Ancient Near East
The collection contains 5000 antiquities from pre-classical civilisations of the ancient Near East, a region roughly corresponding to the modern Middle East. Of particular importance is a large collection of archaeological material from Cyprus from excavations jointly sponsored by the museum in the early 1950s.
The collection comprises material from over 20 archaeological sites, including significant amounts from excavations carried out in the 1930s at Lachish, Jericho and Ur. In 1949 the museum acquired the collection of the archaeologist John Garstang of the Liverpool Institute of Archaeology. This includes material from the Levant, the cemeteries of the First Millennium BC at Deve Huyuk and material from Garstang's own excavations at Sakje Guezi.
The museum has about 335 cuneiform tablets, 130 cylinder seals and other objects such as bricks and cones with inscriptions. Records of all of our cuneiform tablets are within the Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative.
The Kouklia Expedition (Cyprus)
The museum holds 800 artefacts and the excavation archives from the 1950-1955 Kouklia Expedition of the University of St Andrews and the Liverpool Museum. Along with 350 finds from the contents of Late Bronze Age tombs is the outstanding limestone head of a 'priest-king'.