The Babylon Collection of the Vorderasiatisches Museum Berlin: A methodological and epistemological study of collection-based research in Museums

• Applicants: Professorin Dr. Eva Cancik-Kirschbaum; Professorin Dr. Barbara Helwing, since 6/2020
• Subject Area: Egyptology and Ancient Near Eastern Studies
• Term: from 2015 to 2022
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 286697695

The envisioned project aims at the first ever methodological and epistemological mapping of the object cluster Babylon (artifacts, archival documents, analog and digital object data in museum repositories) at the Vorderasiatisches Museum of the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin. Individual goals of the project are: 1. structuring the entire object cluster Babylon according to various historical practice contexts (e. g., discovery/excavation, acquisition, inventorying, research, presentation) and linking these data with a view to the individual object; 2. a) carrying out a collection-based study of the history of acquisition, research, and presentation of this object cluster as an example for the academic and public reception of an ancient metropolis in the context of an archaeological museum; b) carrying out a case study on an archaeologically coherent group of objects, in order to demonstrate the potential of integrated collection-based research in the context of the cardinal functions of an archaeological research museum; 3. creating the epistemological foundations for all future Babylon research in museums conceptualized as basic research depending on museum collections and infrastructures, as well as for the presentation of the object cluster Babylon in the context of the new permanent exhibit of the Vorderasiatisches Museum at the Pergamonmuseum to open in 2025.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• Co-Investigator: Professor Dr. Joachim Marzahn
• Ehemalige Antragsteller: Professor Dr. Markus Hilgert, until 4/2018; Dr. Lutz Martin, from 5/2018 until 6/2020