A Babylonian infant, buried in a pottery jar. A personal tragedy of nearly four thousand years ago.
Dr Eleanor Robson reads the Babylonian tablet
The Ancient Roman Gravestone of Helena, about A.D. 150 - 200, marble.
Courtesy & currently located at the Getty Villa, Malibu:
A Maltese dog in the architectural setting of a naiskos, or small shrine, decorates this Roman grave relief. The inscription on the relief reads, “To Helena, foster daughter, the incomparable and worthy soul.”
Was the Helena commemorated by this sculpture a dog or a girl? The Romans made grave reliefs for animals, but these usually took a different form and their inscriptions specify that they were intended for an animal. On the other hand, funerary monuments for children often show the child with a favorite pet. In this instance, however, the pet is shown alone, which might be more appropriate if Helena was not a high-born Roman. The inscription appears to support this interpretation because the word alumnus, although here translated as “foster daughter,” can also mean a slave raised in the house.
Photo taken by Wolfgang Sauber
Source: commons.wikimedia.org
The Antenna Dagger from Siedelberg-Pfaffstätt, of the Hallstatt culture, (~800-450 BC) early Iron Age, central Europe.
Courtesy & currently located at the Castle museums in Linz, Austria. Photo taken by Wolfgang Sauber
Source: commons.wikimedia.org
Section from the Bronze Age rock carvings in Tanum, Sweden.
The rock carvings in Tanum, in the north of Bohuslän, are a unique artistic achievement not only for their rich and varied motifs (depictions of humans and animals, weapons, boats and other subjects) but also for their cultural and chronological unity. They reveal the life and beliefs of people in Europe during the Bronze Age and are remarkable for their large numbers and outstanding quality.
You can read more about this site on UNESCO World Heritage.
Photo courtesy & taken by Bjoertvedt
Source: commons.wikimedia.org
Ancient Mayan stucco head, Classic Period (300-900), originates from the Usumacinta region.
Courtesy & currently located at the Musées Royaux d’art et d’Histoire, Brussels, Belgium. Photo taken by Michel wal.
Source: commons.wikimedia.org
Ancient Greek black-figure ceramic showing scenes from the Trojan War. Attributed to Detroit Painter, Column krater, between circa 590 and circa 570 BC.
Upper frieze: the marriage of Helen and Paris; sirens under the handles facing toward the front of the vessel. Lower frieze with animals: goats and panthers. Sphinxes are painted on the flat surface of the handles.
Courtesy & currently located at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Photo taken by Xuan Che
Source: Flickr / rosemania
Cucuruzzu, a prehistoric archaeological site in Corsica, located in the commune of Levie, France.
Archaeological excavations suggest that the site dates back to about 7,000 years BC, and was occupied until the Middle Ages. The citadel shown in the first photo is from the Bronze Age.
Photos courtesy & taken by Jean-Pol GRANDMONT
Source: commons.wikimedia.org
Viking ship. The ships in this museum were excavated from the burial sites of prominent vikings - the vikings believed that the deceased could bring the material belongings buried with them into the afterlife.
Courtesy & currently located at the Viking Ship Museum, Museum of Cultural History of the University of Oslo. Photo taken by Grzegorz Wysocki
Source: commons.wikimedia.org
Sheet gold finger and toe coverings, plus sandals, from the tomb of three minor wives of Thutmose III at Wady Gabbanat el-Qurud, circa 1479-1425 B.C.
Courtesy & currently located at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Photo taken by Keith Schengili-Roberts
Source: commons.wikimedia.org
Priest-King or Diety, about 1600 BC, Hittite, North Syria, basalt with bone eyes.
Courtesy & currently located at the Cleveland Museum of Art, Ohio, USA. Photo taken by Daderot
Source: commons.wikimedia.org
Ancient Roman Garland Sarcophagus, made of Dokimeion marble, and dates to between 150 and 180 (Imperial).
Courtesy & currently located at the Walters Art Museum, Baltimore, USA:
Unlike many sarcophagi, this one is carved on all four sides in high relief. Garlands held by winged goddesses or personifications on the corners and Eros (Cupid) figures on the sides support the busts of a crowned deity (left) and a young girl (right). The sarcophagus was probably intended for her. In the center, on both the front and back, is a theatrical mask-on this side Tragedy, on the other, Comedy. Medusa heads decorate the ends. The lid takes the form of a temple roof with a pediment (triangular gable) at each end.
This sarcophagus can be traced to a particular workshop active near the ancient quarry of Dokimeion in Phrygia in Asia Minor. Its discovery in Rome illustrates the long-distance trade in even very large, heavy luxury goods that took place at the height of the Roman Empire.
Source: commons.wikimedia.org
The Migdol Temple at Pella in Jordan.
The first photo shows the three major building phases of the temple that stretch from its construction in the Middle Bronze Age (1650 BC) to its destruction in the Iron Age (850 BC).
Second photo: In the foreground a large multi-roomed Iron Age (ca. 900 BC) complex is being excavated, while in the background, work is being undertaken to investigate deposits beneath the Middle Bronze Age temple structure (>1650 BC). Note the massive west exterior wall of the Migdol Temple seen in this image.
Photos courtesy & taken by Ben Churcher, the University of Sydney.
Source: commons.wikimedia.org
Ancient Greek bronze sculpture of Sleeping Eros, 3rd BC-1st AD.
Courtesy & currently located at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Photo taken by sailko
Source: commons.wikimedia.org
