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KARANIS REVEALED: DISCOVERING THE PAST 
AND PRESENT OF A MICHIGAN EXCAVATION IN EGYPT

This exhibition illuminates the historical records of a single village community in the Egyptian countryside during the Graeco-Roman period. It also explores the story of the site’s excavation, initiated by the University of Michigan in the 1920s and 1930s, as well as subsequent and upcoming research on the recovered material and its context.

"Karanis Revealed" is presented in two phases. Part I (September 16 to December 8, 2011) looks at aspects of village life during the early centuries of the community under the Ptolemaic dynasty. These include the site’s agricultural cultivation, the role of pagan religions and evidence of more esoteric magical practices. Part II (January 27 to May 6, 2012) follows the changes that took place in Karanis with the beginning of the Roman occupation of Egypt and then later with the advent of Christianity. The displays include collections of Roman glass, tax rolls on papyrus, and the leather breastplate of a Roman soldier.