15-ton Sphinx and its surrounding pillars and gateways at the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology.

©Norman Wharton/Alamy Stock Photo

Penn Museum

Philadelphia

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U Penn's magical museum, the largest of its type in the US, contains archaeological treasures from ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, the Mayan world and more. In April 2018 its new Middle East galleries opened, part of an ongoing transformation of the institution that will see various parts of it under wraps until around 2020.

Take a moment or two to admire the building's eclectic 19th-century architecture and design, which includes a Japanese gate, arts-and-crafts brickwork, a rotunda, public gardens, sculptures by Alexander Stirling Calder and a koi pond. The Stoner Courtyard is the location for a series of outdoor summer concerts.

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