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Michael C. Carlos Museum (Emory University)

One-line summary: Emory's archaeology and ancient-art museum, often missed by tourists but holding the largest collection of ancient art in the Southeast — Egyptian (including a real mummy whose CT scans rewrote Old Kingdom dating; the Ramses I mummy was returned to Egypt in 2003 in a famous repatriation), Greek, Roman, Etruscan, Near Eastern, sub-Saharan African, ancient American, and Asian holdings, housed in a Michael Graves-designed 1985 building (his first major museum).

Michael C. Carlos Museum (Emory University)

One-line summary: Emory's archaeology and ancient-art museum, often missed by tourists but holding the largest collection of ancient art in the Southeast — Egyptian (including a real mummy whose CT scans rewrote Old Kingdom dating; the Ramses I mummy was returned to Egypt in 2003 in a famous repatriation), Greek, Roman, Etruscan, Near Eastern, sub-Saharan African, ancient American, and Asian holdings, housed in a Michael Graves-designed 1985 building (his first major museum).

Scope note: this template covers steps 1–3 of the adventures pipeline (identify, support Maxine's research, shape goals). The deliverable webpage

  • video at step 6 is Maxine's own work — don't scaffold it here.

Links & Maps

Official:

Maps:

Reference & background:

  • Michael Graves (1934–2015) — postmodernist; the Carlos was his first major museum commission. His more famous work followed (Denver Public Library, Portland Building, Disney World Swan and Dolphin).
  • The Ramses I repatriation (2003): the Carlos acquired a mummy from Niagara Falls in 1999; in 2002 imaging and inscription evidence suggested it was Ramses I, founder of the 19th Dynasty. Emory returned it to Egypt. A landmark in modern repatriation ethics.

Must-See / Big Items

  1. Egyptian gallery — mummies, sarcophagi, funerary objects, Book of the Dead fragments. The strongest single gallery; ask staff which mummy currently has the most CT-scan research attached.
  2. The Ramses I story (interpretive panels) — the mummy itself is back in Egypt, but the story of its identification and return is told in detail. The single best repatriation case study in any American museum.
  3. Greek and Roman gallery — black-figure and red-figure pottery, Roman portrait busts, Hellenistic statuary.
  4. Sub-Saharan African gallery — Nok terracottas, Yoruba bronzes, Kuba masks. Strong, under-visited.
  5. Ancient American gallery — Maya, Aztec, Andean. Look for the Moche ceramics from coastal Peru.
  6. The Michael Graves building itself — pink granite, postmodern motifs, signature stripes. The 1985 design has aged unevenly; that's part of what to look at.
  7. The rotating special exhibition — the Carlos books strong loan shows in collaboration with Emory faculty.

Stretch goals (do if time allows):

  • Walk Emory's main quad — Henry Hornbostel's 1916 master plan, pink marble buildings.
  • Pair with Fernbank Museum, 10 min away.

Research angles for Maxine

The research is hers — list questions to investigate and sources to start from, not answers. Pitch above grade level.

Hook into Maxine's current interests: (ask before finalizing — what is she into right now? bend the questions to that.)

Questions worth chasing:

  • Repatriation ethics: The Ramses I case is one entry point. Read Cuno's Who Owns Antiquity? (2008) and Renfrew's Loot, Legitimacy and Ownership (2000) — opposing views. What's the case for museum retention vs. country-of-origin return? Frame both sides, write a 1,000-word essay.
  • Science / mummy imaging: Emory used CT scanning to identify the Ramses I mummy. Read papers on paleo-imaging — what can a CT scan tell us about a 3,300-year-old body? Read about the King Tut CT scans (2005) too.
  • History (Egyptian): Pick one Egyptian artifact in the collection. Trace its provenance — when did it leave Egypt, who brought it, what was the legal context (Egyptian antiquities law of 1835, 1912, 1983)?
  • Writing: Compare object labels on the Egyptian collection to the African collection. How does the museum talk about each? Is the framing consistent? (Provocative question; expect to find inconsistencies.)
  • Architecture: Michael Graves's postmodernism is a specific historical moment (1980s reaction against modernism). Identify three postmodernist motifs in the building. Read Charles Jencks, The Language of Post-Modern Architecture.

Starting sources (not exhaustive — she'll find more):

  • James Cuno, Who Owns Antiquity? (2008).
  • Colin Renfrew, Loot, Legitimacy and Ownership (2000).
  • Carlos Museum publications and blog: https://carlos.emory.edu/news
  • Salima Ikram, Death and Burial in Ancient Egypt (2003).

Observable field goals

  • Identify 5 objects from her pre-printed list of "must-see" items; document each.
  • Find the Ramses I interpretive panels; transcribe key dates and the chain of identification.
  • Photograph one Greek pot and identify the figure-style (black-figure or red-figure); estimate date.
  • Sketch one architectural detail of the Graves building; identify the postmodernist move.
  • Pick one object whose provenance is unstated or vague; flag it for further research.

Suggested itinerary

  1. 10:00 a.m. Arrive at open. Egyptian gallery first.
  2. 11:30 a.m. Greek + Roman gallery.
  3. 12:30 p.m. Lunch on Emory campus (Cox Hall food court).
  4. 1:30 p.m. Africa + ancient America galleries.
  5. 3:00 p.m. Special exhibition + Graves architecture walk.
  6. 4:00 p.m. Out; pair with Fernbank (10 min).

Family roles:

  • Chris leads: the repatriation-ethics thread.
  • Heather leads: the slow-look in the Egyptian or African gallery.
  • Maxine drives: the provenance project on one specific object.
  • Solo vs. both parents: fine with one.

Connections

Combines well with:

Feeds into home projects / future adventures:

  • A repatriation ethics essay grounded in 2-3 case studies (Carlos's Ramses I + the British Museum's Parthenon Marbles + Yale's Machu Picchu pieces).
  • A paleo-imaging project.
  • A postmodern-architecture survey leading to Denver Public Library and Portland Building.

Open questions / still to research (Chris's side)

  • Current special exhibition.
  • Parking — Emory restrictions vary by event.
  • Whether any Carlos faculty / curator talks are scheduled.