Sul sito MessyNessyChic si parla di quello che molti credono essere il primo museo della storia, nell’antico Iraq. Il primo museo pubblico conosciuto sarebbe infatti stato aperto oltre 2.500 anni fa. Era stato curato da una donna il cui nome era Ennigaldi-Nanna, sacerdotessa e principessa, figlia di Nabonedo, l’ultimo re dell’impero neo-babilonese, che era anche un antiquario e conosciuto come il primo archeologo della storia.

The first-known public museum opened over 2,500 years ago – and it was curated by a woman. Her name was Ennigaldi-Nanna. She was a priestess and princess, the daughter of Nabonidus, the last king of the Neo-Babylonian Empire, who was also an antiquarian and known as the first serious archaeologist in history. Encouraged by her father, Ennigaldi opened her palatial antiquity museum during the Neo-Babylonian Empire around 530 BCE, located in the state of Ur (modern-day Iraq). It contained her own curation of artifacts dating as far back as 2000 BCE, many of which she is thought to have excavated herself in southern Mesopotamian. When her neatly arranged educational displays were unearthed by archaeologists more than two millennia later in 1925, one can imagine the utter bemusement of discovering ancient history that was also discovering its own even more ancient history.

Quando una coppia di archeologi, i coniugi Sir Charles Leonard e Katharine Woolley, nel 1925 scavarono porzioni del tempio di Ur scoprirono il museo di Ennigaldi-Nanna.

The collection displayed objects such as writing tablets, jewellery, and carved statues which were arranged in a very specific order to help the visiting public follow the timeline and story of a civilization. The objects were accompanied by “museum labels” made of clay drums, written in three languages including Sumerian, and provided information about the object’s age, origin, and significance. The categorisation of her objects were unique for her time and for many centuries after her.

Anche The conversation pubblica un bell’articolo su questo antico museo, intitolato “Hidden women of history: Ennigaldi-Nanna, curator of the world’s first museum”.

Indeed, Ennigaldi-Nanna’s appreciation for the past seems to have been a family trait. Her father Nabonidus had a fascination with history which led him to conduct excavations and discover lost texts. Many of the items in the collection were discovered by him, with Nabonidus sometimes described in the modern day as the world’s first archaeologist.

The city of Ur and its museum were abandoned around 500 BCE, due to deteriorating environmental conditions. These included a severe drought, along with changing river and silt patterns. The prevalence of drought has also been cited as a likely cause of the falls of many earlier kingdoms from the Bronze Age. The story of the world’s first known museum, its curator, and her family, shows the timeless appeal of conserving the treasures of the past. At the same time, the disappearance of this early institution of learning over two millennia ago demonstrates the significant overlap in the important areas of cultural heritage and environmental conservation.