Oriental Museum
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Eternal Ascent: Bentley Beetham and the 1924 Mount Everest Expedition
An exhibition marking the centenary of the 1924 Mount Everest Expedition, the first Western, and ultimately tragic, attempt to climb the highest mountain in the world.
The story is told from the perspective of one man, Bentley Beetham, using pictures selected from his large collection of photographs and glass lantern slides taken during the course of the expedition.
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Upcoming events
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Magnificent Moon Jar
Saturday 14 September, 20241:00 PM to 3:00 PMOriental Museum/prod01/channel_4/things-to-do/media/things-to-do/whatx27s-on/events/Moon-Jar.png)
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Toy Box: celebrating toys and games across cultures
Thursday 23 May, 202410:00 AM to 5:00 PMOriental Museum/prod01/channel_4/things-to-do/media/things-to-do/oriental-museum/whatx27s-on/toy-box-website-image-updated.jpg)
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Eternal Ascent: Bentley Beetham and the 1924 Mount Everest Expedition
Friday 24 May, 202410:00 AM to 5:00 PMOriental Museum/prod01/channel_4/things-to-do/media/things-to-do/oriental-museum/whatx27s-on/oriental-museum-events-calendar/bentley-beetham-exhibition-resized-web.jpg)
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Horse Play
Saturday 21 September, 20241:00 PM to 3:00 PMOriental Museum/prod01/channel_4/things-to-do/media/things-to-do/whatx27s-on/events/Oriental-Museum-China-DUROM.1960.3942.jpg)
Magnificent Moon Jar
Toy Box: celebrating toys and games across cultures
Eternal Ascent: Bentley Beetham and the 1924 Mount Everest Expedition
Horse Play
Toy Box: celebrating toys and games across cultures
A student-led, family-friendly summer exhibition showcasing toys from across Asia and Egypt to celebrate a simple fact of humanity: we all love to play.
Plan Your Visit
Find out everything you need to know to get the most from our visit: how to find us, opening times and more. Plus, everything you need to know if you or anyone in your group has any special needs or requirements.
‘The Orient’ is not an area with defined geographical boundaries. The term can mean widely differing things to different people. In the case of the Oriental Museum, the definition is a wide one indeed, with the collections covering a huge area from North Africa to South East Asia. This is the legacy of the origins of the Oriental Museum in the teaching of oriental languages at Durham University.
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Our collections
Find out more about the history of the museum and our collections.
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China
This internationally important collection has strengths in ceramics and jade.
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Egypt and Sudan
More than 7000 objects ranging in date from prehistory to the Christian Period.
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Japan
The fastest growing collection boosted by significant recent donations of ceramics and woodblock prints.
China
Egypt and Sudan
Japan
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Search our collections
We welcome anyone who wishes to study our collections. Find out more about searching our collections online and how to make a research appointment.
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Learning and Engagement
The Oriental Museum has a range of activities, workshops and events for schools, home learners, families, visitors and a range of groups.
This is a fabulous small specialist museum, containing exhibits from China, Japan, India and Egypt among others. It contains a fascinating range of artifacts, beautifully curated and accompanied by commentaries, videos, etc.. It is on four levels, but accessible to all. The staff are very friendly and knowledgeable…. We spent a couple of hours, but could easily have stayed longer, as each exhibit is worthy of attention. One of our best experiences when visiting Durham.
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International Partnerships
We support learning, teaching and research across the University and worldwide. Oriental Museum curators are currently working in partnership with museums across Asia on a range of collections research and exhibition projects.
Nearby attractions
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Botanic Garden
Set amongst beautiful mature woodlands, the Botanic Garden offers a wide variety of landscapes to explore and discover.10 Minute Walk/prod01/channel_4/things-to-do/media/things-to-do/botanic-garden/visit/Botanic-Garden-Jumping-Children.jpg)
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Durham World Heritage Site Visitor Centre
Find out everything you need to know to make the most of your visit to Durham.20 Minute Walk/prod01/channel_4/things-to-do/media/things-to-do/world-heritage-site-visitor-centre/Cosins-Library-Bookcases.jpg)
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Durham Castle
Sitting at the heart of Durham's World Heritage Site and occupied continuously since the 11th century.20 Minute Walk/prod01/channel_4/things-to-do/media/things-to-do/durham-castle/visit/DC_Whatson_Tour_7.jpg)
Botanic Garden
Set amongst beautiful mature woodlands, the Botanic Garden offers a wide variety of landscapes to explore and discover.
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Durham World Heritage Site Visitor Centre
Durham Castle
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