.min.js?v=3.6.3"></script> <script src="/core/misc/drupalSettingsLoader.js?v=9.5.2"></script> <script src="/core/misc/drupal.js?v=9.5.2"></script> <script src="/core/misc/drupal.init.js?v=9.5.2"></script> <script src="/modules/contrib/google_analytics/js/google_analytics.js?v=9.5.2"></script> <script src="/themes/custom/ucoi/js/script.js?v=1.x"></script> <script src="/themes/custom/ucoi/js/search.js?v=1.x"></script> </body> </html>