Antiquities Exhibits

"Excess generally causes reaction, and produces a change in the opposite direction, whether it be in the seasons, or in individuals, or in governments." - Plato In the case of drinking to excess, this change could result in the loss of virtue and well-being or, as the Greek philosophers termed it, Eudaimonia. Plato believed that individuals naturally feel unhappiness when they do something they know and acknowledge to be wrong. Plato's student, Aristotle, agreed that although the pursuit of virtue, excellence, and the best within us was necessary to achieve eudaimonia, virtue in itself was not sufficient alone.   "Aristotle believes that happiness and well-being come from how we live our lives,"   explains psychologist Catherine Moore, "And that's not in pursuit of material wealth, power, or honor." Aristotle expounds upon ways to achieve the happy life in his work "Nichomacean Ethics." "To be honest, a lot of Nichomacean Ethics is a...

From Syria, Mesopotamia, and Egypt in the south to Thrace, Anatolia, and the Caucasus in the north, and from regions as far west as mainland Greece all the way east to Iran, the great royal houses forged intense international relationships through the exchange of traded raw materials and goods as well as letters and diplomatic gifts during the Second Millennium BCE. This unprecedented movement of precious materials, luxury goods, and people resulted in a total transformation of the visual arts throughout a vast territory that spanned the ancient Near East and the eastern Mediterranean.  Cult scenes or religious processions are commonly represented in the art of this period. Hittite texts mention that animal-shaped vessels made of gold, silver, stone, and wood, in the appropriate animal form, were given to the gods for their own use. One such god, worshiped in animal form, was the stag god.  It is thought that the ‘Stag God’ originated in the steppes and was brought to Anatolia...

Yesterday I finished the Great Courses lecture series "Between the Rivers" presented by Professor Alexis Castor, Franklin and Marshall College.  The name of the course refers to the Tigris and Euphrates rivers and covers over 3,000 years of history in the region of modern day Iraq.  One of the last lectures focused on the Parthians, originally a nomadic people from modern day Iran, that challenged the Seleucids, Alexander the Great's successors, in the region beginning in the 3rd century BCE.  The Parthians wrested control of the Silk Road from the Seleucids and finally captured their capital, Seleucia-on-the-Tigris, in 129 BCE.  The Parthians built their own capital nearby at Ctesiphon. Although those of us who study Roman history are well aware of the dramatic Roman defeat of the legions led by Marcus Licinius Crassus at Carrhae, and the famous Parthian archers with their Parthian shot, I was not as familiar with their administration or that their coins featured...