Images

In ancient mythology, Thalia was one of the 9 Muses. The Muses were female companions of the god Apollo and devoted to the arts and sciences. Although Thalia was associated with comedy, Roman poets described her as graceful and tender. This...

In ancient Greece and Rome, bronze and marble statues adorned public palaces and the sanctuaries of gods. Over centuries, almost all the bronze statues were melted down for re-use. This is one of the very few surviving examples from Egypt...

In Greek and Roman architecture, Caryatids are female figures that stand in place of columns. This example was found in 1585-90 CE near the Via Appia outside Rome. It was acquired by the Peretti family and was kept at the Villa Peretti Montalto...

Here, Nabonidus (reigned 556-539 BCE) wears the traditional dress of a Babylonian king, holding objects symbolizing justice and power. Before him are the star of Ishtar, the winged-disc of Shamash, and the crescent moon god Sin, to whom Nabonidus...

King Nebuchadnezzar II's building program at Babylon used around 15,000,000 baked bricks. Thousands bore his name and titles stamped into the clay: "Nebuchadnezzar...the eldest son of Nabopolassar, King of Babylon, am I". On this brick, a...

Building Babylon: this inscribed stone was found at the ruins of Babylon and described the religious devotion and civic achievement of king Nebuchadnezzar II. The long inscription records that as well as building the Processional Way and...

A Carthaginian silver coin, depicting Nike above a horse and a palm tree, minted in Carthage, 5th-4th century BCE. The British Museum, London.

This small limestone false door comes from the mastaba-tomb of the Superintendent of the Hairdressers of the Palace Niankhre. On the rectangular panel at the top, the dead man sits before a table of offerings. The central door-niche is inscribed...

The gilded wooden statuette represents the "Ba" of Neswy perching on the top of the stela. The painted scenes below, from top to bottom: the winged sun-disc flanked by goddesses Nekhbet and Wadjet as serpents, and by jackals representing...

From Abydos, Egypt. 19th to 20th Dynasties, circa 1295-1070 BCE. (The British Museum, London)