Antiquities Exhibits

National Archaeological Museum of Tirana, Albania National Archaeological Museum of Tirana, Albania, opened in 1948, houses more than 2,000 items. These objects include artifacts from the Stone Age (100,000 to 2000 BCE, the Bronze Age and Iron Age from 2000 to 800 BCE, the beginnings of the Illyrian civilization from ca. 1000 BCE, the Illyrian Antiquity Period from 1000 BCE to 100 CE, the Roman and Byzantine civilization in Alban ia from 100 to 600 CE and the Albanian Middle Ages through Ottoman rule from 600 CE until Independence in 1912. Art on display includes sculpture, funerary monuments, ceramics, tools, weapons, and ancient jewelry. Image: Artemis Hekate 3rd century BCE from Apollonia courtesy of Wikimedia Commons contributor Fanny Schertzer

Giovanni Barracco Ancient Sculpture Museum in Rome, Italy What was once known as the Ancient Sculpture Museum and is now known as the Museo Barracco, houses a collection of ancient Egyptian, Near Eastern, Etruscan, Cypriot, Phoenician, Hellenistic, Italic and Roman art once owned by Giovanni Barracco, quaestor of the Senate of the Kingdom who donated them to the city of Rome in 1904.  The first two rooms are dedicated to Egyptian and Near Eastern art.  Highlights include a female sphinx attributed to Queen Hatshepsut, a black granite portrait of Ramses II, and a diorite figure of a bearded priest that Barracco believed to represent Julius Caesar, dated to the third century CE.  There is also a large basalt hourglass attributed to Ptolemy Philadelphus found in fragments at the Campense Serapeum in Rome.  Near eastern art consists primarily of a variety of reliefs from the Assurbanipal's palace in Nineveh depicting Assyrian archers, Elamite warriors, and grooms and ...

Artifacts recovered from a Roman imperial era transport vessel at The Ancient Delta Museum of Comacchio, Italy.  Artifacts recovered from a Roman imperial era transport vessel at The Ancient Delta Museum of Comacchio, Italy.The Ancient Delta Museum of Comacchio, Italy is an archaeological museum housing over 2,000 finds from the Po Delta and the necropolis of an ancient Etruscan port near the modern village of Spina containing 4,000 tombs, as well as the remains of a Roman imperial era commercial transport vessel previously displayed in the Museum of the Roman Ship in Bellini Palace. The entire cargo of the vessel as well as equipment and clothing of the crew are displayed.  The museum also has a medieval gallery featuring objects related to the sale of the salt and the manufacture of objects in glass and metal. Image: Lead temple votive offerings were part of the cargo of the imperial era Roman vessel dubbed the Stella Maris.  Image courtesy of Trip Advisor visit...

Artifacts from ancient civilization at The Allard Pierson Museum in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. The Allard Pierson Museum is the archaeological museum of the University of Amsterdam. Artifacts from the ancient civilizations of ancient Egypt, the Near East, the Greek World, Etruria, and the Roman Empire are curated and exhibited in this museum. The collections include art objects and utensils dating from 4000 BCE to 500 CE. Ther e are also scale models of ancient temples and buildings. In the Ancient Egypt exhibition there is a room dedicated to death, with mummies, sarcophagi, and a film showing the process of mummification. The plaster-cast attic, to be visited only with a guided tour, shows copies of Roman and Greek statues. A collection of Roman sarcophagi is also on display, including a rare wooden anthropomorphic coffin from around 150 CE. Image: Pottery depicting girls playing from Corinth, circa 300 BCE. Courtesy of the Wikimedia Commons contributor 23 dingen voor m...

Ancient Syrian, Greek, and Roman art at the National Museum of Damascus in Damascus, Syria. This museum's unique displays include the restorations of the Dura Europos Synagogue from the 3rd century CE, the hypogeum of Yarhai from Palmyra, dating to 108 CE, and the façade and frescoes of Qasr Al-Heer Al-Gharbi, 80 km south of Palmyra, which dates back to the 8th century CE. Artifacts include a tablet containing the world's first  alphabet from Ugarit, sculptures, marble and stone sarcophagi, funerary monuments and reliefs, mosaics, jewelry and coinage from the Seleucid, Roman and Byzantine periods. Image: Hypogeum of Yarhai from Palmyra, 2nd century CE, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons contributor Arian Zwegers.

"The Road to Rome" is a documentary narrated by Sir Ian McKellen that follows the journey of three historical fiction authors (L to R),   Anthony Riches ,  Ben Kane,  and Russell Whitfield, as they walk from Naples to Rome dressed as Roman soldiers to raise money for charity. HistoryHit, a subscription streaming service, is available on Apple TV, Apple App Store for iPhone and iPad, Google Play Store for Android devices and Amazon Fire TV.

Troy: Myth and Reality November 21, 2019 - March 8, 2020 at the British Museum in London.  The legend of Troy has endured for more than 3,000 years. The story of a great city, plunged into a 10-year war over the abduction of the most beautiful woman in the world, is irresistibly dramatic and tragic. This allure has sent adventurers and archaeologists in quest of the lost city, which is now widely believed to have existed.  But what of the heroes and the heartbroken, the women and the wanderers, who are said to have a played a part in the Trojan War? Why have they inspired so many retellings, from Homer to Shakespeare and Hollywood? Get closer to these captivating characters as you explore the breath-taking art that brings them to life, from dramatic ancient sculptures and exquisite vase paintings to powerful contemporary works. Image: The Wounded Achilles by Filippo Albacini, 1825. Image courtesy of the British Museum.