If you visit the museum for the first time, you will be surprised by the pyramid-shaped entrance. Use the time you lose to pass the bomb check and buy a ticket to look at it, because it is a monument of the first order.
I already mentioned the Egyptian department, where you can easily spend a full day. There are portraits of the Egyptian kings and objects from daily life, and what is even better: the full history is dealth with, so you will also find objects from the first millennium BCE. The Greek, Roman, and Coptic age are not ignored either, although you need to go to Greek department for the royal portraits of the Ptolemies.
The Egyptian department is deservedly famous, and attracts many visitors, who are usually exhausted when they are half-way their tour. Usually, they will take the shortest route to the exit, which brings them through the departments of Cypriote, Arab, Palmyrene, and Phoenician art – which are, as a consequence, full of people who are not interested in the objects. That is a pity, because these rooms alone justify a trip to Paris. Still, if you manage to ignore the crowd of tired visitors to the Egyptian department, you will certainly enjoy coffins from Sidon, Byblos, and Carthage, Nabataean inscriptions, and statues from Cyprus. One of my favorites is a relief of one of the divine triad of Palmyra. You will need half a day to study it well.
Next to it is the Oriental department. The most famous object is, of course, the Code of Hammurabi. Don’t concentrate on the diorite monolith only, but also look in the small display in the same room, because there you will see cuneiform tablets with the same text – one of them written more than a millennium later and proving that these laws had become some kind of Mesopotamian classic, and it is probably no coincidence that the division of these Old Babylonian laws returns in the Ten Commandments.
The Roman department is surprisingly small. Yet, there is a lot of fine sculpture, including a nice series of portraits of Roman rulers. Next to it is a comparatively small Etruscan department. A gallery of rather mediocre statues brings you to the room devoted to Roman art that was later restored, which is great fun: usually, you can immediately see which part is ancient and which is an addition. (Here, you will also find Canova’s famous Amor and Psyche.) You need about half a day to see it all, read the explanatory signs, and take your photos.
The Greek department is larger – you again need a full day to study it all. The two most famous pieces are the expressive Nike of Samothrake and the famous Venus of Milo. The latter is more or less the museum’s raison d’être. Napoleon had looted the Italian museums, but after he had found his Waterloo, all those works of art had to be returned. In an age in which it was believed that inspiration by great art created great minds, and that Greek art was the most inspirational, the emptying of the Louvre was believed to be a national disaster, but fortunately, the Venus of Milo was found. Now, France could compete again with the British, who had the Elgin Marbles. That the armless deity was a Hellenistic and not a Classical statue, was ignored – the inscription which proves it, is now conveniently lost.
The crowds are very large, and you may count yourself lucky that I did not bring you to the paintings. This makes a visit to the Louvre a bit difficult, and you must prepare yourself well; fortunately, the museum’s website is excellent. Four days is the minimum for the ancient departments.
Finally, I must mention one little gem that is often ignored and where you can, consequently, quietly look at the objects: the room with metal objects. There is some fine silver work, but you will also see the helmet of a gladiator, a nice statuette of the Tyche of Antioch, the head of Demetrius Poliorcetes, a hoplite’s panoply, a curse tablet from the Crimea, Roman military diplomas, and so on.
But unfortunately, that’s the only part of the museum where you will not meet many other people. In fact, the museum is too big, and I think that it would be wiser to split it into smaller museums.
This museum was visited in 1984, 1989, 2008, 2010, 2020.
Susa, Soldiers' Relief
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Susa, Soldiers' Relief
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Sippar, Victory stela of Naram-Sin
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Nectanebo I wearing the war crown
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Marib, Dedication to Almaqah
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Susa, Soldiers' Relief, Sphinxes
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Bosra, Nabataean altar
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Athens, Black-figured dish with a Scythian archer
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Susa, Stone relief with a banquet scene
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Ostracon with a Coptic Writing Exercise (Thebaid)
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Statuette of a Libyan
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Susa, Soldiers' Relief
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The Azara herm
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Susa, Soldiers' Relief, Immortal, Counterweight of a spear
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Horus, Osiris, Isis
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King Djedefra
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Babylonian map of the western Zagros. A road, a mountain, and a river are indicated.
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Statuette of Raherka, inspector of the scribes, and his wife Merseanch
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Rhodes, Head-shaped aryballos
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Utica, Oil lamp with a lion and a crocodile
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Senusret III
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Crassus
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Osorkon I
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Susa, Silver rhyton
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Merenptah
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Tepe Sialk, Pot from the fourth millennium BCE, decorated with an ibex
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Byzantine, Dromedary-shaped lamp
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Ugarit, Temple of Baal, Stele with the king of Ugarit in front of the god Baal Saphon
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Caere, Banditaccia necropolis, Wall painting of an archer
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Delos, Portrait of Alexander the Great
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Khorsabad, Lamassu
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Portrait of a Roman man (CE 070-100)
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Nineveh, Palace of Aššurbanipal, Relief of Arbela
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Matidia
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Amasis
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Upper part of the Codex of Hammurabi; taken from Babylon to Susa, it was excavated in what is now Iran.
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Susa, Funerary portrait
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Baalbek, Mosaic of the Birth of Paris
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Edessa, Mosaic of a lady
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The Azara herm
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Arsinoe III
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Yemen, Dromedary pendant
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Tyre, Hellenistic building inscription from Al-Ma'shook
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Susa, Gold plate with royal warrior
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Thelsae, Nabataean altar
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Susa, Letter from Artabanus II, requesting the appointment of one Hecataeus as treasurer
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Marib, Dedication to Almaqah, detail
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Egypt, Byzantine textile, Erotes picking grapes
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Kition, Egyptianizing capital
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Berenice II
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Susa, Soldiers' Relief
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Nineveh, Palace of Aššurbanipal, Sumerian-Akkadian Dictionary
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Taharqo venerating the falcon-god Hemen
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Sippar, Contract from the reign of Xerxes about a canal
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Sarcophagus with the body of Hector
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Susa, Rim of a cup with the name of Xerxes
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Bawit, Portrait of a lady
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Smyrna, Honorific decree for an officer of VI Ferrata
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Byblos, Relief of a lion
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Susa, Relief with the sacrifice of goat
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Aššur, Annals of Tikulti-Ninurta II
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Susa, Neo-Elamite decoration (dragon)
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Susa, Soldiers' Relief
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Susa, Apadana, Inscription DSf (Elamite)
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Susa, Apadana, Capital
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Furnos Minus, Christian funerary mosaic
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Khorsabad, Relief of Sargon and Sennacherib, prince Sennacherib
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Alexander, Statuette from Lower Egypt
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Rhodes, Mycenaean cup (LH IIIa2)
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Relief of a scribe
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Assos, Temple of Athena, relief, Triton
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Ptolemy IV Philopator
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Bishapur, Palace, Mosaic of man dressed as an ostrich
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Figurine from Bactria
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Assos, Temple of Athena, Relief of two bulls
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Pyla, Temple of Apollo, Portrait of a man
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Susa, Temple of the Šutrukids, Goddess
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Justinian I (Barberini Ivory)
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Khorsabad, Relief of Sargon and Sennacherib
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Soknopaiou Nesos, Stele of Isis, Horus, and Cleopatra VII Philopator
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Susa, Sasanian cup
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Susa, Soldiers' Relief with inscription DSm
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Beirut, Christian phylacterium, invoking the protection of several celestial beings to protect one Alexandra
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Palmyra, Tombstone of a priest
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Susa, Middle-Elamite basrelief of warrior gods
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Informal portrait of Sobekhotep IV
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Drawing of Amenhotep I
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Alexander IV
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Corbulo
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Uruk, Cuneiform tablet with first use of a zero
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Susa, Inscription of Nicocles
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Bishapur, Palace, Mosaic of a musician
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Gladiator helmet
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Nectanebo I, wearing the crown of Upper Egypt
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Coptic jar with decoration of a woman with wild animals
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Lascuta, Imperator inscription
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Ugarit, Stele of the "smiting god"
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Seleucus I Nicator
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Corinth, Hoplite battle (Tydeus painter)
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Smyrna, Diadumenianus
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Susa, Soldiers' Relief
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Mithridates V Euergetes
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Idalion, orientalizing gold dish
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Ptolemy XII Auletes
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Bottle from Tepe Hesar level II
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Statuette of a hippopotamus
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Idalion, statue of Melqart
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Susa, Treaty between Naram-Sin and Elam
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The Azara herm
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Titus
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Ptolemy I Soter
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Bawit, Coptic church, Model
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Dibon, Mesha Stela
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Sardes, Temple of Artemis, Relief of the "Mistress of the animals". (The archer partly visible to the right must be Heracles.)
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Esarhaddon and his mother attend the restoration of Babylon
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Antioch, Judgment of Paris
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Cherchell, Inscription of Micipsa
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Caere, Sarcophagus of the Spouses
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Thyatira, Relief of a gladiator (thraex)
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Achmim, Funerary stela of Pamim
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Saba, the Arab warrior Mushayqat Hamayat ibn Yusuf on a dromedary
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Khorsabad, Foundation Tablet
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Corinth, Small painting of Poseidon
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POWs being led away on an Akkadian victory stele
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Geta
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Tepe Sialk, Sherd from the fourth millennium BCE
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Susa, Statue of queen Napirasu, wife of Untaš-Napiriša
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Alexandria, Alexander the Great as City Founder
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The Azara herm
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Susa, Dedication to Inšušinak
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Bishapur, Palace, Mosaic of a Dionysiac head
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Shabaqo
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Nicomedia, Hellenistic Funerary relief
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Utica, Funeral stela
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Statues of Sekhmet
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Susa, Soldiers' Relief
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Susa, Soldiers' Relief, Lion
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Antiochus III the Great
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Ramesses IV
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Susa, Stela of Šutruru
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Susa, Temple of the Šutrukids, Relief
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Antiochus VI Dionysus
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Susa, Soldiers' Relief with inscription
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Ugarit, Alphabet tablet
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Alexander I Balas
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Susa, Weight from Didyma
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Charlemagne
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Kition, Figurine of a woman
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Achaemenid jar with representation of Bes
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Yemen, Woman's head
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Sphinx of king Siamun
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Tayma, Aramaic funerary inscription
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Herodes Atticus
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Cleopatra II or III as Isis
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The Tyche of Antioch (figurine)
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Byblos, Temple of Baalat, Figurines
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Susa, Stone fish
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Athens, Heliaia, Allotment plate
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Saqqara, Serapeum, Relief of Isis and Nectanebo II
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Pharsalus, Funerary stela with a relief of a flower offering
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Susa, Soldiers' Relief, Flowers
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Susa, Soldiers' Relief
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Apollonia, Relief of two hoplites
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Susa, Soldiers' Relief, Mythological creatures
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Heraclius and Khusrau
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Senusret III
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Susa, Soldiers' Relief
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The Azara herm
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Ptolemy XI Alexander, gold sealing ring
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Yemen, Relief of a bird eating grapes
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Susa, Hellenistic or Parthian figurine of a harpist
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Susa, Soldiers' Relief, Lion
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Dedication by Ilîmagud Mayfa
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Greek plate with a picture of the Chimaera. Louvre, Paris (France)
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Nefertiti and Akhenaten
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Old Paphos, Epitaph of King Echetimus
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Assos, Temple of Athena, Relief of a symposium
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Ptolemy X Alexander
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Fragment of the sarcophagus of Sety II
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Eretria, Two-headed phial
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Rhodes, Dish with a sphinx
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Susa, Middle-Elamite model of a sun ritual
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Livia (Paris)
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Cleopatra VII Philopator in Egyptian style
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Tayma, Nabataean votive stela
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The Albani Alexander
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Sallustia Orbiana
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Suovetaurilia
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Ajax and Cassandra.
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Artemis and Apollo killing the Niobids
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Tayma, Taymanite inscription
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Aelius Caesar
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Antinoopolis, Coptic textile, Praying man with candelaber and ankh
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Rhodes, Mycenaean jar with a bull (LH IIIa2)
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Keki, the courtier
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Theodosius II
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Moabite warrior god
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Tayma, Relief of a sacrifical meal; Assyrian influence
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Alexandria, Tombstone of Longinus of II Traiana
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Ur, Foundation statuette of Amar-Sin
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Khorsabad, Lion-taming spirit ("Gilgameš")
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Enkomi, Late Bronze pectoral with sphinxes
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Megara, Figurine of two hoplites
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Pompey the Great. Louvre, Paris (France)
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Hadrumetum, Sanctuary of Baal Hammon, Punic stela with three baetyls
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Lambaesis, Rules for the trumpetters of III Augusta
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Sippar, Cylinder with a building inscription from the reign of Hammurabi
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Coptic tunic
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Choga Zanbil, Ziggurat, Doorknobs (Paris)
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Susa, Temple of the Šutrukids, Inscription
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Demetrius Poliorcetes
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Salonina
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Antinoopolis, Coptic textile, Nilotic scene (including nilometer)
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Hermopolis, Portrait of a Cleopatra I, Cleopatra II, or Berenice III
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Ptolemy III Euergetes
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Khorsabad, Relief of Sargon and Sennacherib, king Sargon
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Sobekhotep IV
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Figurine of an Etruscan warrior
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Girsu, Tablet with a fragment of the Sumerian Creation Epic
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Tayma, Dedication to Salm
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Valerian Jr
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Boy with hoop and rooster
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Susa, Stela of Adda-hamiti-Inšušinak
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Leo I
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Statuette of Bes, dedicated by Pakher, chancellor of king Psamtek I
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Psammetichus I
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Agrippa Postumus
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Byblos, Temple of Baalat, Figurine of a bull
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Mask of a Sumerian
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Agrippa
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Drawing of Ramesses VII
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Susa, Temple of the Šutrukids, Relief
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Cartouche of Osorkon I
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Socrates
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Sobekhotep IV
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Susa, The Awan King List
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Ladjvard, Sasanian king, perhaps Peroz
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Khorsabad, Iron tool
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An Egyptian poem about the battle of Kadesh
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Alexandria Troas, Psyche on a dromedary
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Ptolemy II Philadelphus
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Arsinoe II
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Apollonia, Relief to commemorate the battle of Actium
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Giza, Diner of Nefer
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Susa, Achaemenid administrative document
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Vase painting of an archaic Greek galley
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Apries
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Fausta
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Didia Clara
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Julia Mamaea
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King of the Eleventh/Twelfth Dynasty
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Nimrud, Relief of an Anatolian fort
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Tombstone of Iglum, son of Sa'adillat
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Susa, Temple of the Šutrukids, Relief: the bull-man
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Fayyum, Coptic chalice
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Portrait of a man, third quarter of the first century CE (the so-called "Vitellius")
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Chalouf, Darius' DZb inscription
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Rhagae, Dancers on a piece of pottery
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Mithridates VI Eupator of Pontus
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Susa, Battle axe
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Relief of a Roman officer
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Cyprus, Bilingual Greek-Phoenician inscription
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Cirta, Sanctuary of El-Hofra, Votive stela
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Hadrumetum, Sanctuary of Baal Hammon, Punic stela
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Bowl from Tepe Hesar I
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Montuhotep II wearing the red deshret crown
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Susa, Apadana, Inscription DSf (Old Persian)
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Choga Zanbil, Model
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Ptolemy IV Philopator or Ptolemy VI Philometor
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Julia Domna
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Lagash, Vulture Stele, Sumerian phalanx
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Smyrna, Attalus II Philadelphus
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Persian nobleman; statue from Egypt
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Madaba, Funeral inscription of Itaybel
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Oea, Punic sphinx
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Utica, Oil lamp with a lion and a panther
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Annius Verus
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Rome, S. Pietro, Sarcophagus with Christ as Lawgiver
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Cyrene, Statue of Antinous
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Bishapur, Palace, Stucco apse
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Beirut, Tombstone of Valerius Rufus of VII Claudia
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Messalina
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Domitian
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Pittacus
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Nimrud, Northwest Palace of Aššurnasirpal II, Foundation Inscription
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Khorsabad, Relief of rafts on a great river
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Head of Croesus on a Greek vase
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Wadi Miyah, Palmyrene triad: Aglibol (Moon), Ba'al Šamem (Lord of Heaven), and Malekbel (Sun)
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Bawit, Icon of Christ and St.Menas
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Khorsabad, Relief of two courtiers
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Faustina II
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Antonia Minor
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Susa, Apadana, Inscription DSf (Babylonian)
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Olympia, Temple of Zeus, Model
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Amulet of Darius
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Pupienus
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Gortyn, Inscription with laws
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Timna, Dedication by Rathad'il
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Demetrius I Poliorcetes
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Eshnunna, Relief of Ištar
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Aegis of Osorkon IV
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