Jerusalem and Rome: Cultures in Context in the First Century CE. Through June 2019 at the Museum of the Bible in Washington D.C.

Jerusalem and Rome: Cultures in Context in the First Century CE. Through June 2019 at the Museum of the Bible in Washington D.C.
195 artifacts from the Institute of Archaeology of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem illustrate differences in Roman and Jewish culture and how the Jewish revolt against Rome and the Roman siege of Masada impacted the lives of 1st century CE Jews living within the Roman world. Items on display include ossuaries, ceramics, and coins.

Image courtesy of the Museum of the Bible.



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Part 2 of the 4th 30 minute segment of the "Pompeii Virtual Walk" video

Image
This segment of the Pompeii Virtual Walk video includes the House of the Faun, House of the Vetti (note - explicit frescoes - viewer discretion advised), the House of the Prince of Naples, the Castellum Aquae, and Samnite fortification wall and tower near the necropolis of the Vesuvio Gate. I was particularly thrilled to explore the House of the Vetti as it was closed when I was in Pompeii and it is one of those dwellings where the owners went rather "over the top" in adorning almost every inch of wall space with frescoes even though many scholars think the Vettii were freedman and not aristocrats at all.  I was also excited to finally "tour" the House of the Prince of Naples that I studied for months before writing the Wikipedia article about it. Surgical instruments were scattered in the debris of the house and a skeleton was found in the barrel-vaulted cubiculum to the left of the fauces. I thought these finds suggested the house may have been occupied by a physi...
Read more

Jade Death Mask of Pakal the Great and other Mayan Treasures, ongoing, at the National Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City

Image
Jade Death Mask of Pakal the Great and other Mayan Treasures, ongoing, at the National Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City.  When the jade death mask of Mayan King, Pakal the Great, was discovered in 1952 during an excavation of the Temple of Inscriptions in the ruined Mayan city of Palenque (modern-day Mexico), this intricate jade death mask had been lying in a darkened tomb chamber for over a thousand years, covering a skull. Inscriptions on the walls indicated that the skull belonged to none other than the Mayan king K’inich Janaab’ Pakal, known today as Pakal the Great.  This mask along with a replica of the great king's tomb are one of the highlights of the National Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City. The museum's collections include the Stone of the Sun, giant stone heads of the Olmec civilization that were found in the jungles of Tabasco and Veracruz, and treasures recovered from the Mayan civilization at the Sacred Cenote at Chichen Itza. Image: Funerary ...
Read more

The Getae: The noblest and the just of the Thracian tribes (according to Herodotus)

Image
Every time I read something about the Getae, I envision the skull wearing savage warriors depicted in the opening battle scenes of the Starz series "Spartacus." But according to Herodotus, the Getae were "the noblest as well as the most just of all the Thracian tribes."  When Lysimachus tried to subdue the Getae he was defeated by them. The Getae king, Dromichaetes, took him prisoner but he treated him well and convinced Lysimachus there is more to gain as an ally than as an enemy of the Getae and released him. According to Diodorus, Dromichaetes entertained Lysimachus at his palace at Helis, where food was served on gold and silver plates. The discovery of the celebrated tomb at Sveshtari (1982) suggests that Helis, the capital of the Getae, was located perhaps in its vicinity, where remains of a large antique city are found along with dozens of other Thracian mound tombs. The Getae were several Thracian-related tribes that once inhabited the regions to either side...
Read more