The Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago is devoted to exploring the history of the civilizations that occupied the ancient Near East, including the famous ancient Egyptians, builders of the Great Pyramids of Giza and the Great Sphinx. Collections of items dating back many thousands of years include funerary objects and mummies, cuneiform tablets, jewelry, tools and ritualistic objects from cultures including the Mesopotamians, Assyrians, Anatolians and Syrians. The institute is on the university campus in Hyde Park, close to the Rockefeller Memorial Chapel and Frank Lloyd Wright's Robie House and just blocks southeast from the DuSable Museum of African American History. « less