Human world
Ancestor spirit mask, 'Iso ekpo'; SE Nigeria
There are a number of sections within the Human World galleries.
The ethnology collection ranks among the top six collections in the country. The four main areas represented are:
Find out more about the World Cultures collection
The Egyptian collection is the most important single component of the department's collections, comprising nearly 15,000 items. Several thousands of these are from the original Mayer donation in 1867 and are thus of major antiquarian interest. The collection was systematically enhanced through subscription to excavations undertaken in the later years of the 19th century by the Egypt Exploration Society. It was further developed through links with the Institute of Archaeology at Liverpool University. Unfortunately, several large-scale Egyptian sculptures displayed in the entrance hall were devastated during the blitz.
The material from Beni Hasan, excavated by John Garstang and now on loan to the museum, is an example of an important early group with a local connection. The collection is significant in national and international terms. There is still great potential for research in this material and the museum's links with Liverpool University continue to produce excellent work which has been incorporated wherever possible into formal post-graduate study under the museum's supervision.
Find out more about the Egyptian collection
The core of this collection stems from Joseph Mayer. His donation included Anglo-Saxon material and prehistoric pottery.
The collection includes prehistoric pottery, flint and metalwork, Roman pottery and bronzes, Anglo-Saxon glass, metalwork and beads. The post-medieval antiquities collection includes assemblages from 17th and 18th-century kiln sites in North Wales and a late 18th-century kiln site in Merseyside.
Find out more about the British Antiquities collection
The numismatic collection was founded in 1865 with the purchase of 900 British coins and tokens from a local collector, Rupert Jackson. The collection suffered serious losses during the Second World War but was augmented by subsequent purchases. The collection now holds nearly 18,000 items, including Greek, Roman and European coins.
Find out more about the Numismatics collection
The Near Eastern collection comprises some 14,000 objects from a variety of important sites in the Near East. Again there is a local connection through the excavations of John Garstang. The collections have also been systematically developed through subscription to recent work, including field surveys and by the museum's own excavations.
The Cypriot collection of approximately 650 pieces of prehistoric pottery, terracotta and sculpture owes its strength to the involvement of J H Iliffe, a former museum director, in excavations in Cyprus in the 1950s. It is important because few other museums in the UK hold comparable material.
Find out more about the Near East collection
The collection includes Etruscan metalwork, jewellery and pottery; Roman pottery, gems, metalwork, ivory and glass; Greek pottery and sculpture. Probably the two most important groups are the late antique and early Christian ivories from the Mayer collection and the Ince Blundell collection of classical sculpture which was donated in 1959 and is split between World Museum Liverpool and the Walker Art Gallery. The collection is not large but outstanding groups, such as the ivories and the sculptures rank amongst the best in the world.
Find out more about the Classical collection
Touch, explore and learn about the past and present human worlds in a new hands-on centre.
Find out more about the Weston Discovery Centre