Welcome to the Oriental Museum

The Oriental Museum is the only museum in the North of Britain devoted entirely to the art and archaeology of the Orient. Our Chinese and Egyptian collections are among the finest to be found anywhere in Britain.

Visitors can explore galleries devoted to China, Ancient Egypt, Japan, India and Tibet, the Islamic World and South East Asia. Use the links on the left to help you find information to plan your visit or explore our collections.

Oriental Museum secures funding for South Asian community project

The Oriental Museum is to transform access to its South Asian and Himalayan collections thanks to a grant from the Arts Council. In the face of fierce competition from museums and galleries across the country, the Oriental Museum has secured £114,000 from the Arts Council's Renaissance Strategic Support Fund. Read more here.

North East Museums set out to 'Make Carbon History'

The Oriental Museum is one of a number of museums across the North East taking part in a new initiative to reduce carbon emissions. Funded by the Arts Council, Marke Carbon History is a two year programme to support to enable museums to reduce their carbon footprint by 12% by 2015. Read more here.

Family Activities

Visit our What's on page for information about our family activities.

Find out here about our exciting club 'The Little Dragons', especially for 0-5 year olds.

Current Exhibitions

Hinduism in India: Culture, Ritual & Community

24th May - 30th September 2013

For more information see our Exhibitions page.

Friends of the Oriental Museum

Would you like to become a 'Friend' of the Oriental Museum? Free entry to the Museum, discounts in the Oriental Museum shop and invitations to advance previews of our exhibitions are just three of the benefits our 'Friends' receive. Visit this page to find out more about supporting the Oriental Museum by becoming a 'Friend'.

Treasures of the Oriental Museum

This book includes 50 short essays highlighting some of the treasures of the Oriental Museum collections. Written by artists, curators, researchers, students and collectors from the UK and around the world, the essays offer a wide range of viewpoints on this enormously varied and fascinating collection accompanied by all new colour photography.

Treasures of the Oriental Museum is now available to order online via Durham University's Online shop.

For further information on forthcoming events and activities go to our What's On page.

New exhibition at the Old Fulling Mill Museum of Archaeology, Durham 'Binchester Exposed', opens today.. http://t.co/xeD8WE5Qtb
Tweeted 16 hours ago
@dumuseums Roman Binchester: Binchester Exposed http://t.co/0z2FvZkrIY
Tweeted 2 days ago
Enjoy Stone Age crafts for children at the Old Fulling Mill Museum this weekend, 1-3pm.. http://t.co/RREOdKTb7Q
Tweeted 6 days ago
Zoe Cormack talks about the Sudan exhibition with BBC Arabic... http://t.co/yn8gy6BNRy
Tweeted 1 week ago