The roots of museums reach back thousands of years. From Mesopotamian princesses to Renaissance aristocrats, humans have long been drawn to collect, preserve, and display the material traces of their world. But exactly how old is this tradition? And which institution deserves the title of the first museum in history? An Ancient Princess’s Collection The earliest evidence of what we might recognize as a museum comes from the city of Ur, in modern-day Iraq. Once a flourishing port on the Eu...
