Images

A portion of the fortifications at the site of Mari, modern-day Tell Hariri, Syria. Mari's fortifications entered their most advanced stage in the 19th century BCE when the city and the rest of the region were under threat from Amorite invaders...

A satellite photograph of the site of Tell Hariri, Syria. Tell Hariri is the site of the ancient city of Mari, which, at various times from c. 3000 BCE - c. 1760 BCE, controlled large portions of Northern Mesopotamia. The photograph has been...

Excavated remains of the Temple of Lions, a 40-foot terrace attached to a temple at Mari. The temple, also known as the Temple of the King of the Land was built by the ruler, Ishtup-Ilum, in the 22nd century BCE and dedicated to the god...

A Roman satyr mask in marble. 2nd century CE. (Capitoline Museums, Rome)

A Roman-period statue of Leda and the swan from Greek mythology. From a 4th century BCE Greek original by Timotheos. (Capitoline Museums, Rome)

A marble statue of a seated Ares, Greek god of war. Eros plays at the god's feet. 2nd century BCE. (Palazzo Altemps, Rome)

A section of Roman flooring known as opus sectile. Marble and slate inlay. From the Domus Tiberiana in Rome, 1st century CE. (Forum Museum, Rome)

A marble relief depicting a Roman naval vessel with a ram on the prow. Augustan period from the Palatine, Rome. (Forum Museum, Rome)

A marble head depicting a dying Persian. 2nd century CE Roman copy of a Greek 3rd century BCE original. From the Domus Tiberiana, Rome. (Forum Museum, Rome)

The surviving arches of the Aqua Claudia (Claudian Aqueduct) in Rome. Completed in the 1st century CE.