Antiquities Exhibits

Empúries was an ancient city on the Mediterranean coast of Catalonia, Spain.  Meaning "trading place", the city was founded in 575 BCE by Greek colonists from Phocaea on a small island at the mouth of the river Fluvià. About 550 BCE the inhabitants moved to the mainland.  After the conquest of Phocaea by the Persian king Cyrus II in 530 BCE, the city's population increased considerably through the influx of refugees. Situated as it was on the coastal commercial route between Massalia (Marseille) and Tartessos in the far south of Hispania, the city developed into a large economic and commercial centre as well as being the largest Greek colony in the Iberian Peninsula.  During the Punic Wars, Empúries allied itself with Rome, and Publius Cornelius Scipio initiated the conquest of Hispania from this city in 218 BCE. After the conquest of Hispania by the Romans, Empúries remained an independent city-state until it sided with Pompey during the civil war between Pompey and Jul...

Heron-Shaped Aryballos (oil vessel), 580 BCE Miletus, Greece at the Cleveland Art Museum in Cleveland, Ohio.  In the 6th century BC, a particular type of vessel for scented oil was produced in Corinth, Rhodes, and along the western coast of Asia Minor. Primarily animal forms, they are made of unglazed fired clay with painted decoration. This example in the form of a heron was crafted by a Milesian potter. The bird rests with its delicately curving and counter-curving neck nearly touching the ground; the feathers are defined by incision and painted black slip.  Miletus was settled around 1000 BCE.  By 600 BCE, Miletus had become a wealthy center of trade exchanging goods and ideas with the cities of Egypt, Persia and Western Greece.  Greece was not yet a political entity at the time, but shared a Homeric culture with other Greek city states. Greek philosophers Thales, Anaximander and Anaximenes were all from Miletus. Image: Ceramic Heron-Shaped Aryballos 580 B...

Naturalistic Zun bronze wine vessel in the shape of an owl, 13th-12th century BCE, China at the Minneapolis Institute of Art in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Zun is a type of bronze wine vessel used by Shang-dynasty (c. 1600–1046 BCE) aristocrats during ritual ceremonies to honor their ancestors. This owl-shaped zun is divided into two sections: the removable owl’ s-head lid and the bird’s hollow body. Vessels shaped like animals constitute virtually the only bronze sculpture known from the Shang period. Besides this owl, vessels in the form of buffalo, boars, rhinoceroses, elephants, and rams have also survived. This owl is one of the oldest and most naturalistic of the few remaining owl-shaped zun. Its form exhibits the influence of the Shang capital, Anyang, in the North, but the style and casting technique of the vessel (the indentation on the interior walls corresponds to a relief found on the exterior) indicate that it is related to the bronze tradition of the middle Yangzi region in...

Artifacts from the Villa Maritima and the ancient city of Tauroentum ongoing at the Gallo-Roman Museum of Tauroentum in Aint-Cyr-Sur Mer, France. Objects on display include coins, glassware, ceramics, dolia, mosaics incorporating both geometric patterns and animal designs, sarcophagi, architectural elements, and inscribed monuments. The museum is located on the site of the ancient Greek city of Tauroentum that was later occupie d by about 2,000 Roman inhabitants in the 1st century CE. Much of the original site was submerged in the 3rd century CE. Image: Mosaic pavement from the Villa Maritima courtesy of the Gallo-Roman Museum of Tauroentum