Antiquities Exhibits

 "This globular lamp in the shape of a Black African male’s head was made with a mold. Tightly packed rows of concentric stamped dots indicate curly hair, and the figure’s eyes stare widely. He has a slight, pointed nose, and his puffed-out cheeks and open mouth - which serves as the wick-hole - give the impression that he is blowing a flame. Clear traces of use are visible from the burn residue around the mouth and on the lamp’s right side. The filling-hole is located on the forehead, surrounded by a raised circular collar that connects to a loop. This ring indicates that the lamp could be suspended, or stand flat on its raised base-ring." "Lamps made possible a range of activities after dark, including reading, working, and socializing, and also played a key part in religious practices and burial rites. They were produced in large quantities through the use of molds, and the flat upper surface provided a convenient field for decoration. Common subjects include geometri...

This unusual moldmade lamp depicts  a woman dressed in a long-sleeved garment standing next to a truncated column, playing a harp, which leans on her shoulder. Her hairdo is similar to a style worn by Empress Julia Domna, wife of Septimius Severus . The Filling-hole is on top of the instrument and the wick-hole pierces its base.  Julia Domna was born in Emesa (present-day Homs) in Roman Syria, the youngest daughter of the high priest of Baal, Julius Bassianus. The family had enormous wealth and was promoted to Roman senatorial aristocracy. Before her marriage, Domna also inherited the estate of her paternal great-uncle, Julius Agrippa, a former leading centurion.  In 187 CE, she married Severus, who at the time was governor of the Roman province of Gallia Lugdunensis. The Augustan History relates that, after losing his first wife around 186 CE, Septimius Severus heard a prophesy of a woman in Syria who would marry a king. So Severus sought out Domna from one of Syria's mo...

The Bronze Age Minoans of Crete were probably the first Greeks to come into contact with Ethiopians, a Greek name meaning those with "burnt" faces.  The tomb of Rekhmire, governor of Thebes and vizier during the reigns of the pharaohs Thutmosis III and Amenhotep II, circa 1400 BCE, includes one of the earliest depictions of both African and Aegean peoples, thought to be Nubians and Minoans.  However, the collapse at the end of the Late Bronze Age severed Greek connections with Egypt and even the Near East. Trade between the Greeks and the northern periphery of Africa finally resumed in the 8th and 7th centuries BCE including the establishment of trading centers along the Nile and at Cyrene on the northern coast of Africa. Then depictions of Africans began to appear in Aegean art. All black Africans were known as Ethiopians to the ancient Greeks, as the fifth-century BCE historian Herodotus tells us, with their black skin color being the primary identifying physical characteri...

Oil Lamps: Bringing Light To The Ancient World: The first manufactured red pottery oil lamps appeared during the Chalcolithic Age (4500-3300 BCE. These were of the round bowl type. These evolved into wheel-made lamps during the Bronze Age (3200-1200 BCE). These lamps were essentially a shallow bowl with slight pinches on four sides for the wick and featured little or no decoration. In the Iron Age (1200-560 BCE) lamp rims became wider and flatter with a deeper and higher spout and shapes began to vary. Lamps also became more closed to avoid spilling. During the early Roman period, molds were used to produce lamps in large scale factories. The lamp was produced in two parts, the upper part with the spout and the lower part with the fuel chamber. Most were round with nozzles of different forms (volute, semi-volute, U shaped), with a closed body and with a central disk decorated with reliefs and its filling hole. However, more simple factory-made lamps, known as Firmalamp...

Kneeling Satyr at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City, Missouri.  Said to be from the vicinity of Pergamon, in modern-day Turkey produced during the 2nd or 1st century BCE, this bronze satyr has traces of silver in his eyes. This statuette depicts a follower of the god of wine, Dionysos. A late-night carouser, he probably served here—most appropriately—as a lamp-stand. The tree probably held oil lamps in its branches. Photographed at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City, Missouri.

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...