Dear ISNS Colleagues,The following exhibition may be of interest to you. Please contact the ISAC Museum directly with any questions.
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“A Bestiary of Ancient Nubia”
A Special Exhibition at the ISAC Museum
April 16–August 16, 2026
Ancient Nubia, a region located along the Nile in what is today southern Egypt and northern Sudan, lived in symbiosis with animals. The Kushites were renowned throughout West Asia and North Africa as suppliers of animals and animal by-products, such as skins and ivory. They were also represented as such, whether in the context of bearing tribute or in scenes of presenting diplomatic gifts. Wild or domesticated, fantastic or realistic, hunted or feared, animals were depicted in temples and tombs, on the walls of palaces, on ceramics, and in the niches of houses. Companions of daily life, sources of artistic and religious inspiration, subjects of trade, familiar even in the afterlife, animals in the ancient world had their place at the top of society and power.
The upcoming ISAC Museum special exhibition A Bestiary of Ancient Nubia (April 16–August 16, 2026) will present a fascinating panorama of animals in ancient Nubia from the A-Group culture to the medieval period (3800 BCE–900 CE). From the lion to the crocodile, from the ibis to the ibex, from cattle to insects, the exhibition will be an original take on the history of the Nubian civilization, with unparalleled information and a keen sense of storytelling. This comprehensive anthology of Nubian animal art will be a world first, intended for all enthusiasts of Nubian civilization.
Visit the exhibit webpage to download the press release and exhibition brochure and for exhibition programming: https://isac.uchicago.edu/bestiarynubia
This exhibition and its accompanying catalogue are dedicated to Bruce Beyer Williams and our Sudanese friends and colleagues; they are supported by Deborah and Philip Halpern, Furthermore: a program of the J. M. Kaplan Fund, and ISAC Museum Visitors and ISAC Members.
This exhibition has been curated by Marc Maillot, and organized by the ISAC Museum: Susan Allison, Kate Ayres, Robert Bain, Denise Browning, Laura D’Alessandro, Kea Johnston, Tonya Lifshits, Helen McDonald, Kiersten Neumann, Madeleine Roberts-Ganim, Josh Tulisiak, Tasha Vorderstrasse, and Alison Whyte, with contribution by Patrick Dykstra. It reunites artifacts held in the ISAC Museum Nubian Collection, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Brooklyn Museum, Royal Ontario Museum, University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, University of Chicago Library Special Collections, and a replica from the Worcester Art Museum.
[The Institute for the Study of Ancient Cultures, West Asia and North Africa–formerly known as the Oriental Institute–, is a research institute and museum of the University of Chicago, located in Hyde Park, Chicago, Illinois, United States.]
