A New Name for the Harvard Semitic Museum
The Harvard Semitic Museum will now be known as the Harvard Museum of the Ancient Near East (HMANE). The new name is designed to be more inclusive and accurately reflect the diversity of the museum’s collection.
Founded in 1889, the museum was conceived as a teaching tool to study the ancient histories and cultures of people who spoke Semitic languages, among them Israelites, Moabites, Arabs, Babylonians, and Phoenicians.
The museum’s focus remains on the wide variety of diverse peoples living in the eastern Mediterranean region, parts of modern-day Iraq, and even of north Africa, including the Egyptians, Assyrians, Hittites, and Philistines.
Read an interview with director Peter Der Manuelian for a full explanation of the name change.
Watch for the continuing transition to Harvard Museum of the Ancient Near East in the museum’s online presence and public outreach.
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Museum Temporarily Closed to Public
Health and Safety Update
As Harvard University works to welcome a limited number of students and staff back to campus, Harvard Museums of Science & Culture continues to monitor the evolving coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak and consider enhanced protocols for a safe return for onsite visitors. While we remain temporarily closed, we encourage you to enjoy the museum at home with new and frequently refreshed digital content via HMSC Connects!. Stay tuned for a full schedule of virtual fall programs, including classes, tours, lectures, and events.
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3D Models
The museum has created 3D models of some choice objects from its collections. This peg-shaped, stone figurine would have been placed in the foundation of an important structure as it was being built. You can view more of our models here.
Director's Welcome
Recent Publications
- Tel Miqne-Ekron Excavations, 1985–1988, 1990, 1992–1995: Field IV Lower—The Elite Zone, Part 1: The Iron Age I Early Philistine City
- Tel Miqne-Ekron Excavations, 1985–1988, 1990, 1992–1995: Field IV Lower—The Elite Zone, Part 3B: The Iron Age I and IIC Early and Late Philistine Cities Plans and Sections
- Tel Miqne-Ekron Excavations, 1985–1988, 1990, 1992–1995: Field IV Lower—The Elite Zone, Part 9/3A: The Iron Age I and IIC Early and Late Philistine Cities Database
- Sea Peoples of the Northern Levant: Aegean-Style Pottery from Early Iron Age Tell Tayinat
- Excavations at the Early Bronze IV Sites of Jebel Qa'aqir and Be'er Resisim
- The Material Culture of the Northern Sea Peoples in Israel