Discover life in the ancient world

Some of our best-known collections items are from Egypt, the Near East, Rome and Greece.

Learn about these ancient civilisations, and how Macquarie University researchers excavated some of the objects on display.

Papyrus

Our collection of ancient manuscripts is the largest of its kind in the southern hemisphere. Egyptian manuscripts written in hieroglyphs, hieratic and Coptic as well as demotic and Greek provide an exciting resource for researchers in our dedicated papyrus study room.

Ancient glass

Once ‘the plastic of the ancient world’, glass introduces our visitors to a festival of colours and shapes created by artists more than 2000 years ago.

Originating from all over the Mediterranean including the Levant and Egypt, the Macquarie University History Museum’s glass collection is the largest in the southern hemisphere.