Among the country's most significant anthropological research museums, the Hearst was established around a core collection obtained in a series of expeditions funded by Phoebe Apperson Hearst, starting in 1899. Today the collections have grown to contain nearly four million artifacts from around the world, with emphasis on California archaeology, ancient Peru, Classical Greece and Italy, ancient Egypt, Central American textiles and ethnological artifacts from West Africa, Oceania and the Arctic and sub-Arctic regions. Selections from the permanent collection are displayed in two exhibits. "Native California Cultures" displays 500 indigenous objects in large glass cases for easy perusal. There are also typically two temporary shows at the museum.