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 famous were replaced...

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 around the edges...

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 were discovered near...

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 was not classical at all...

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 exchanges across the...

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 the Byzantine Empire...

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 in the local rough...

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 interesting occupation...

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 the quality of their contents...