Artifacts

Early Chalcolithic Period

This bowl is handmade with painted decoration in red that has been applied to a pale brown slip and then burnished.

Nineteenth-Twentieth Dynasties, 1307-1070 BCE

During the process of mummification, the soft internal organs of the deceased were removed, individually preserved and placed into separate vessels termed canopic jars.

Iron Age, 700-400 BCE

The rhyton in the form of a bull’s head is an example of the type of "trick" vessels popular in Anatolia.

Iron Age II, 900-600 BCE

This anthropomorphic vessel depicts a person holding a spouted libation vessel and was itself used for libations.

Neo-Hittite Culture, 950-750 BCE

This stela depicts a man and a woman, probably husband and wife, sitting opposite each other with a table between them.

First Temple Period, 705-701 BCE

Seen here is a jar handle stamped with a royal seal bearing an inscription in the Hebrew language.

Neo-Assyrian, ca. 800-700 BCE

The relief depicts an enthroned king holding a cup and receiving tribute from two couriers. Behind the king stands his attendant.

Neo-Assyrian, 800-700 BCE

This architectural plaque is painted on a baked clay surface.

Third Intermediate to Ptolemaic, 712-30 BCE

The ancient Egyptians equated the bull’s virility with the creative powers of the god Ptah of Memphis.

71 CE

Portrait of Vespasian.

Roman, Ca. 40-70 CE

This shroud covered the mummified body of the woman depicted in the portrait.

ca. 3300-3100 BCE

These recumbent animals are carved in high relief. There are subtle differentiations between the two animals.

Sassanian Empire, 300-600 CE

The Sassanians were excellent silversmiths and goldsmiths, who displayed their imaginative powers to the full in iconography and decoration.

ca. 725-675 BCE

This seal depicting a woman holding a smaller figure.

Achaemenid Period, 486 BCE.

This jar bears a unique quadralingual inscription of Darius I. The three cuneiform inscriptions in Akkadian, Elamite and Old Persian languages read: "Darius [great] king".

Early Bronze Age III

This image of a bull formed a finial of a ritual standard.

Early Dynastic II-IIIA Period , Ca. 2700-2500 BCE

Worshippers such as this one stand in perpetual reverence and supplication to a god.

Ca. 2800-2400 B.C.E. Late Sixth Dynasty

This vase, slightly carinated at shoulder level, has a rounded, almost hemispherical lower body, a short narrow neck, and a flared rim.

Old Babylonian or Old Elamite Periods , 2000-1750 BCE

This head has a hollow channel inside, indicating that it was modeled on a stick or temporary stand.

Middle Bronze Age I-II, 2000-1550 BCE

Of the wide range of possible functions and meanings for these miniature human representations, one might have been as an icon in household worship.

ca. 450 BCE

This splendid vase fragment represents a Lydan of the mid-fifth century BCE wearing huge earrings and with rouged cheeks.

Nineteenth Dynasty, 1290-1224 BCE

This life-size statue is identified as that of Ramesses II by his name and titulary on the two sides of the throne.