ANCIENT ART

“O ye gods of the West, O ye gods of the East, O ye gods of the South, O ye gods of the North, ye four groups who embrace the holy lands, devote ye yourselves to Osiris when he appeareth in heaven. 

He shall sail into the Sky, with his son Horus by his fingers. He shall announce him, he shall make him rise up like the Great God in the Sky. They shall cry out concerning Unas: Behold Horus, the son of Osiris! Behold Unas, the firstborn son of Hathor! Behold the seed of Keb! Osiris hath commanded that Unas shall rise as a second Horus, and these Four Spirit-souls in Anu have written an edict to the two great gods in the Sky.”

-Section from the pyramid texts of Egyptian king Unas, dated to the 24th century BC. Budge translation, via Project Gutenberg.

Shown is a painting of Osiris at the Tomb of Sennedjem Deir el-Medina, TT1. Photo taken by kairoinfo4u (cropped).

Two eagles devour human hearts, depicted below two jaguars. Carvings from the Toltec archaeological site of Tula, Hidalgo, Mexico.

Photo taken by HJPD.

Paintings from the Ajanta Caves, India, dating from about the 2nd century BC to the 6th century AD. The works these caves contain are considered to be masterpieces of Buddhist religious art.

Photos courtesy of Tushar Dayal.

Model of a ball court. From Nayarit, Mexico, and dated to 200 BCE - 500 CE.

Courtesy of the LACMA, via their online collections: M.86.296.34.

Examples of Roman Samian ware (Terra Sigillata).

‘Samian ware’ is a type of mould-made pottery, and was the standard fine table ware of the Roman world during the early empire.

The 2nd image is a close up of the 1st bowl shown. Depicting hunting scenes, this piece of pottery was found in Kingsmead Quarry (Horton, England), and dates to about 120-145 CE. The mounded decoration in the 3rd image comes from a bowl found during excavations at the former County Hospital, Dorchester, Dorset (England). Next is a 1st century bowl found nearby at Greyhound Yard, and can now be viewed at the Dorset County Museum.

A Samian pottery stamp can be seen in the last image. It reads C.ATVLLVS with the ‘s’ reversed. As Wessex Archaeology note: “this is thought to relate to Catullus VI, a potter working in Trier, Western Germany during the second and third centuries AD. This is the inscription from one of two identical pieces of Samian ware discovered by the crew of the Arco Beck.”

All artefacts courtesy of Wessex Archaeology, via their Flickr page: 1, 2, 3, 4 & 5.

Raised and painted relief from the ceiling of the Hathor Temple at Dendera. Egypt, Graeco-Roman period, 2nd/1st century BCE - 2nd century CE.

Photos courtesy of & taken by Laura H. Knight (first, second). 

A few pieces from prehistoric Japan.

Japan is “a world apart – a cultural Galápagos where a unique civilisation blossomed”, to quote the Lonely Planet. The early history of this unique country is significant for so many reasons. It has a particularly rich, and long, historical record, and the value of its cultural achievements continues to endure. 

It is clear that modern humans have inhabited this archipelago for 30,000 years (in the very least), during what is termed the ‘Late Palaeolithic’. The subsequent ‘Jōmon period’ constitutes Japan’s Neolithic period (about 10,000 BC - 400 BCE). The period is named after the characteristic patterns made with twisted cords on the period’s pottery (Jōmon meaning ‘cord pattern’, refer to photo 2). Given the huge temporal expanse and regional variability of this period, generalisations are obviously difficult. Despite this, the Jōmon culture is perhaps best conceived of as “a large loosely integrated cultural complex” (as noted by Richard Pearson). The onset of this period was gradual. People seem to have hunted wild animals, eaten seafood, and had a developing awareness of agriculture. By around 5,000 BCE, people appeared to have generally settled in stable communities, living mostly in pit dwellings with roofs of thatch or earth and wood. 

Shown in this post are a few examples of archaeological objects from this famous period of Japan’s history. The heads of clay figures shown in photos 1 and 4 date to the Late Jōmon period (ca. 1500–1000 BCE). The vessel shown in the 2nd image is the oldest artefact here, dating to the Middle Jōmon period (ca. 3500–2500 BCE), while the 3rd image, showing a Dogū figurine, is the youngest (Final Jōmon period, ca. 1000–300 BCE).

Shown artefacts are courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Via their online collections: 1975.268.189, 1975.268.183, 1975.268.191 & 1975.268.190.

A handled jar with boots. 

Black burnished ware, northern Iran, ca. 1350-800 BC.

Courtesy of & can be viewed at the LACMA, via their online collections: M.76.174.179.

An item from the cult of Sabazius

Hand of Sabazius, Roman, 3rd century, made of bronze.

Courtesy of the Walters Art Museum, Baltimore, USA. Via their online collections: 54.2453.

The Maya ‘Wall of Skulls’ (Tzompantli) at Chichén Itzá, Yucatan, Mexico.

Tzompantli means “skull racks” in Nahuatl, and were described by the horrified Spanish conquistadors. This Mesoamerican architectural form is usually found in central Mexico during the Postclassic Period, where they were often made of the real skulls of sacrificed people. Low platforms with carved friezes depicting such skulls are found at some Maya sites in association with ball courts. The shown frieze from Chichén Itzá is one such example of this.

The first photo is courtesy of Tim Dawson, and the second, Paul Simpson.

Remains of the Temple of Apollo at Syracuse, Sicily.

This Greek temple dates to about 590-580 BC, and is the oldest surviving Doric temple in Sicily. It belongs to the Greek temple’s so-called moment of “petrification”, where, at least up to the roof line, stone replaced wood in its construction. The columns are fairly squat, and tightly packed together.

There is an inscription on the stylobate of the east facade. We are unfortunately missing some text from the part of the inscription that informs us as to who built the temple. Kleomenes is deemed the most likely reconstruction, who was evidently rather proud of the columns:

“Kleo[men]es, the son of Knidieidies, built it for Apollo; and he built the columns, beautiful things”.

Photos courtesy of Davide Simonetti.

Ouch?

This unusual Egyptian limestone relief dates to the Amarna period, about 1352-1336 BC. While it may appear as though the herdsman is getting his hand bitten off, he is probably force-feeding the cow, or aiding it in digesting its food.

Courtesy of & can be viewed at the Brooklyn Museum. Via their online collections: 60.197.4.