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Dido, Queen of Carthage

@didoofcarthage / didoofcarthage.tumblr.com

Art, History, Literature, and the Ancient World 

Amulet of a winged goddess Nubian Napatan Period, reign of Piankhy (Piye) 743–712 B.C.

Amulets like this one were found in the burials of early Napatan queens.

MFA Boston

Franks Casket, c700-800 AD
Anglo-saxon box made of whale’s bone. Franks coffin or casket measures 12.9 x 22.9 x 19.1 cm and is dated to ca. 700 AD. It is known that it was in a church in Haute Loire in the 1800s, when it was owned by the  Auzon family, and later was split into several parts, but at last all the parts were gathered together and is now in British Museum. The coffin is a great piece of work, and richly decorated with both Christians and motives related to pagan beliefs. There are eleven inscriptions, beautifully carved on the five sides of the casket. They are all runic texts, with the exception of three words that are skrevt with Latin letters respectively Latin and Old English language. It is also used secret runes, in that consonants in the inscription are written in plain form, while vowels are replaced with arbitrary shapes.
Viking penannular brooch with animal-headed end knobs, Borre Style
Bronze, silver
Medebys, Ekeby, Gotland, Sweden
The brooch is decorated with several animal heads in Borre Style depicted en-face. The end-knobs are shaped as heads of beasts grinning and showing their teeth
Pennanular brooch, Borre Style
Bronze, silver, gold
Austris, Tingstäde, Gotland, Sweden
In the centre of the brooch an animal head is depicted. The end-knobs are shaped as animal heads