Ure Museum of Greek Archaeology

Ure Museum of Greek Archaeology

Location within Reading
Established	1922
Location	Reading, Berkshire, UK
Coordinates	51°26′29″N 0°56′44″W / 51.441272°N 0.945522°W / 51.441272; -0.945522
Type	University museum
Website	www.reading.ac.uk/Ure/index.php

The Ure Museum of Greek Archaeology contains one of the most important collections of Greek antiquities in the United Kingdom. The Museum forms part of the Department of Classics at the University of Reading and is situated on the university's Whiteknights Campus, about 2 miles (3.2 km) from the centre of the English town of Reading, Berkshire. The museum is open to the public Monday to Friday and there is no admission charge.

The museum houses a collection of material from the Greek and Greco-Roman civilisations of the Mediterranean, most notably Greek and Etruscan ceramics and terracottas. Other exhibits include prehistoric pottery, metal and stone artifacts of Greek and Roman dates, and a collection of Egyptian antiquities, ranging from the Pre-dynastic to the Roman period. These include musical instruments, bronze and copper artefacts and jewellery, a funeral boat and a mummified cat's head.

The museum was created in 1922 by the first Professor of Classics at the University, Percy Ure, although it contains an earlier donation of Egyptian antiquities made by Mrs Flinders Petrie in 1909 to the then Reading University College. The collections have grown through the generosity of various donors, and are recognised as the fourth largest collection of Greek ceramics in Britain. The museum is named after Professor Ure and his wife, Dr Annie Ure, who was the museum's first curator.

The museum is open to the public on weekdays between 0900 and 1630. It is on the ground floor of the north wing of the university's Humanities and Social Sciences building, signposted on campus as HumSS. Admission is free.