The Archaeology Collection contains around 2000 objects from European, Greek, Roman, Egyptian, and Mesopotamian cultures. Serving as both a teaching and research collection, it provides students with a distinctive opportunity to interact with ancient objects within a learning environment.
Bovine Rhyton, Cypriot, c. 1200 BCE
Established in 1902, the Archaeology Collection originated from a recommendation by Professor John Hopkinson, who purchased the core of the collection during a research trip to Rhodes. Over subsequent years, the collection grew through donations from alumni, former academic staff, and private collectors. Key objects in the collection include the Egyptian Anthropoid Wooden Coffin Lid of Ahmose, likely excavated at Beni Hasan in Middle Egypt, and an Egyptian Canopic jar from the New Kingdom (circa 1570-1070 B.C.) considered rare as it still contains its original preserved contents.
The majority of the collection is displayed within a teaching space in the heart of the department of Classics, Ancient History and Archaeology in the Arts Building. The collection has been supplemented by a programme of long-term loans: from the Ashmolean Museum since the 1950s, and Birmingham Museums Trust since 1988.
For further collection history, see our Collections Development Policy.
For more information, online resources and a more in-depth history of the collection, explore the Classics, Ancient History and Archaeology pages.