AJA Open Access
January 2021 (125.1)
Museum Review
Online Encounters with Museum Antiquities
Museums are primary sites of exchange between diverse publics and disciplinary experts. As museums’ missions have shifted toward public service over the last 40 years, public access has been partially digital. In this essay, we survey ways museums have recently brought their ancient Mediterranean and Middle Eastern resources to online audiences, in both long-term projects and COVID-19 pandemic efforts. Focusing on virtual galleries, digitized collections, and social media activities, we offer a critical museum studies perspective as we highlight notable digital practices, challenges, and opportunities in the current digital museum landscape.
Screenshot of a gallery in the Matterport virtual model of the Harvard Museum of the Ancient Near East, Cambridge, Mass., showing additional features for learning about the Coffin of Mut-iy-iy (Harvard Museum of the Ancient Near East 1902.50.10, acq. 1902; Harvard Museum of the Ancient Near East 2020; model under CC BY 4.0 license; courtesy Harvard Museum of the Ancient Near East).
Screenshot of a gallery in the Matterport virtual model of the Harvard Museum of the Ancient Near East, Cambridge, Mass., showing additional features for learning about the Coffin of Mut-iy-iy (Harvard Museum of the Ancient Near East 1902.50.10, acq. 1902; Harvard Museum of the Ancient Near East 2020; model under CC BY 4.0 license; courtesy Harvard Museum of the Ancient Near East).