Collections and Affiliated Programs and Initiatives

Yale offers students and scholars of the ancient world an unusually rich set of opportunities to explore their interests beyond the halls of Classics. These include an unparalleled variety of museums and collections, a robust set of partner departments and schools with deep faculty interest in antiquity, and well established exchange initiatives with other colleges and universities internationally.

Collections and Initiatives

  • Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library

    The Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library holds one of the largest and most dynamic collections of rare books, manuscripts, and archives in the world.

  • Archaia: Yale Program for the Study of Global Antiquity

    Archaia is the oldest and most robust interdisciplinary program for the study of global antiquity in the United States.

  • Papyrus Collection

    With more than 6,000 objects, the Yale Papyrus Collection offers a comprehensive sampling of ancient papyri, including materials recovered from the Dura Europos excavations.

  • Yale University Art Gallery

    With over 300,000 Greek and Roman artifacts, including over 12,000 items from Dura Europos, the YUAG is a remarkable resource for ancient studies.

  • Numismatics Collection at the Yale University Art Gallery

    Yale’s collection of over 100,000 coins and medals is among the University’s oldest, dating to the early years of the nineteenth century.

  • Yale Babylonian Collection

    The Yale Babylonian Collection is the largest collection of documents, seals, and other artifacts from ancient Mesopotamia in the United States.

  • Peabody Museum

    The Peabody Museum houses collections from ancient Egypt and Africa, the Caribbean and the Americas, as well as Yale’s Ancient Pharmacology Project.

  • Judaica Collection

    With over 300,000 artifacts, texts, and artworks, Yale’s Judaica Collection is spread across a variety of units and includes dedicated reading rooms in Sterling Library.

Cognate Schools, Departments, and Programs

Collaborations with Other Universities

Yale Classics also participates in the Yale-UCL Collaborative for faculty and students, the Yale-Pisa student exchange with the Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa, Yale’s Baden-Württemberg Exchange Program, and “YaleBridge,” an annual collaborative conference hosted between Yale and Cambridge Classics.