One of the premier collections of ancient Near Eastern artifacts in the world, housed in a 1931 building on the University of Chicago campus. The Oriental Institute was founded by James Henry Breasted in 1919 and accumulated its collection through field excavations in Egypt, Iraq, Iran, Syria, Turkey, and Israel through much of the 20th century.
The highlights are extraordinary: a 17-foot human-headed bull statue from the palace of Sargon II at Khorsabad (722 BCE), an Egyptian gallery with a massive standing statue of Tutankhamun, and a Persian gallery with reliefs from Persepolis. Free admission; closed Mondays. One of the most remarkable free museums in the United States.