Ennigaldi-Nanna's museum Museum

Ennigaldi-Nanna’s museum is an archaeological site at the ancient city of Ur in present-day Dhi Qar Governorate, Iraq, and is widely described as the earliest known museum, founded around 530 BCE. The institution was established under Princess Ennigaldi, daughter of the Neo-Babylonian king Nabonidus.

The site preserves the remains of a curated collection of objects from earlier periods, accompanied by clay labels or cataloguing that identified items for viewers. The surviving evidence includes artifacts arranged in display contexts and cuneiform labels, indicating an organized repository of antiquities.

The museum was assembled under the authority of Ennigaldi-Nanna in the late 6th century BCE to house and interpret older material from Mesopotamian sites. Modern archaeologists recovered the remains and associated labels during excavations at Ur in the 1920s, which illuminated the site’s function as a curated collection rather than a simple storeroom.

The site sits within the archaeological area of Tell el-Muqayyar (ancient Ur) in Dhi Qar Governorate, southern Iraq, on the Mesopotamian plain where the Euphrates and Tigris river systems historically influenced settlement.

• Earliest known museum: Recognised as the oldest known museum, founded around 530 BCE
• Modern discovery: Excavated in the 1920s by Sir Leonard Woolley

The archaeological site of Ur is in Dhi Qar Governorate near modern Nasiriyah (about 10-15 km south of the city). Travel is typically via Nasiriyah; international visitors generally arrive through Baghdad or Najaf and proceed overland. Access to archaeological areas is controlled - check with local cultural‑heritage authorities or tour operators in Nasiriyah in advance.

• Ask at the local archaeological office in Nasiriyah or at the site of Ur for current access permissions - the site is archaeologically sensitive and access can be intermittent.
• Photographing excavated objects in situ is sometimes allowed; always check with the excavation director or guards before shooting.
• Bring a local guide familiar with Leonard Woolley's 1920s excavations; they can point out the little museum's pottery labels and the clay "catalogue" that made headlines in 1925.