Research & Learning at the Petrie Museum

Planning a Research Visit to the Petrie Museum?

PLEASE NOTE that the Petrie Museum will be closed for essential capital works from May to August 2024 and we will be unable to accommodate external researchers during this period. If you are a UCL student and would like to book an appointment during this time, please note that access to specific material cannot be guaranteed and early booking is essential.

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Appointments for individual research visits to the Museum can be made on Mondays, between 10:30 and 13:00, and 14:00 and 16:30, when the Museum is closed to the public. To arrange an appointment please contact museums@ucl.ac.uk.

Please note that due to limited space and staff availability, booking is essential. To avoid disappointment, we recommend that you contact us at least three months in advance to book an appointment as spaces book up very quickly.

Appointments can also be made available for UCL students on Tuesdays between 10:30 and 12:30, subject to staff availability. These bookings should be made at least two weeks in advance.

A maximum of 10 objects and/or archives can be made available per visit. While it may be possible to increase the number of items requested if they are easily accessed and stored in the same drawer, this will be on a case by case basis and at the discretion of the Curatorial and Collections Assistant.

A precise list of requested objects, including UC numbers, must be provided at least two weeks in advance of your visit to allow Museum staff to assess the suitability of objects for study and handling. Please note that we reserve the right to deny research visits and access to objects at any time.

If you wish to conduct Destructive Analysis on an object, please request a copy of the UCL Culture Destructive Analysis Policy by email. Please note that Destructive Analysis requests have a long lead-in time (at least six months) and pass through several levels of approval, so please do contact us as soon as possible if you are planning to undertake this research.

Petrie Museum Research projects

Different Perspectives: Archaeology and the Middle East in WWI

The Petrie Museum is delighted to be have been awarded an Heritage Lottery Fund grant for the project Different Perspectives: Archaeology and the Middle East in WWI. the project will focus on researching the work of founding archaeologist Flinders Petrie and his students and colleagues to explore the topic of archaeology and the Middle East in the First World War.

Learning

The Petrie Museum welcomes school group visits on Tuesday and Wednesday mornings between 10am and 12pm. There is no charge for this service. Pupils will normally have exclusive use of the museum. Visits are self-directed, supported by our Teachers' Pack, aimed at primary schools and available to download here. Each session begins with a short introduction to the collection by one of our visitor services team. Pre booking is essential and this can be arranged by contacting museums@ucl.ac.uk.

We have a set of downloadable Petrie Museum activities that can be used with primary school classes:

Comparing everyday life then and now	Gods, goddesses, and religion	Ptolemies
Scavenger hunt	Investigating objects worksheet	True or false quiz

We also have a resource pack on Sounds of Roman Egypt that supports Key Stage 2 Music and History available to download here.

Resources

Digital Egypt for Universities

Digital Egypt for Universities is a free online resource for university learning and teaching, introducing all periods and themes of Egypt from the prehistoric to Islamic times, with 3D reconstructions of selected sites represented in the Petrie Museum.

Textiles in the Petrie Museum

Aimed at 14-16 year old students studying Textiles (English GCSE). Designed to support individual study. Can be used off-site.

Download Textiles in the Petrie Museum (doc, 1.3MB)

Self-guided Tour

A self-guided tour of the Petrie Museum to download.

Self-guided Tour

ESOL Resources (English for Speakers of Other languages)

Depending on availability, we can book groups over 10 into the museum during our opening hours. Groups under 10 do not need to book. Booking outside of those times is limited but we will try and facilitate groups where possible. Risk assessments are also available.

Resources written by Meena Jadwani, Judy Joseph, Nadia Ibrahim and edited by Jamie Dicks and Debbie Challis.

Previsit Information (pdf, 234KB)

Cultural Diversity (pdf, 854KB)

Everyday (pdf, 2.6MB)

Islamic Art & Culture (pdf, 1.3MB)

Worksheet: Islamic Art & Culture (pdf, 1.3MB)

Timeline (pdf, 686KB)

Tutors Notes (pdf, 374KB)

The Petrie Museum is also associated with UCL's Institute of Archaeology. The Institute offers a wide range of undergraduate and postgraduate courses, including courses on the archaeology of Egypt and Sudan; museum and artefact studies and conservation; see prospectus. Students use the Petrie Museum and UCL’s other collections as part of their coursework, and for research projects.