Ancient art: Did you mean...?

The ancient Egyptians had a great appreciation for life which is clearly depicted through their art. Images of people enjoying themselves - whether in this life or the next - are as plentiful as those most often seen of the gods or funerary...

A superb collection of Persian-Iranian Art from a brief visit to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City, USA. Including some Sumerian pieces.

The pottery of the ancient Celts, although produced over great distances in space and time, shares several common features no matter where it was made, illustrating that there was contact between people living as far apart as Brittany and...

The sculpture of ancient Greece from 800 to 300 BCE took inspiration from Egyptian and Near Eastern monumental art, and evolved into a uniquely Greek vision of the art form. Greek artists captured the human form in a way never before seen...

Maxwell Hearn, the new head of Asian Art at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, demonstrates the art of understanding and appreciating Chinese scroll paintings, among other ancient Chinese art, and how those pieces are significant in connecting...

Nara, located around 30 km south of modern Kyoto, was the capital of ancient Japan between 710 and 784 CE. It gave its name to the Nara Period (710-794 CE), although the name during the 8th century CE was Heijokyo. Modelled on the Chinese...

Although marriages in ancient Egypt were arranged for communal stability and personal advancement, there is evidence that romantic love was as important to the people as it is to those in today. Romantic love was a popular theme for poetry...

War was the chief means by which territory was annexed or rulers defeated in ancient India, which was divided into multiple kingdoms, republics and empires. Often one empire predominated or different empires co-existed. The Vedic literature...

IAN JENKINS, PH.D. SENIOR CURATOR, DEPARTMENT OF GREECE AND ROME, BRITISH MUSEUM Jenkins explores Greek notions of ideal beauty in both nude and draped images of the male and female human bodies. He contrasts the moral aesthetic of sound...

Lying at the crossroads of the eastern Mediterranean, the island of Cyprus has long been a meeting point for many of the world's great civilizations. Situated where Europe, Asia and Africa meet, its location shaped its history of bringing...