Antiquities Exhibits

The ancient city of Argos was inhabited as far back as 7,000 years ago.   Argos experienced its greatest period of expansion and power, though, under the energetic 7th century BCE ruler, King Pheidon.  Pheidon was said to have been a descendant of Heracles through Temenus. Pheidon seized the throne from the reigning aristocracy with the support of the lower classes.  He was a vigorous and energetic ruler and greatly increased the power of Argos. Under Pheidon, Argos regained sway over the cities of the Argolid and challenged Sparta’s dominance of the Peloponnese. Spartan dominance is thought to have been interrupted following the Battle of Hyssiae in 669-668 BCE, in which Argive troops defeated the Spartans in a hoplite battle. The Argive army was already equipped at the time with a deeply dished wooden shield called the aspis which is thought to have given the Argives an advantage over the Spartans.  The revolutionary part of the shield was, in fact, the grip. ...

Cultural heritage of Urartu. Ongoing. At the History Museum of Armenia In Yerevan, Armenia. The museum's Urartian collection includes cuneiform inscriptions, bronze statuettes, wall-paintings, painted ceramics, arms, and weapons with sculptural ornamentation, excavated from the archaeological sites of Karmir Blur, Arin-Berd, and Argishtikhinili. The museum also houses a large collection of 3rd to 2nd millennia BCE bronze item s, wooden carts and chariots from the 15th-14th century BCE excavated from Lchashen, a collection of Miletian, Greek-Macedonian, Seleucid, Parthian, Roman, Sasanid, Byzantine, Arabic, and Seljuk gold, silver, and copper coins and 4th-5th century CE Christian finds from the cities of Dvin, Ani, and the fortress of Amberd. Urartian Shield of Sarduri II 753-735 BCE. Image courtesy of Wikimedia contributor Evgeny Genkin.