Images

Black-glazed pottery from Jordan. Although known by this term, the pottery is not technically glazed. It evolved from the Greek Attic "Red-on-Black" pottery, but the images of heroes and gods that made the Attic vases...

1. Denarius of Emperor Nero (reigned 54-68 CE) of the Julio-Claudian dynasty. The silver content of the coin (fineness) is >.92. Nero’s jowly face, gazing to the right, is recognizable, but barely. This coin was clipped...

Melpomene, one of the nine Greek muses and patron of Greek tragedy, holding a mask of Pan or a satyr, instead of the tragic mask usually associated with her. This relief is one of a group of architectural sculptures that...

This sculpture of Gemini was part of the temple's facade. The temple was designed according to classical fashion. It contains major constitutional elements of the classical architectural order, but its decoration...

An amphoriskos is a small amphora, typically less than 4 inches in height. Polychrome and sand-core formed. The decoration and the technique used are very similar to Phoenician glass, reflecting the trade and cultural...

Byzantine church pulpit, found broken into pieces at its original location in the "Blue Chapel" on the northern ridge of the Petra city center, Jordan, dating from the 6th century. Petra was a Bishopric See in...

This column was shaped in the Classical Ionic Order; a characteristic capital with volutes. The detailed carving of this capital was not finished off. This may be due, in part, to the difficulty of carving accurate details...

This sandstone block was a tombstone and was inscribed with Nabataean text, which records the death of a man "Sullay"who lived in Petra. It is not obvious when Sullay died, but the inscription says that he had an...

A detail of a silk scroll painting showing the imperial garden of Kaifeng, the first capital of the Song Dynasty (960-1279 CE). From 'Games in the Jinming Pool', by Chinese Song artist Zhang Zeduan (1085-1145 CE).

Stamps on pottery vessels may refer to the makers or owners. They may also be trademarks that record capacity or content. The handles of amphorae from the Mediterranean island of Rhodes carried stamps indicating...