The Antiquarians Archive

my personally curated archive for art, jewellery, history, artifacts and anything else i find fascinating

[theantiquariansarchive]

Minoan Duck-shaped Vessel

This object, found in Mycenae's Grave Circle B, was most likely used to store cosmetic cream.

The object has a handle in the shape of a ducks head on one end, and a spout on the other.

The details of the duck's head are remarkably anatomically accurate.

made out of a single piece of rock crystal, minoan or mycenaean, Mycenae, Grave Circle B, Grave O, 16th cent. BC.

[theantiquariansarchive]

hi, i’m writing a romance book set in ancient rome, i’m trying to do as much research as possible, but ancient history is not my specialty, and i was wondering if you could help me with this: the main character is a rich, roman woman of high standing, i’m trying to figure out the naming system in ancient rome, and what an appropriate name would be for a woman of her standing etc, i read that roman women could have three names, is that true? anyway, thank you for any help you can give me!!

This is a complicated question, naming styles in Ancient Rome, especially for women differ depending on the period, and a few other factors...

In Ancient Rome, the naming conventions for women were a bit different to that of men’s, normally simpler.

In earlier periods, like the Republic, men usually had a tria nomina (praenom + nomen + cognomen), while women usually just had a nomen, which is the feminine form of a woman’s family name.

For example, if your character’s father is from the Cornelius family, he might be called Gaius (personal name) Cornelius (family name) Tacitus (family branch name)….

your character then, would most likely be called Cornelia.

And if Cornelia had sisters, they would most likely also be called Cornelia, which would cause confusion, so usually one would be Cornelia Major and the other Cornelia Minor or if there were three, one would be Cornelia Prima and one Cornelia Secunda and the last Cornelia Tertia… You get the picture.

If your book is set in Later Periods, such as the Late Republic, or Early Empire Cornelia could have a cognomen to indicate her family branch. So, then, following this example she would be called: Cornelia Tacita - the feminine form of the family name).

This would’ve been more common in wealthy or high-status families in this period.

By the Imperial Period, high-status women could have two cognomina, in addition to their nomen, usually showing their paternal and maternal lineages. This was usually to signify impressive connections and standings on both sides of family, also to distinguish from other high status women called Cornelia..

Once again, following my example, if Cornelia Tacita’s mother, Aemilia Crassa was from a very high-status senatorial family, her daughter might be called Cornelia Tacita Crassa, to signify both sides of her families lineage and connections.

I’m sure I’m missing some info about naming conventions in Ancient Rome, because it’s a very complicated topic… there are exceptions to these conventions, like Lucilla, Marcus Aurelius’s daughter who had four names including a personal cognomen. But she was an exceptional circumstance.

Suffice to say, this is a fairly short response to a very long and complicated question, if you have any other, more specific questions about Ancient Rome, or your book I’d be happy to answer :)

Good luck writing!!

[ancientcharm]

Colourful paint pigments preserved in their original pots.

Antiquarium of Pompeii 

[theantiquariansarchive]

Four Cornered Hat, Tiwanaku Culture, Bolivia, 7-9th Century

Brightly coloured hats - usually featuring four corners, and four pointed tips - are particularly associated with two ancient cultures of the Andes: The Wari and the Tiwanaku.

These hats were made from camelid fibres, carefully and expertly prepared into yarns, and then dyed. They were usually decorated with geometric patterns (as seen above) or with stylised images representing plants or zoomorphic forms.

These hats were highly believed by archaeologists and scholars to have been worn by high-ranking men as symbols of power or status- due to figures adorning four-cornered-hats being frequently depicted on ceramics worn alongside other elite clothing and regalia such as, elaborate textiles or beaded collars.

[shewhoworshipscarlin]

Textile fragment, 500s-800s, Byzantine Empire, Syria.

[romegreeceart]

Roman footprint

* Baths of Diocletian Museums

Rome, July 2015

[theantiquariansarchive]

a bone figure of a standing woman, with lapis lazuli inlays in her eyes.

originating in egypt, from the Amratian culture, in the Naqada I period - roughly between 3,900 and 3,700.

The figure is currently on display at the British Museum.

[mosertone]

An example of an erotic scenario that was found among items in a tomb. This piece is now in the Museum of Egyptian Antiquities, Cairo, Egypt

In a text to the glorification of Osiris, written in the [26th] dynasty, it is said: 'I am thy sister Isis. There is no other god or goddess who has done what I have done. I have played the part of a man though I am a woman, in order to make thy name live on earth, since thy divine seed was in my body'.

via Jenny Mendes Ceramics on facecrack

[theancientwayoflife]

~ Statue of a Kore. Provenance: Acropolis Museum (Athens, Αcr. 670) Date: 520–510 B.C. Medium: Marble

[theantiquariansarchive]

Bowls of the ancient world

1. bowl, egypt 200-150 b.c 2. bowl depicting man holding cup and flowering branch, iraq, 10th century 3. bowl with fish motif, Peru, Paracas culture, 650-100 BCE 4. bowl with eagle, Egypt, ca. 1000 5. bowl, egypt, ca. 1295-1185B.C 6. gold libation bowl, greece, 4th-3rd century BCE 7. glass bowl, roman, 1st century AD 8. bowl, Peru, Paracas culture, 5th-4th century BCE 9. blue marsh bowl, egypt, ca. 1550-1458

[uncleclaudius]

Snakes in various ancient Roman frescoes and mosaics.

[theantiquariansarchive]

Ancient egyptian jewellery faience amulets

1. butterfly amulet 1981 - 1640 b.c 2. hare amulet 664–30 b.c 3. aegis or bastet amulet 664–30 b.c 4. shu amulet 664–30 b.c 5. djed pillar amulet 664-30 b.c 6. bes-image amulet 7. isis amulet 332–30 b.c 8. duck amulet 1295-1186 bce 9. isis, horus and nepthys amulet 664-30 b.c

[theantiquariansarchive]

Ancient egyptian jewellery faience amulets

1. butterfly amulet 1981 - 1640 b.c 2. hare amulet 664–30 b.c 3. aegis or bastet amulet 664–30 b.c 4. shu amulet 664–30 b.c 5. djed pillar amulet 664-30 b.c 6. bes-image amulet 7. isis amulet 332–30 b.c 8. duck amulet 1295-1186 bce 9. isis, horus and nepthys amulet 664-30 b.c

[theantiquariansarchive]

Roman-Christian vandalism of Greek & Roman statues

in early 4th century AD, with emperor constantine's conversion to christianity, and the edict of milan (which gave freedom of religion to roman citizens, and legalised christianity) christianity had begun to overtake rome. under Constantine’s reign the suppression of paganism began, pagan places of worship lost funding, some were repurposed for christian use and some were destroyed. Constantine and his successors authorised and encouraged the burning of pagan books and the destruction and defacement of pagan temples, statues, sacred sites, art works, and anything else they believed was ‘challenging christianity’. By the late 4th century christianity had overtaken Rome, and polytheistic religion was a thing of the past.

1. defaced statue of unknown goddess, 2nd - 1st century BC, Archaeological Museum of Samos 2. bust of roman general, Germanicus, 14-20 CE, the British Museum 3. head of Aphrodite, 1st century AD, National Archaeological Museum of Athens 4. bust of Emperor Augustus, n.d, the Ephesus Museum

[moon-kissed-corner]

Detail from the painting The Birth of Venus (1912), by Odilon Redon.

[theantiquariansarchive]

Ancient Egyptian Jewellery, Lapis Lazuli Amulets

From left to right: 1 Frog Amulet 664–332 B.C. 2 Heart Amulet 664–334 BCE 3 Lion and Bull Amulet 522–343 B.C. 4 Cat Amulet 1550–1295 B.C. 5 Ba Amulet 664–332 B.C. 6 Lion Amulet 1550–1295 B.C. 7 Fish Amulet 1550–1295 B.C. 8 Female Sphinx Amulet 1981–1550 B.C. 9 Harpokrates Amulet ? 1850–1640 B.C. 10 Falcon Amulet 664–332 B.C.

[nobrashfestivity]

Unknown, Abstract types of representations of vulva and feminine figures found in paleolithic caves Aurignacian-Perigordian Ice Age Cultures, Late Paleolithic, Aurignacian-Perigordian Cycle Abstract types of representations of vulva and feminine figures found in the paleolithic caves, arranged by Leroi-Gourhan. Column 1, category of representations of the sexual triangle with a clearly recognizable short dividing line, sometimes shown as three lines coming together without the enclosing horizontal line of the triangle. Category in column 2 starts with the bell-shaped figure and contains triangles in a reverse position. Category in column 3 shows variations of the scutiform. Category in column 4 consists of oval forms, representing the orifice genital . Column 5 shows the process of abstracting the female figure in profile producing the claviform.