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Squat Alabastron Jar
A squat alabastron, c. 1400-1375 BCE from Ialysus, Rhodes. These flat jars first appeared in the Minoan civilization on Crete and were used for storing creams and unctions. This three handled example is typically decorated with stylised rocks...

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Reconstructions of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World
This collection features reconstructions of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World; from the Hanging Gardens of Babylon to the Colossus of Rhodes. Out of the Seven Wonders, only one is still standing today - albeit in a damaged state - the...

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Changing Worlds: Climate & Disaster in Antiquity
Although climate change has today become a much bigger and more globalized problem than in the past, ancient peoples did have to contend with local events that severely disrupted or even ended their way of life as they knew it. A long series...

Definition
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Sultanate (1299-1922 as an empire; 1922-1924 as caliphate only), also referred to as the Ottoman Empire, written in Turkish as Osmanlı Devleti, was a Turkic imperial state that was conceived by and named after Osman (l. 1258-1326...

Definition
Library of Alexandria
The Library of Alexandria was established under the Ptolemaic Dynasty of Egypt (323-30 BCE) and flourished under the patronage of the early kings to become the most famous library of the ancient world, attracting scholars from around the...

Definition
Medea
Medea is an enchantress and the daughter of King Aeëtes of Colchis (a city on the coast of the Black Sea). In Greek mythology, she is best known for her relationship with the Greek hero Jason, which is famously told in Greek tragedy playwright...

Definition
Artemisia I of Caria
Artemisia I of Caria (l. 480 BCE) was the queen of the Anatolian region of Caria (south of ancient Lydia, in modern-day Turkey). She is most famous for her role in the naval Battle of Salamis in 480 BCE in which she fought for the Persians...

Definition
Livia Drusilla
Livia Drusilla (58 BCE - 29 CE) was the third wife of emperor Augustus of Rome, mother of emperor Tiberius, and grandmother of emperor Claudius. She was one of the great women in history who achieved prominence living in the shadow of a strong...

Definition
Cadmus
Cadmus is a Phoenician-born prince and the founder and king of Thebes in Boeotia in Greek mythology. He travelled to Greece from his home in Tyre in search of his sister Europa who had been kidnapped by Zeus. His rescue mission was abandoned...

Definition
Attalid Dynasty
The Attalid Dynasty ruled an empire from their capital at Pergamon during the 3rd and 2nd centuries BCE. Fighting for their place in the turbulent world following the death of Alexander the Great, the Attalids briefly flourished with Pergamon...