This exhibition is an online version of an exhibition held at Sterling Memorial Library in winter 1998. Yale University has been involved in the archaeology and exploration of the Near East since the nineteenth century and has built a formidable collection of artifacts from that region. These include seals, oil lamps, figurines, clay tablets, journals, drawings, photographs and much more. A selection from Yale's vast holdings was put on display in the nave of Sterling Memorial Library in honor of the State of Israel's fiftieth anniversary.