Category: Late Antiquity

With the world distracted, Turkey’s government cancels Byzantine history

Hagia Sophia, Byzantium, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine Architecture

The term “cancel culture” has been widely used in recent years to refer to efforts by both the political left and right to aggressively annul closely held cultural beliefs and even individual personalities by one side or the other. With governments worldwide struggling to contain the Covid-19 pandemic, Turkey’s Islamist government implemented cancel culture on… Read More With the world distracted, Turkey’s government cancels Byzantine history

Christof Maupin / Past Present Arts

Many Antiquities Related Book Titles Added to Our Amazon Shop

antiquities, ancient art, artifacts

We’ve recently added many new book titles to our Amazon shop — some also available in our Etsy and eBay shops — with the holidays in mind. These range from out of print, hard to find object catalogs and excavation reports to popular and coffee table works, all dealing directly with antiquities, ancient art and… Read More Many Antiquities Related Book Titles Added to Our Amazon Shop

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Images from “Illumination” exhibit on ancient oil lamps at UNC Wilmington

I attended a lovely reception last night (April 20) at the University of North Carolina Wilmington’s Randall Library for the opening of “Illumination,” a one month show focusing on research conducted by UNCW Art History students, under the guidance of Professor Nick Hudson, on a group of 100 ancient oil lamps and pottery vessels from… Read More Images from “Illumination” exhibit on ancient oil lamps at UNC Wilmington

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This Week’s Featured Antiquity: A Roman Holy Land Pottery Oil Lamp

Our object of the week is an unusual type of pottery oil lamp dating from the later years of the Roman Empire, not long before the full transition of the Empire’s eastern half to what we now call the Byzantine Empire. This general type of pottery lamp seems to have been manufactured at workshops in… Read More This Week’s Featured Antiquity: A Roman Holy Land Pottery Oil Lamp

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Clio Ancient Art Facilitates Major Gifts of Antiquities to Three Universities and Colleges

As 2016 nears it’s end, we are proud to share with you that Clio Ancient Art facilitated gifts of ancient pottery oil lamps and vessels from one of our clients to 3 colleges and universities: * University of Missouri at Kansas City Department of Classical Studies * University of North Carolina at Wilmington Department of… Read More Clio Ancient Art Facilitates Major Gifts of Antiquities to Three Universities and Colleges

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Distant Connections: Contact and Object Exchange Between Mediterranean and Far East Asian Civilizations in the First Few Centuries CE

Roman Glass, Korea, Roman Asian Trade, Roman artifacts, ancient glass

Two news items appeared in the popular press during the second half of September, 2016 that addressed recent discoveries of possible East Asian migrants in a Roman period cemetery in London and Late Roman coins found in excavations of a Medieval castle on the Japanese island of Okinawa. While some aspects of the initial excavation… Read More Distant Connections: Contact and Object Exchange Between Mediterranean and Far East Asian Civilizations in the First Few Centuries CE

Christof Maupin / Past Present Arts2 Comments

This Week’s Featured Item: A Small Coin with a Big Story

Clio Ancient Art Antiquities, Roman coins

This week’s featured object is a small bronze coin of the Roman Emperor Constantius II. That may not be a name that jumps out from the pages of history the way Roman Emperors like Augustus, Nero or Hadrian do but in his own way Constantius II was a remarkable ruler. Born in what is now… Read More This Week’s Featured Item: A Small Coin with a Big Story

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Object of the Week: A Superb Roman Bronze Brooch

One group of artifacts making up a large proportion of small bronze objects available on the legitimate antiquities market is the fibula or brooch —  an ornate pin, usually made of copper alloy but sometimes of precious metals or even iron, used to fasten and decorate clothing. Prior to the use of buttons becoming common… Read More Object of the Week: A Superb Roman Bronze Brooch

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Staffordshire Hoard Conservation Programme Completed

A new post on the Staffordshire Hoard website has announced completion of the cleaning and conservation project. With many tiny fragments emerging from the soil during this process, the total number of pieces is now about 4,000. Several pieces have been reconstructed from these fragments, with surprising results. The research phase is continuing and a… Read More Staffordshire Hoard Conservation Programme Completed

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