Images

The base of a cup which shows graffito - an incised mark, usually in the form of letters or numbers but also sometimes words and phrases. When such marks are painted they are called dipinto. The marks may indicate prices, trademarks and ownership...

A black-figure Lakonian kylix, c. 570-560 BCE, depicting the Titans Atlas carrying the world on his shoulders and Prometheus being tormented by an eagle sent by Zeus to eat his liver as punishment for giving mankind the gift of fire, stolen...

A portrait bust of Roman emperor Nerva, 35-98 CE. (Capitoline Museum, Rome)

A Greek ceramic plate used for serving fish and seafood. A central depression collected any excess oil. The shape was popular in both Attica and Magna Graecia. Attic dishes almost always have the fish painted with their underside towards...

A remaining section of the aqueduct built by Emperor Valens in the 4th century CE in Constantinople.

One of two monumental Medusa carvings which hold up columns in the Basilica Cistern of Istanbul (formerly Constantinople). The cistern was constructed in the 6th century BCE reusing the Medusa blocks from an earlier Roman building. One Medusa...

Part of the Binbirderek cistern or Cistern of Philoxenos under Istanbul (formerly Constantinople) first built in 330 CE to hold the city's water reserves which were fed by conduits and aqueducts.

The former cathedral and mosque Hagia Sophia, Istanbul (formerly Constantinople). Although some historians disagree (claiming Constantine laid the foundation), Constantius II is credited with building the first of three Hagia Sophias, the...

The unusually steep cavea of the 2nd century BCE theatre in the Hellenistic city of Pergamon (modern Turkey).

An Attic red-figure dinos bowl decorated with scenes of Theseus fighting the Amazon Andromache, 440-430 BCE. Dinoi were used for mixing wine with water. (The British Museum, London).