The project focused on materials published between 1850 - 1950, drawn from two of the Library's complimentary collections, the Ancient Near East and Classics Collections. Preserved materials relate to the study of the ancient Near East and cover such topics as the archaeology, art, history, language, law, and religions of Sumer, Babylonia, Assyria, Egypt, Nubia, Persia, and other ancient peoples of Anatolia and the Fertile Crescent. Classics materials span the time from the rise of Bronze Age Aegean culture through the period in the Middle Ages and include volumes relating to the history, art and archaeology of the classical world. Together, these two collections form a rational continuum in the progress of mankind's achievements towards civilization.