Antiquities Exhibits

Archaeological collections from Egypt and Sudan - Ongoing at The Petrie Museum in London, United Kingdom. The Petrie Museum houses one of the largest archaeological collections in the world, some 80,000 objects, for Egypt and Sudan. It is named after William Matthew Flinders Petrie (1853-1942), appointed in 1892 as first University College London Edwards Professor of Egyptian Archaeology and Philology. Over three-quarters of the material comes from excavations directed or funded by Petrie, or from purchases he made for university teaching. Here you can see the Tarkhan Dress, the world's oldest surviving woven garmet, a v-neck linen shirt  radiocarbon dated to the late fourth-millennium BC. Gilded cartonnage mummy mask from the Roman Period. 5th Dynasty bead-net dress Roman period mummy portrait from the Fayum region

Roman, Etruscan, and Egyptian antiquities at the National Archaeological Museum of Parma, Italy. This museum was established in 1760 to house artifacts recovered from the excavations of the Roman city of Veleia. It's collections now include Egyptian, Etruscan and Roman materials spanning a period from the Palaeolithic to the Early Middle Ages. From Veleia, the museum displays fragments of the Tabula Alimentaria Traianea and of the Le x de Gallia Cisalpina , figurative bronzes, ornaments and coins, as well as twelve marble statues of members of the Julio-Claudian dynasty. Through donations in the 18th and 19th centuries the museum also acquired ancient sculptures once belonging to the Gonzaga of Guastalla and the Farnese collections as well as numismatic collections of Greek currency, Greek and Etruscan ceramics and Egyptian objects. Sculptures of Julio-Claudians recovered from excavations in Veleia. Image courtesy of the National Archaeological Museum of Parma.

Antiquities and Pre-Columbian Art at the New Orleans Museum of Art in New Orleans, Louisiana. Paintings, drawings and prints, and decorative arts including Greek ceramics survey the development of Western Civilization from the pre-Christian era to the present. A unique Arts of the Americas collection showcases the cultural heritage of North, Central and South America from the pre-Columbian period through the Spanish Colonial era. This collection is especially rich in objects from the great Mayan culture of Mexico and Central America, and in painting and sculpture from Cuzco, the fabulous Spanish capital of Peru. Image: Articulated terracotta figure from the Vera Cruz culture of Vera Cruz, Mexico 700-900 CE. Image courtesy of the New Orleans Museum of Art.

Reopening March 1, 2019. An exploration of the ancient city of Aregenua at the Vieux la Romaine Archaeological Museum near Caen, France. This museum's permanent collections include 4,000 objects recovered from the ancient town of Aregenua, the capital of the Viducasse tribe. Excavations beginning in 1702 under the direction of King Louis XIV uncovered a bath house and a theater. Recent excavations in 1988 revealed a large town  house with paved central courtyard and a large number of artifacts used in daily life there. In 2002, a museum was built to showcase the artifacts and provide visitor information. Image: Relief of a satyr recovered from the House of the Grand Peristyle in Aregenua. Image courtesy of the Vieux la Romaine Archaeological Museum with digital enhancements.

Iberian art from Prehistory to early Modern Age. Ongoing at the National Archaeological Museum of Madrid in Madrid, Spain. This museum beside the Plaza de Colón in Madrid was founded in 1867 by a royal decree from Isabella II. Its collections include not only works from the Iberian peninsula but artifacts from ancient Greece, Magna Graecia, ancient Egypt and the Near East. Image: Lady of Elche, Iberian, 4th century BCE, with Greek influence at the National Archaeological Museum of Madrid courtesy of Wikimedia Commons contributor Luis Garcia.

Loupian Roman villa n the village of Loupian in the Hérault départment of France, between Montpellier and Béziers, the heart of Gallia Narbonensis. Excavations on a three-hectare site south of the village have revealed remains of a Roman farm villa with extensive 2nd-century CE Gallo-Roman mosaics. The site was occupied for more than 600 years. Originally a modest farmstead built a few kilometres south of the Via Domitia, on the hillside overlooking the Bassin de Thau, it rapidly prospered and grew. During the early Empire, in the 1st and 2nd centuries, the villa was a large patrician residence with thermal springs. The main agricultural activity was viticulture, for which a storehouse capable of holding 1,500 hl of wine was constructed. This period also saw the building of a small port on the northern shore of the Bassin de Thau, as well as pottery workshops producing amphorae for the transportation of wine.  In the 5th century, the villa was completely rebuilt and the owner's ...

Antiquities from the excavations at Empúries onsite and in the Archaeological Museum of Catalonia in Barcelona, Spain. Empúries was founded in 575 BCE by Greek colonists from Phocaea. After the invasion of Gaul from Iberia by Hannibal the Carthaginian general in 218 BCE, the city was occupied by the Romans (Latin: Emporiæ). After the conquest of Hispania by the Romans, Empúries remained an independent city-state. However, in t he civil war between Pompey and Julius Caesar, it opted for Pompey, and after his defeat it was stripped of its autonomy. A colonia of Roman veterans, named Emporiae, was established near Indika to control the region and a Roman mint operated there. A number of Roman mosaics have been preserved and sculptures of Asclepius, Demeter, Dionysos and possibly the Empress Livia have been recovered, too, as well as red-figured ceramics, oil lamps, articulated dolls, and coin hoards. Note: I had the wonderful opportunity to explore Empúries in 2013 taking the photogr...

Greece, Rome, and the ancient Near East. Ongoing at the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge, UK. The Greek and Roman collections of the Fitzwilliam Museum span the period from about 3000 BCE to 400 CE. In material and scale the objects range from engraved seal-stones, with minute designs that can hardly be seen by the naked eye, to colossal marble figures; from intricately painted fired clay vessels to precisely chiselled monumental inscriptions; from tactile small bronze panthers to imposing stone sarcophagi. Image: Gold ornament produced in ancient Colchis in the 4th century BCE from the archaeological excavations at Vani, Georgia. In mythology, Colchis was the destination of Jason and the Argonauts looking for the fabled golden fleece. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

The Gallo-Roman Museum of Tongeren, Belgium. Roman Tongeren became one of the largest Gallo-Roman administrative and military towns in the first century. It suffered from a destructive fire during the Batavian siege in 70 CE, which was part of the Batavian revolt. In the second century, it erected a defensive wall, portions of which can still be seen today. Typical Roman buildings were built in town, while villas and mound graves (tumuli) dotted the surrounding area. It is from this rich archaeological context that the Gallo-Roman Museum of Tongeren draws its collection of artifacts. Image:   A typical Gallic recruit to the Roman auxiliaries on display at the Gallo-Roman Museum in Tongeren. Image courtesy of Carole Radatto via Wikimedia Commons.

A View from the Jeweler’s Bench: Ancient Treasures, Contemporary Statements. Through July 7, 2019 at the Bard Graudate Center Gallery in New York City. This exhisit is designed to reveal the process of jewelry wrought by hand throughout history. Jewelry displayed includes ancient Egyptian and Roman jewelry and Etruscan gold work as well as more modern revival styles by Castellani and the Wade necklace by Tiffany & Co., a ninet eenth-century masterwork wrought in diamonds and platinum. There are also numerous supplementary images from antiquity through the present day. While in New York, don't forget to explore the jewelry exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art as well. Image: Gold ring with cameo glass portrait of Augustus 1st half of 1st century CE. "Many such small decorative items were probably made as gifts for friends and supporters of Augustus and his dynasty. At the top end of the scale were real sardonyx cameos, made for those with close family ties, w...

Last Supper in Pompeii.  July 25, 2019 to January 12, 2020 at the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford, England.  Everything from the exquisite mosaics in the villas of the wealthy to the remains found in kitchen drains reveals what the people of Pompeii loved to eat and drink. The Ashmolean’s 2019 summer exhibition, will tell the story of this ancient Roman town’s love affair with food. Objects, on loan from Naples and Pompeii range from the luxury furnishings of the Roman dining room, to the carbonised food that was on the table when the volcano erupted. Image: Reconstruction of a Roman triclinium at the Museo Provincial de Bellas Artes in Zaragoza, Spain.  Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons contributor Francis Raher.

Egypt: The Time of Pharaohs opening February 15 at the Cincinnati Museum Center in Cincinnati, Ohio. This sprawling 15,000-square-foot exhibit takes visitors through an immersive experience of the lives of ancient Egyptians — from queen to commoner. On view are artifacts of personal and public import, from jewelry to burial tombs and religious items. Through educational displays, visitors will learn about such things as religious c eremonies, the complex irrigation systems along the Nile, and the architectural designs of ancient pyramids. One impressive centerpiece of the Egypt exhibit is the Sphinx head of Queen Hatshepsut. An important figure in ancient history, Queen Hatshepsut was the longest-ruling female pharaoh. She is one of a handful of pharaohs featured in the exhibit. Visitors will also see a large cast of battle relief of Pharaoh Seti I from the temple of Karnak in Egypt. In addition to the ancient artifacts, the exhibition also features more than 20 interactive media sta...

Roman hoard and militaria at The Weißenburger Roman Museum in Weißenburger, Bavaria.  The Weißenburger Roman Museum in Weißenburger, Bavaria was founded in 1983 to house one of the most important hoard finds in the whole of Germany consisting of 114 objects, including 17 bronze statues, statuettes, votive tablets, vessels, tools, and militaria. The hoard was probably hidden, like so many other treasures in Raetia, during the Alamanni invasions in the middle of the 3rd century CE. The museum underwent a 2.65 million euro rennovation in 2017 so the artifacts are now displayed with modern lighting in a contemporary environment. Images: Roman cavalry mask front and back, in the Weißenburg Roman Museum courtesy of Wikimedia Contributor, Wolfgang Sauber.

Following in ancient footsteps. Ongoing at the Ohio History Center in Columbus, Ohio. The Hopewell culture flourished along rivers in the northeastern and midwestern United States from 100 BCE to 500 CE, in the Middle Woodland period. The Hopewell tradition was not a single culture or society, but a widely dispersed set of related populations. They were connected by a common network of trade routes, known as the Hopewell exchange system . Explore what archaeologists have learned about earthen mounds and ceremonial artifacts and their relation to the sacred lives of the ancient people in Ohio. The mounds themselves can be explored in the Hopewell Culture National Historical Park just 48 miles south of Columbus near Chillicothe, Ohio. Artifacts are on display there as well. Legged pottery vessel depicting a bird, Hopewell culture, 100 BCE - 500 CE. Image courtesy of Deborah Platt. Copper falcon from the Mound City Group site of the Hopewell culture. Image courtesy of t...

Ancient Color. Through May 26, 2019 at the Kelsey Museum of Archaeology in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The Roman world was a colorful place. Although we often associate the Romans with white marble statues, these statues, as well as Roman homes, clothing, and art, were vibrant with color. Merchants traded far and wide for the raw materials to produce a variety of pigments and dyes, and the many ways they were put to use by Ancient Roman s in their homes, clothing, art and buildings reflects the significance of color in Roman culture. Artifacts of every variety can retain evidence of color, from the still-vibrant red and green threads woven into a cloth bag to the invisible traces of blue pigment on a marble head. Image: Head of Bacchus. Marble, pigment. The image in the middle shows an application of color based on the locations of pigments found on the object’s surface during examination. The image on the right is a hypothetical reconstruction of the finished surface based on si...

Written in Stone: The Treasures of Eden and the Rosetta Stone, April 13 - October 27, 2019, at the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum in West Branch, Iowa. From ancient Sumer to the Holy Land, the eternally compelling mystery of the sudden appearance and rapid progression of urban life is traced through pottery, cylinder seals, cuneiform tablets, bronze and marble sculpture, currency, and weaponry from its distant ori gins in early Mesopotamia to Canaan, Egypt, Phoenicia, Greece, Palestine, Israel, and Rome. Recovered from the same period and region as the treasures of the Baghdad Museum, this breathtaking timeline of authentic artifacts includes some of the oldest idols and sacred representations of deities ever found. This magnificent collection features a rare cast of the famous Rosetta Stone and a replica of the mysterious Phaestos Disc. The exhibit will also include displays about the work Herbert and Lou Hoover did translating the book, De Re Metallica and the treas...

Ancient Egypt Rediscovered. Ongoing. At the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburg, Scotland. This new gallery showcases the depth and breadth of the National Museums' Ancient Egypt collection that originated with the first Egyptian objects added in 1819. Highlights will include the Qurna burial, the only intact royal burial group outside of Egypt, a gold ring said to have belonged to Queen Nefertiti and a unique double coffi n of two half-brothers, Petamun and Penhorpabik. The gallery is also planned to house the only white limestone casing stone from the Great Pyramid of Giza outside of Egypt that was discovered in a rubble heap by British engineer Waynman Dixon in 1872. Pendant of gold depicting an “upside-down catfish”, with an unknown core (possibly copper alloy) and a ring for suspension in its mouth: Ancient Egyptian, excavated by Petrie in Tomb 72 in Harageh Cemetery A, Late Middle Kingdom, 12th Dynasty, c.1862-1750 BCE . Box of cedar wood with ebony vene...

Closing soon! Jewelry: The Body Transformed. Through February 24, 2019 at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. What is jewelry? Why do we wear it? What meanings does it carry? Traversing time and space, this exhibition explores how jewelry acts upon and activates the body it adorns. This global conversation about one of the most personal and universal of art forms brings together some 230 objects drawn almost exclusiv ely from The Met collection. A dazzling array of headdresses and ear ornaments, brooches and belts, necklaces and rings created between 2600 B.C.E. and today are shown along with sculptures, paintings, prints, and photographs that enrich and amplify the many stories of transformation that jewelry tells. Image: Menat necklace from Malqata, reign of Amenhotep III Dynasty 18 1390-1353 BCE. Faience, bronze or copper alloy, glass, agate, carnelian, lapis lazuli, turquoise. Image courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Inside Ancient Egypt. Ongoing. At The Field Museum in Chicago, Illinois. Inside Ancient Egypt is an up-close look at the daily lives of ancient Egyptians—as well as how they thought about death. Enter through a three-story replica of a mastaba, a type of ancient Egyptian tomb, that houses two authentic chamber rooms from the burial site of 5th Dynasty Egyptian Pharaoh Unis’s son Unis-Ankh. The burial chamber, which dates to 240 0 BC, houses one of the largest collections of mummies in the United States: 23 human mummies and more than 30 animal mummies. The exhibition also features a recreation of an ancient marketplace reconstructed from market scenes depicted on tomb walls. Filled with goods and people, the marketplace offers hands-on learning through the everyday activities that occurred in this bustling cultural center. The exhibit also includes A 4,000-year-old royal boat that belonged to Pharaoh Senwosret III, Scenes from the Nile River Valley, and a shrine to the cat-goddess Ba...