Images

This clay tablet is known as the "Aleppo Treaty". The treaty was drawn up between the Hittite king Mursili II and Talmi-sharruma (king of Aleppo). It was written in Akkadian, the diplomatic language of the time. The tablet begins with a reminder...

These musical instruments were given to the Assyrian king Shalmaneser III (reigned 858-824 BCE) by the king of Hamath (now Hama) in Syria. His name, Urhilina, appears in Luwian hieroglyphs on the underside of the right shell. The border was...

This female figure wears an elaborate headgear and holds a baby in her left arm. She possibly represents a priestess or a deity. Fired clay. From House B at Carchemish, Southeastern Turkey. Neo-Hittite period, 7th century BCE. (The British...

This baked clay model depicts a man on a horseback. There is an inscribed stamp on the rider's arm. From railway tomb 1 near Carchemish, Southeastern Turkey. Neo-Hittite period, 8th century BCE. (The British Museum, London).

This clay tablet is inscribed in a cuneiform script. It is an account of the Egyptian campaigns of Ashurbanipal II, king of Assyria (reigned 668-627 BCE) and his reception of an embassy from Gyges, the first king of Lydia. From the library...

This is a painted pottery bird-shaped vessel. The bird's feathers are indicated by the brown pigment. The orifice of the vessel lies below the tail. From Phrygia, Central Anatolia, in modern-day Turkey. Phrygian, 8th to 7th century BCE. (The...

Only this part of a reddish painted pottery has survived. This is a goose's (or duck's) head. From Samsun, Black Sea Region, in modern-day Turkey. Phrygian, 5th to 4th century BCE. (The British Museum, London).

This bronze figurine depicts a nude man wearing a pointed hat. From Phrygia or Lycia, Central or Western Turkey. 8th to 6th century BCE. (The British Museum, London).

This male trumpeter wears a pointed hat and a short kilt. From Phrygia or Lycia, Central or Western Turkey. 8th to 6th century BCE. (The British Museum, London).

A medieval manuscript illustration depicting the work on an agricultural estate during the month of February. From 'Les Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry', c. 1412-1440 CE. (Condé Museum, Château de Chantilly, Oise, France)