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Oriental Institute Museum, Chicago

1155 East 58th Street, Chicago, Illinois

Description

The Oriental Institute is the University of Chicago's interdisciplinary research center for ancient Orient and conducts research on ancient civilizations throughout the Near East. The Museum exhibits on its campus over 5,000 artifacts from its vast collection spanning ancient Egypt, Nubia, Persia, Mesopotamia, Syria, Anatolia, and the Levant.

Access & Transport

The Oriental Institute is located in the southside Chicago community of Hyde Park, at 1155 East 58th Street. Bus stop '59th Street & Kimbark' (171, 172, 192) is a couple of minutes' walk away and 'Univ. of Chicago/59th St' train station (ME) 10 mins away. Driving directions: https://oi.uchicago.edu/visit/automobile-directions Accessibility info: https://oi.uchicago.edu/access

Instructions & Recommendations

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Meta review

This museum isn't regularly featured in travel guides, but online reviews are almost unanimously positive with visitors describing it as an outstanding collection, well curated with appropriate supporting information (along with photos and journals from expeditions), and no crowd. The suggested donation level makes it a very affordable outing Vs other cultural activities in Chicago and the only drawback is the non-central location.

Environmental & Social

Strong educational credentials and midsize museum with minimum environmental footprint per visitor.

Conclusion

The OI Museum of Chicago is, in our opinion, a must-see for anybody with an interest in Middle Eastern history and/or archaeology. A museum need not be very large to be interesting and, in this case, there is the added benefit of a true research expeditions' DNA behind the exhibits so no surprise the artefacts are well displayed and documented.

Key positive

Plenty of impressive artefacts and well curated

Reasonable suggested donation

Key negative

A little time consuming to get to

Suitability

Accessible. Children less than 12yrs old may not be very interested.

About this Rating

TYPE

Desktop

RESEARCHED IN

Updated in October 2023

PROVIDER

Koreval

Included Items
None
Timing
Duration of visit

av. transport time:0h 35m

est. visit time:1h 20m

Regulated hours

Monday -

Tuesday10:00 - 16:00

Wednesday10:00 - 16:00

Thursday10:00 - 16:00

Friday10:00 - 20:00

Saturday10:00 - 16:00

Sunday10:00 - 16:00

Pricing
Age band
Age band
Regular price / pers.
Senior
65 - 99
US$10
Adult
12 - 64
US$10
Child
6 - 11
US$5
Infant
0 - 5
US$0

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