A fierce #MosaicMonday with this #gladiator from the Bignor Villa. A rudarius (umpire) holds a wand of office (rudus) as he watches a fight between a secutor and retarius. 📷Gaius Cornelius/wikimedia ##AncientBlueSky #ClassicsBlueSky #archaeology #Roman

A tragedy mask for #MosaicMonday. Surrounded by fruit, grapes, and garlands. A close-up detail from an ancient Roman mosaic from #Pompeii. Housed at the Naples National Archaeological Museum. 📷 Jebulon/wikimedia

Polyphemus and Galatea in landscape for #FrescoFriday. From the Imperial villa at Boscotrecase, the Mythological Room (19). #Roman early Imperial, Augustan, last decade of the 1st century BCE. 📷Met Museum (20.192.17) #AncientBlueSky #ClassicsBlueSky #archaeology

A slightly different #ReliefWednesday. These beautiful relief panels are dedicated to a #LlandaffCathedral architect for his restoration work (1949-75) following the war. #HistoryBlueSky #archaeology #Cathedrals #Wales

An inscribed dedication, in #cuneiform to the god #Enlil for #EpigraphyTuesday. From the temple of #Ishtar, Kidmuri. A #Neo-Assyrian pedestal or altar, from the rule of Ashurnasirpal II, 865-860 BC. 📷British Museum (118870) #AncientBlueSky #ClassicsBlueSky #archaeology

An astronomical #FrescoFriday! This fragment depicts #Urania, the Muse of Astronomy. From the House of Julia Felix, #Pompeii, 62-79 CE. Now at the Louvre Museum, Paris. 📷Carole Raddato/worldhistory.org #AncientBlueSky #ClassicsBlueSky #archaeology #mythology #Muses

A collection for #HelmetThursday. Tiverton Castle is home to many #armour pieces, including a lovely range of helmets, some from the #Roundheads and #Cavaliers. The castle isn't open everyday, but is well priced and worth a visit for the armour (and gardens). #HistoryBlueSky #archaeology #Tiverton

The Wellington reredos for #ReliefWednesday. It likely stood behind the high altar of St. John's church and was richly coloured. They were defaced at the Reformation (1540s), and later, it was taken down and used as paving around the altar. Somerset Museum #HistoryBlueSky #Archaeology

A lintel block from the false door of Mery's chapel for #EpigraphyTuesday. An Old Kingdom piece (ca. 2575–2520 B.C) giving some of Mery's priestly and administrative positions. Memphite Region, Saqqara, Djoser precinct. 📷Met Museum (67.50) #AncientBlueSky #ClassicsBlueSky #archaeology #Egyptian

Returning from a week away with a #MosaicMonday from Somerset Museum. The East Coker mosaic. Showing two successful hunters carrying home a deer with their hunting dog. The hunters' clothing is typical of the second half of the 4th century AD. #ClassicsBlueSky #AncientBlueSky #Archaeology #Roman

Happy #FrescoFriday! A #Pompeii piece of #Venus and #Eros from Taberna delle Quattro Divinitá (IX,7,1). She doesn't look the happiest here, I wonder what Eros has done??? 🏹 📷Roger Ulrich/worldhistory.org #AncientBlueSky #ClassicsBlueSky #archaeology #mythology

A turban helmet with aventail for #HelmetThursday. The aventail is fixed with a lead seal stamped with the mark used in the #Ottoman arsenals, suggesting it passed into Turkish possession as booty. 📷Met Museum (50.87) #HistoryBlueSky #armour #history #archaeology #metalwork

A New Kingdom #ReliefWednesday with chariots. Discovered in the Sanctuary of the Great Aten temple, #Amarna. Chariots with spirited horses are held in check by grooms in the upper register. ca. 1352-1336 BC. 📷Met Museum (27.6.1) #AncientBlueSky #ClassicsBlueSky #archaeology #Egyptian

A #Coptic ostracon for ##EpigraphyTuesday. Dating to the 7th-8th century AD, the inscription is in black ink on both sides. There is a mention of Abraham at the end. From the #Theban area. 📷Liverpool Museums, World Museum (M13838) #AncientBlueSky #ClassicsBlueSky #archaeology

The Tomb of the Diver for #FrescoFriday. Built around 500-475 BCE and found 1968. The Diver has puzzled historians but so too has the context of the tomb with symposium imagery covering the four tomb walls. 📷PaestumPaestum (National Museum of Paestum) #AncientBlueSky #ClassicsBlueSky #archaeology

A Tibetan #HelmetThursday. An iron helmet with an iron bowl fitted with a gilded flattened finial and a supporting strap with pierced work designs. The front panel and attached viser features dragons and flaming jewels. 📷Liverpool Museums, World Museum (56.27.206) #HistoryBlueSky #armour

A baby-feeder of black glazed pottery for #EpigraphyTuesday. With a #Greek inscription: Drink up, don't put (it) down. The letters engraved with a fine-pointed tool appear to belong to the later half of the 4th century B.C 📷British Museum (1836,0224.262) #AncientBlueSky #ClassicsBlueSky #archaeology

A theatrical #MosaicMonday, depicting actors and an aulos player. I love the presence of the theatrical masks used by the actors 🎭. House of the Tragic Poet, #Pompeii. Now, at Naples National Archaeological Museum (Inv. 9986). 📷Marie-Lan Nguyen #AncientBlueSky #ClassicsBlueSky #archaeology #Roman

The myth of #Perseus and #Andromeda for #FrescoFriday. Perseus is about to rescue Andromeda from a snake sea monster ketos, who is painted in a brilliant blue-green palette. From the Imperial villa at Boscotrecase. 📷Met Museum (20.192.16) #AncientBlueSky #ClassicsBlueSky #archaeology #mythology

A #Burgonet #Renaissance masterpiece for #HelmetThursday. The bowl is raised in high relief with motifs including sirens, the head of Medusa, and acanthus scrolls inhabited by putti. Signed by Filippo Negroli. 📷Met Museum (17.190.1720) #AncientBlueSky #ClassicsBlueSky #archaeology #armour

A #Palmyrene #ReliefWednesday. The Palmyrene god #Shadrafa is wearing a #Roman military costume with a lance entwined by a snake, a round shield, and a sword. A scorpion can be found in the background. 📷British Museum (125206) #AncientBlueSky #ClassicsBlueSky #archaeology

A votive stela of Usherhat for #EpigraphyTuesday. He testifies to his own good qualities and to his trust in his god (#Amun ?). He is depicted with his wife Nefertari and was a priest of two mortuary cults in Dynasty 18. 📷Met Museum (05.4.2) #AncientBlueSky #ClassicsBlueSky #archaeology #Egyptian

A fierce #Syrian lion for #MosaicMonday. A floor fragment piece from the 6th century CE. Potentially jumping for joy this warm Monday evening! 🦁 📷Howard Cheng (Los Angeles County Museum) #AncientBlueSky #ClassicsBlueSky #archaeology

A priest wearing an #Anubis mask for #FrescoFriday. Temple of Isis, #Pompeii. The cult of #Isis was widespread in the #Hellenistic period due to the religious links between the Greeks and Egypt. Naples National Archaeological Museum. 📷Carole Raddato/worldhistory.org

An #Etruscan jockey type #HelmetThursday. It has two ear flaps (one of which is the original), and the lower edge is decorated with broad rope pattern topped by two bands of ornamentation. The helmet is broken at the top. 📷Penn Museum (MS1606) #AncientBlueSky #ClassicsBlueSky #archaeology #armour

A bronze altar to #Rahmaw for #ReliefWednesday. A tin bronze altar, with the front panel showing three rows of standing sphinxes, set below a lightly projecting cornice around which runs the beginning of a Sabaean inscription. 📷British Museum (135324) #AncientBlueSky #ClassicsBlueSky #archaeology

The huntress #Artemis for #MosaicMonday. Depicted with her signature bow and short tunic dress. Made of limestone tesserae in the Eastern Mediterranean, c.400-500 CE. Housed at the Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto. 📷James Blake Weiner/worldhistory.org #AncientBlueSky #ClassicsBlueSky #archaeology

A 59 CE riot at the games in #Pompeii for #FrescoFriday. The event led to the closure of the amphitheatre for ten years by #Nero. Found in the house of Actius Anicetus (now at Naples National Archaeological Museum) 📷Carole Raddato #AncientBlueSky #ClassicsBlueSky #archaeology

An 18th century #HelmetThursday from #Gwalior. The steel helmet has a pointed and curved-over crest and a curved tail that projects below the rim. Partially gilt, leaving panels of steel. Dimensions: Height: 23cm; Diameter: 25cm 📷V&A (3182 (IS)) #armour #history #archaeology #Indianhistory #Maratha

#ReliefWednesday of a procession of sea creatures heading towards Oceanus. A second century AD, marble convex frieze, of the Roman Imperial period. Possibly from Hadrian's Villa at Tivoli. 📷National Museums Liverpool, World Museum (59.148.254) #AncientBlueSky #ClassicsBlueSky #archaeology

An anatomical #votive offering for #EpigraphyTuesday. A dedication to #Asclepius and #Hygieia from Tyche in thanks, presumably for curing a leg affliction. Found at the shrine of #Asklepios in Melos (1828). 📷British Museum (1867,0508.117) #AncientBlueSky #ClassicsBlueSky #archaeology #Greek

#Achilles is being discovered by #Odysseus while hiding as a girl on Skyros Island for #MosaicMonday. The mosaic was in the House of #Poseidon in Zeugma, decorating the bottom of a pool in the implivium with a waterspout. 📷Carole Raddato #AncientBlueSky #ClassicsBlueSky #archaeology #mythology

A female #FrescoFriday. Assumed to be a seer predicting the birth of a male heir, she stands holding a shield reflecting the image of a Hellenistic ruler. From Room H of the Villa of P. Fannius Synistor at Boscoreale. 📷Met Museum (03.14.7) #AncientBlueSky #ClassicsBlueSky #archaeology #Roman

A Faliscan #Etruscan #HelmetThursday. The design allowed the wearer to be seen from a distance by his skirmishes. It is one of two helmets found in a warrior grave and is decorated with geometric patterns. 725-700 BCE. 📷Penn Museum (MS850) #AncientBlueSky #ClassicsBlueSky #archaeology #armour

A #Medieval #ReliefWednesday. An Italian, possibly Umbrian piece from ca. 1150. Made of Lunense marble from Carrara. The slab was originally from a lintel of an earlier, perhaps Roman, monument. 📷Met Museum (09.152.8) #ClassicsBlueSky #archaeology #history

Gandj Nameh, Xerxes' Inscription for #EpigraphyTuesday. Found near the waterfall of Gandj Nameh, with praise to #Ahuramazda. Wrote in Persian, Elamite, and Babylonian, ca. 470. BCE. Alongside a Darius I inscription. 📷Marco Prins/ Livius.org #AncientBlueSky #ClassicsBlueSky #archaeology #Persia

A fierce #MosaicMonday. #Dionysus rides a panther in this floor mosaic from the House of the Masks, #Delos. Dionysus holds a ribboned thyrsus and a tambourine and wears an ivy crown with feminine robes. Ca. 120-80 BCE. 📷Archaeological Receipts Fund #AncientBlueSky #ClassicsBlueSky #archaeology

A deity holding a wine bucket and drinking horn for #FrescoFriday. A 1st century fragment from a larger painting in #Pompeii. The figure is likely a Lar, a #Roman ancestral god honoured as guardian of the family's welfare. 📷Minneapolis Institute of Art #AncientBlueSky #ClassicsBlueSky #archaeology

A 15th century #HelmetThursday. An #Ottoman period helmet from Turkey, made of steel. Now at Harvard Art Museums. Dimensions: 28.2 x 21.3 cm (11 1/8 x 8 3/8 in.) 📷President and Fellows of Harvard College (1985.336) #AncientBlueSky #ClassicsBlueSky #archaeology

A fierce #ReliefWednesday. A fragment of a commemorative relief depicting the victories of a #gladiator. A contraretiarius against a retiarius (weighted net and trident fighting gladiator) called Improbus. 📷Carole Raddato (National Museum Rome) #AncientBlueSky #ClassicsBlueSky #archaeology #Roman

A #Palmyrene relief and inscription for #EpigraphyTuesday. Made of carved limestone,150-200. Reading "Aqmat daughter of Hagagu, descendant of Zebida descendant of Ma'an. Alas!" The woman an example of 'Palmyra beauty.' 📷British Museum (102612) #AncientBlueSky #ClassicsBlueSky #archaeology

A collection of geometric floor mosaics for #MosaicMonday. The Villa of #Theseus Bath Complex. Apoditerium, frigidarium, cella unctuaria.Second half of the 2nd century CE, Cyprus. Paphos, Archaeological Park. 📷Olga Lyubimova/ancientrome.ru #AncientBlueSky #ClassicsBlueSky #archaeology

#FrescoFriday of Iphigenia with the Palladium. A mid 1st Century CE piece. Now in Castellammare di Stabia, Villa San Marco, room 30 (diaeta) adjoining the large portico. 📷Sergey Sosnovskiy/ancientrome.ru #AncientBlueSky #ClassicsBlueSky #archaeology #mythology #MountVesuvius

Electrotype for #HelmetThursday of Meskalamdug's helmet. Hammered from a single sheet of 18 carat gold. Features in relief and details engraved. Original in Baghdad. U.10000. Fragments of interior stuffing were found. 📷(Penn Museum 29-22-2) #AncientBlueSky #ClassicsBlueSky #archaeology #NearEastern

A #Caracalla #ReliefWednesday. Julia Domna, in the guise of Victory, crowns her son. A military trophy stands next to him, and two captives are crouching underneath. The piece likely originates from Syria. 📷National Museum of Warsaw. #AncientBlueSky #ClassicsBlueSky #archaeology #Roman

A #Roman altar for #EpigraphyTuesday. Made of buff sandstone with a dedication to Mars Belatucadrus. The capital has a flat cabled border enclosing the inscription and the die is enclosed by horizontal incised lines. 📷British Museum (1868.1004.1) #AncientBlueSky #ClassicsBlueSky #archaeology

A rediscovered #MosaicMonday. This luxury mosaic was from Caligula's pleasure barges, but 'disappeared' in WWII. In 2013 it was rediscovered as a coffee table in a Manhattan apartment. It is now at the Museum of Roman Ships in Nemi 📷 Nick Squires #AncientBlueSky #ClassicsBlueSky #archaeology #Roman

On this warm #FrescoFriday, I am left wishing I, too, could stand on a balcony gazing into the distance. A small fragmentary piece but a lovely one none the less. 📷Getty Museum (96.AG.172) #AncientBlueSky #ClassicsBlueSky #archaeology #Roman

An electrotype #HelmetThursday. Part of a suit of armour belonging to Ascanio Sforza Pallavicino. His device is on either side in a floral diaper. #Italian #16thcentury copy of a Milanese helmet from Elkington and Co. 📷V&A Museum (30.11.18) #ClassicsBlueSky #archaeology #HistoryBlueSky #armour

A fragmentary relief sculpture of Jupiter Dolichenus in yellow sandstone. Found in a short Antonine ditch outside Croy Hill fort. 📷National Museums Scotland (X.FV 47 A&B) #AncientBlueSky #ClassicsBlueSky #archaeology #ReliefWednesday