Wainwright Fund for Near Eastern Archaeology Ancient Object Biography Competition
Important information
- The competition is open to Key Stage 4 and Key Stage 5 students in UK schools
- We will only accept one entry per student
- Please only choose one ancient object to use in your answer
- The object that you choose must fit the specialisms of the Wainwright Fund:
- The object must be an archaeological object.
- The object must have been created during the Palaeolithic era at the earliest and the Medieval period at the latest.
- The object must have been created in either the Middle East or North Africa (a list of the modern countries covered by these terms for this purpose is given on the Wainwright Fund home page).
- Entries using objects created during the Classical Greek and Roman periods in Ancient Greece, Ancient Rome, or the Roman Empire will not be considered.
Entries using objects created in places and time periods not included in those listed above will not be considered.
Please complete the cover sheet at the end of this page.
We are looking for:
- An organised and coherently structured answer
- An answer which fulfils all the parts of the task with concision and clarity
- Grasp of relevant ideas/concepts
- Evidence of critical thinking
- Effective use of context
The use of generative AI tools is not permitted. If the markers believe that AI has been used in the writing of your entry, your entry will be disqualified.
How to find ancient objects in UK museums
We recommend visiting a museum that is local to you, if it has objects that fit the criteria listed above in its collection. If you prefer, you can also visit the website of any museum in the UK to view its collections online .
Your entry will not be judged based on whether you visited a museum in person or viewed its collections online, but on how well it demonstrates the skills listed above
Useful museum websites include but are not limited to:
https://www.nms.ac.uk/search-our-collections
https://www.liverpool.ac.uk/garstang-museum/collections/
https://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/collections/antiquities
https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/
https://www.prm.ox.ac.uk/collections-online#/search
https://www.ashmolean.org/collections-online#/search
https://www.museum.manchester.ac.uk/collections/egypt-and-sudan/
https://fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/explore-our-collection/highlights/periods/ancient-world
https://collections.ucl.ac.uk/search/simple
https://www.dur.ac.uk/things-to-do/venues/oriental-museum/search-our-collections/
Submitting your entry
Please write your entry where indicated below and save it in a Word.Doc or PDF format
Please include either photographs of the ancient object with its museum/accession number and, where relevant, the context provided in the display in .PNG format or, where possible, a hyperlink to the object in the museum’s online database.
Attach the files straight into your email
Please do not send your entry via a link as we are unable to access it. If you send your entry as a link, we will not chase you to resubmit it in the correct format
Please send your entry to wainwright.fund@ames.ox.ac.uk (we will not accept entries which are sent to other email addresses)
You will not receive a confirmation email when you submit your entry.
Please save your file title as ‘your name_WainwrightCompetition’ (e.g. John Doe_WainwrightCompetition), this is imperative for us to process your entry!
Deadline
The deadline to submit your entry is 12 noon (midday) on Friday 31st July 2026 (UK time).
Late submissions will not be accepted. We strongly advise that you submit your entry to the email address indicated above at least one day before the deadline to ensure that no technical errors occur with submitting your work. We will not chase you to resubmit your entry if it is sent in the incorrect format or if it is missing information, so please double check your work before submitting it.
| Task | Choose one ancient object that you have seen on display in a museum in the UK. Write a biography of that object.
You must use the ancient object’s context provided by the museum in your answer. You may wish to use the prompt questions below to help you to plan your answer. |
| Prompt questions | What is the object’s purpose? (Who used it? What was it used for?)
How was the object created? (Who made it? How was it made? What is it made of?)
How typical is the object? (For the type of object that it is? For the place and period which it is from?)
How valuable is the object? (Economic value? Cultural value? Personal value?)
What is the object’s history? (Who owned the object after it was created? When? Where? How did the object come to be at the museum?)
Why is the object on display in the museum? |
| Word count | The minimum word count is 150 words and you must not exceed 300 words. |
Prize
The winning entry will receive a £250 book voucher. The runner-up will receive a £100 book voucher. The entries of both the winner and runner-up will be displayed on the Wainwright website.