Ennigaldi-Nanna's Museum

Ennigaldi-Nanna's museum is the earliest known public museum [1]. It dates to circa 530 BCE [1]. The curator was Ennigaldi, the daughter of Nabonidus, the last king of the Neo-Babylonian Empire [1]. It was in the state of Ur, in the modern-day Dhi Qar Governorate of Iraq, roughly 150 metres southeast of the famous Ziggurat of Ur [1]. The museum was discovered in 1925, when archaeologist Leonard Woolley excavated portions of the palace and temple complex at Ur [1]. He found dozens of artifacts, neatly arranged side by side, whose ages varied by centuries [1]. He determined that they were museum pieces, because they were accompanied by "museum labels"; clay drums written in three different languages, including Sumerian [1]. The artifacts came from the southern regions of Mesopotamia [1].