We are currently working to catalog our entire collection so that it can be accessible online. A selection of objects in our collection can also be accessed through JSTOR.
Scope of the Collection
The museum collection includes more than 12,000 objects from the geographic and cultural areas of the ancient Near East, Egypt, the eastern Mediterranean, Greece, Rome, central Italy, Mexico, Central America, and South America, as well as North America and prehistoric Europe. We are also fortunate to study and display over 1,800 ancient Egyptian objects on long-term loan from the Eton College Myers Collection.
In 1984, Ellen Reeder Williams published an illustrated catalog featuring 137 objects in the collection: Williams, Ellen Reeder. The Archaeological Collection of the Johns Hopkins University. Baltimore and London: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1984.
Some of our collection strengths include: Latin funerary inscriptions, the Mendes Israel Cohen Collection of Egyptian Antiquities, a nearly complete Roman surgical kit, the Sidney Painter Collection of Roman Coins, a significant collection of prehistoric lithics from Europe and North America, and a type collection of ceramics from ancient Cyprus.
More information about objects from specific cultural and geographic areas is provided below.
Cultural and Geographic Areas
Egypt
- Amulets, scarabs, and jewelry
- Canopic jars
- Coffin and coffin elements
- Cosmetic palettes
- Funerary cones
- Funerary models
- Inscribed ostraca
- Kohl pots and kohl tubes
- Lamps
- Lithics
- Mirrors
- Mummified animals
- Relief fragments
- Seals and sealings
- Shabtis
- Statuettes and figurines
- Stelae
- Textiles
- Vessels
- Weapons and military equipment
- Wooden headrests
Greece
- Architectural elements and relief fragments
- Black and red figure ceramic vessels
- Cypriot ceramics
- Funerary monuments
- Jewelry
- Lamps
- Statue fragments
- Statuettes and figurines
- Vessels
- Weapons and military equipment
Mexico, Central America, and South America
- Jewelry
- Masks and face plaques
- Relief fragments
- Sculptures, including ballgame yoke
- Statues and figurines
- Vessels
Near East
- Cuneiform tablets and cones
- Cylinder seals and sealings
- Lamps
- Vessels
North America
- Bone tools
- Ceramic vessels and sherds
- Lithics
Prehistoric Europe
- Bone and horn tools
- Bracelets, rings, and buttons
- Faunal material
- Lithics
- Spindle whorls
- Vessel sherds
- Weapons and tools
Rome and Central Italy
- Anatomical votives
- Architectural elements and relief fragments
- Coins
- Curse tablet
- Fibulae
- Fresco and mosaic fragments
- Funerary urns
- Hair pins
- Handles and utensils
- Jewelry
- Lamps
- Latin funerary inscriptions
- Lead alloy pipes
- Stamped bricks
- Stamps
- Statue fragments
- Statuettes and figurines
- Surgical implements, shears, and tweezers
- Textiles
- Vessels, including glass and terra sigillata
- Weapons and military equipment