Antiquities Exhibits

Ancient Art of the Mediterranean. Ongoing at the Seattle Art Museum in Seattle, Washington. The permanent collection of ancient art at the Seattle Art Museum includes a wide variety of sculpture, ceramics, glass, reliefs, portraiture, utilitarian objects, and funerary art from Egypt, Mesopotamia, Greece, and Rome. Alabaster head of a Qatabanian (Roman Arabia Felix - ancient Yemen) 3rd - 1st century BCE. The large eye cavities once held typical Near Eastern inlays. Photographed at the Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, Washington.

A Glimpse of Ancient Yemen’ – Through Aug. 18, 2019 at the Smithsonian's Sackler Gallery in Washington D.C. Erote mounted on a striding lion, Bronze, 1st century BCE - 1st century CE Kingdom of Qatabān (ancient Yemen) courtesy of the Sackler Gallery in Washington, D.C. This exhibit highlights south Arabia (now known as Yemen) and its prosperous trading during ancient times. Aromatics such as frankincense and myrrh came from the region to Greece, Rome and Persia, which in turn spread artistic and cultural traditions in Arabia. The exhibit features objects that were retrieved from the region in the early 1950s, by the so-called "American Lawrence of Arabia", Wendell Phillips, painting a detailed picture of an ancient metropolis. I had the opportunity to view this small but fascinating collection when I visited Washington D.C. in 2015. Phillips' excavation party was attacked by warring tribesmen and barely managed to save just a few of the items his team rec...