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Egyptian

Game of Hounds and Jackals

Middle Kingdom, ca. 1814-1805 B.C.E.

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Cameo glass cup fragment, possibly from Alexandria, Egypt, 100 BC - 100 AD

from The Al Thani Collection

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Anglo-Saxon glass drinking-horn, VII c. Excavated in Rainham, London

Drinking horns are attested from Viking Age Scandinavia. In the Prose Edda, Thor drank from a horn that unbeknown to him contained all the seas. They also feature in Beowulf, and fittings for drinking horns were also found at the Sutton Hoo burial site. Carved horns are mentioned in Guðrúnarkviða II, a poem composed about 1000 AD and preserved in the Poetic Edda:

On the horn’s face were there All the kin of letters Cut aright and reddened, How should I rede them rightly? The ling-fish long Of the land of Hadding, Wheat-ears unshorn, And wild things inwards.

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Carnelian frog amulet, Egypt, 18th Dynasty, 1540-1296 BC

from The Cleveland Museum of Art

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Bronze spearhead, Iran, 2000-1000 BC

from The National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian

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Gold swivel ring with carnelian scarab intaglio depicting Pegasus, Bellerophon, and a chimera, Etruscan, circa 400 BC

from The Michael C. Carlos Museum, Emory University

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Aphrodite

Figurine of Aphrodite, East Greek, Hellenistic Period, late 3rd century BC, terrcotta, 23.2 cm

Museum of Fine Arts Boston Inv. 97.356

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Silver plate, Eastern Roman Empire, 4th century AD

from The Museum of Art and History Geneva

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Blue Faience Hedgehog

Hedgehogs had a favourable reputation in ancient Egypt, and were often seen as a symbol of rebirth and renewal of life. This was likely due to their reappearances after long periods of absence while hibernating.

Middle Kingdom, 12th Dynasty, ca. 1900 BC. From Thebes. Now in the Ägyptisches Museum, Berlin. 10250

Photo: Sandra Steiß

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~ Wesekh broadcollar, Wrist Ornaments and Counterpoise. Culture: Egyptian Period: Old Kingdom, Dynasty 5 Date: 2465–2323 B.C. Place of origin: Giza, Egypt

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The apse at Vila San Marco, Castellammare di Stabia.

I had always heard about the Roman fondness for apsidal rooms - this is the only example I have seen in real life. 

The bottom picture shows the window of the apse on the right; this is the ‘courtyard’ it looks out onto - though this was surely only a lightwell, not a functional space. The windows on the left are a long hallway.

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Aphrodite

Mirror with case incised inside the cover with Aphrodite playing knucklebones with Pan, Classical Greek, ca. 380/370 BC, bronze, 18.40 cm

British Museum, Inv. 1888,1213.1

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Bronze figurine of a boar, Byzantine, 6th century AD

from The Harvard Art Museums

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Garnet intaglio depicting Hermaphroditos, Ptolemaic Egypt, 2nd century BC

from The Michael C. Carlos Museum, Emory University

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Silver plate with depiction of Eros riding a sea monster, Byzantine Egypt, 7th century AD

from The Benaki Museum, Athens

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Silver roundel with the head of Medusa, Roman, 150-235 AD

from The J. Paul Getty Museum

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Gold wreath, Etruscan, 4th-3rd century BC

from The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts