Dido, Queen of Carthage

Gold fish pendant, Middle Kingdom Egypt, 12-13th Dynasty 1878-1749 BC

from The Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Canopus at Vila Adriana (Hadrian’s Villa), Tivoli.

the trojan horse

in an illustrated copy of the "trojanerkrieg" by konrad von würzburg, germany, c. 1441

source: Nürnberg, GNM, Hs. 998, fol. 195r

Bucephalus

Armenian version of the Alexander Romance, Sulu Manastir 1544

Manchester, John Rylands University Library, Armenian MS 3, fol. 42v

fire signs: sagittarius, aries, leo

in an astrological treatise, bruges, c. 1485

source: Paris, BnF, Latin 7321A, fol. 179r, 174r, and 177r

birth of serpents from the blood of titans

illustration for the "theriaca" by 2nd-century bc greek poet nicander of colophon, constantinople, 10th century

source: Paris, BnF, Supplément grec 247, fol. 47r

ursa major

in the astronomical-astrological codex for king wenceslaus iv. of bohemia, prague, shortly after 1400

source: Munich, BSB, Clm 826, fol. 34v

the soul entrusting her heart to the care of godliness and penitence

illustration for the allegorical poem "le mortifiement de vaine plaisance" by rené d'anjou, france, c. 1470

source: Cologny, Fondation Martin Bodmer, Cod. Bodmer 144, fol. 50v

narcissus

from a copy of the "roman de la rose" by guillaume de lorris and jean de meun, france, first half of the 14th c.

source: Lausanne, Bibl. cantonale et universitaire, M 454, fol. 6r

the garden of virtues

from the livre des vices et des vertus by laurent d'orléans, northern france, c. 1450-75

source: Genève, Bibliothèque de Genève, Ms. fr. 163, fol. 33v

calendar pages for december, january, and february

from a book of hours, flanders, c. 1510-1520

source: Cambridge, Fitzwilliam Museum, MS 1058-1975, fol. 12v, 1r, and 1v

Roman glass flask - 3rd–4th century A.D.

The Getty Museum

Cuneiform tablet: Sumerian dedicatory inscription from Ekur,  the temple of the god Enlil, ca. 16th–15th century B.C.

Here’s a link to this tablet at the Met museum.

Roman Military Diploma (discharge papers) for a soldier named Dassius, dated 88 AD

"The Emperor Caesar Domitian Augustus Germanicus, son of the deified Vespasian, pontifex maximus, holding the tribunician power for the eighth year, acclaimed "Imperator" seventeen times, having been consul fourteen times, censor for life, father of his country, has granted to the infantrymen and cavalry who are serving in five cavalry and two infantry companies, namely, the select Praetorian, the steadfast Gallic and Thracian, the Phrygian, the Sebastean, the Antian of Gauls and Thracians; the First Gaetulian cohort and the First Augustan Thracian cohort (which are in Syria serving under Publius Valerius Patruinus) and likewise to the men honorably discharged from these companies and cohorts who have served twenty-five years (their names are listed below), and to their children and descendants [to these the Emperor has granted] citizenship and the right of Roman marriage with the wives whom they had when citizenship was granted to them or, if any are unmarried, with those women whom they might marry later, with only one wife for each man. Dated on November 7 in the consulship of Manius Otacilius Catulus and Sextus Julius Sparsus [AD 88]. To the soldier Dassius, the son of Dasens, a Pannonian of the company of Phrygians commanded by Marcus Helenius Priscus. This copy has been checked against the bronze tablet posted at Rome on the Capitol on the left side wall of the Public Record Office."

from The J. Paul Getty Museum

Roman Glass Bowl 1st century B.C. The J. Paul Getty Museum.

The Derveni Krater, a masterpiece of ancient metalwork. Found in Derveni, near Thessaloniki, in 1965. The funerary inscription on the krater writes it's dedicated to Astiouneios, son of Anaxagoras, from Larissa, an aristocrat. Some believe that this elaborate artefact was made in Athens while others suppose that it could be created in the Macedonian court, the date of its creation isn't clear as well, generally categorised as Hellenistic. What is most important though is the krater's vivid, playful and sensual decoration with satyrs, maenads and the pair of Dionysus and Ariadne. Usually, when someone died unmarried and the family had the means, such a depiction of a happy mated afterlife was preferred so to comfort the relatives for their loss. The relationship depicted between Dionysus and Ariadne seems more than sensual, the transparency of her clothing, along with his nakedness and their stances are more than revealing of their common passion.

Now at the Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki, Greece. The Derveni Krater may seem gold but it's actually made of bronze.

Sasanian bronze from the online collections of The Metropolitan Museum of Art. 3rd-8th centuries; Qasr-i Abu Nasr, Iran.

Pictured: A hook or pendant (34.107.105); a pin (34.107.138); a bracelet (33.175.53); a fork (34.107.78); a key (33.175.54); a belt buckle (34.107.135).