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...

This block originally formed part of a screen wall that connected the four front columns and the sidewalls of the temple of Harendotes ("Horus the Avenger") on the island of Philae. The relief represents the "Baptism of Pharaoh," a purification ritual that was part of Egyptian coronation ceremonies. The gods Horus (not preserved) and the ibis-headed Thoth, god of wisdom, pours water, represented by streams of the hieroglyphs ankh (life) and was (dominion), over the head of the king. The pharaoh whose head is partially preserved is a Claudian emperor, most probably either Claudius or Nero as defined in the strip of hieroglyphs along the top of the relief. As Pharaoh of Egypt, Nero adopted the royal titulary Autokrator Neron Heqaheqau Meryasetptah Tjemaahuikhasut Wernakhtubaqet Heqaheqau Setepennenu Merur ('Emperor Nero, Ruler of rulers, chosen by Ptah, beloved of Isis, the sturdy-armed one who struck the foreign lands, victorious for Egypt, ruler of rulers, chose...

Those of us who study the ancient world are familiar with Athena's owl and its association with wisdom and vigilance but even in the ancient world owls were not always viewed in such a positive light.  Pliny the Elder tells us Rome had to undergo a lustration, a purification of the entire city normally performed at the conclusion of the taking of the census every five years, because an owl found its way into the Capitolia. Pliny describes the owl as a funereal bird, a monster of the night and the very abomination of human kind.  Virgil describes an owl's death-howl as a precursor to Dido's death and Ovid speaks of the bird's presence as an evil omen. Surprisingly, the same viewpoint was held by the Aztecs and Maya who considered the owl a symbol of death and destruction.  The Aztec god of death, Mictlantecuhtli, was often depicted with owls.  The Popol Vuh, a Mayan religious text, describes owls as messengers of Xibalba (the Mayan "Place of Fright").  Later...

The most reliable testimonial of character which a man can have is his past career. Hyperides. In Defense of Lycopbron. Speech 1. Section 14. Image: The Continence of Scipio by Lazzaro Baldi at the Palazzo Dei Musei (Modena) courtesy of Wikimedia Commons contributor Sailko.

Closing soon! Gods of Egypt through March 31, 2019 at the Rijksmuseum van Oudheden in Leiden, Netherlands. The exhibition Gods of Egypt brings together more than five hundred objects from domestic and foreign museums: impressive statues of gods and goddesses, magical papyri, golden jewelry and colorfully painted mummy boxes. The exhibit focuses on the function of the temples in the country, the numerous rituals with which the  gods were worshiped, and the journey to the underworld. It then concludes with an examination of the Greek and Roman conquerors of Egypt who brought the Egyptian gods back to their own cultures. Votive image of Thoth, god of wisdom and writing, depicted as a mantle baboon. Faience with silver muzzle and sickle, and gold sun disc. Ptolemaic Period 332-30 BCE.  Image courtesy of the Rijksmuseum van Oudheden.