Nicholson Museum, Archaeological museum in University of Sydney Quadrangle, Australia

The Nicholson Museum is an archaeological museum within the University of Sydney that houses around 30,000 objects from the Mediterranean and Near East. The collection spans five distinct sections: Near Eastern, Cypriot, Classical, European prehistory, and Egyptian materials.

The museum was established in 1860 when Sir Charles Nicholson donated hundreds of Egyptian antiquities, Greek vases, and prehistoric objects. This founding collection became the basis for the institution now housed within the university.

The collections display objects from various ancient civilizations, showing how different peoples lived and organized their societies through everyday items like pottery, tools, and religious objects. Visitors can see how trade and cultural exchange connected distant regions across the ancient world.

The museum is located within the university campus and is accessible on foot from the main grounds. Guided tours can be arranged for groups, making it easy to learn about the collections during a campus visit.

The museum closed permanently in February 2020, and its Nicholson Collection moved to the Chau Chak Wing Museum, open since November 2020. Among the collection are over 1,350 glass negatives taken by former curator William J. Woodhouse, documenting his trips to Greece in the 1890s and 1930s.