Byzantine Gold Emerald Jewelled Bracelet, 5th-8th Century AD

A flat-section gold band with median openwork section depicting facing pairs of doves flanking a vessel with foliage; the center a later substantial square frame with scrolled wire fill, cross and five cells with cabochon garnets and central emerald. 52 grams, 59mm (2 ¼")

Byzantine jewelry was a full continuation of the Roman traditions and where techniques and styles continued to form the foundation of Byzantine goldsmith’s skills. Production in the old jewelry centers of Alexandria and Antioch gave way to an increased production in Constantinople.

In the Byzantine Empire jewelry played an important role. It acted as a way to express ones status and as a diplomatic tool. The Byzantine Empire was wealthy and successful traders, military officers and high officials in the empire’s administration would all have been in the position to afford luxurious jewelry.

Just like in Roman times gemstones were extremely popular and the display of gems became more important than the surrounding gold-work. Precious stones came mainly from the East. Flourishing trading contacts with India and Persia brought vast amounts of garnets, emeralds, corundum and pearls to Constantinople.

Byzantine Gold Coin Bracelet, 6th-7th Century AD

The Hagia Sophia is one the major sites that still remains from the Byzantine Empire.  During the Byzantine Empire it served as a Greek Orthodox Church and after the fall of Constantinople a mosque.  Now it is a museum in modern day Turkey attracting tourists, both religious and secular, from all over the world. 

Many have wanted to know what it would be like to be in this place during the Middle Ages, and well now you sort of can.  Scholars and scientist have been working for years now to re-create the acoustics of when the Hagia Sophia first functioned as a sacred site.  And you can hear it now:

~Hasmonean

Roman, Byzantine and Islamic Glass Bracelets

Post Byzantine pottery from Arta 15th -18th centuries CE from the collection of the Byzantine museum of Ioannina https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Byzantine_Museum_of_Ioannina

Large Pithos Discovered by Turkish Fishermen

A large storage container was caught in a fishing net of a boat in the Black Sea near the city of Trabzon in Northeastern Turkey. The pithos is 1.5 meters long and weighs as much as 300 kg (661 lbs). The vessel is believed to date to the Byzantine era, and was used in ancient times to store agricultural products such as grain, wine, or olive oil.

Boat captain, Yaku Uzun, said that he and his crew had been fishing in the Black Sea for years and were very excited when they saw the artifact. “We first launched the net in the afternoon but could not find fish. Then we launched again in the evening and saw the pithos in the fishing net. We first thought that we would find gold in it but it was empty,”

The pithos has been taken to the local archaeological museum at Trabzon.

Gold “Basket” Earring

Byzantine, 6th century, made in Northern France (2.5 x 1.5 cm)

Source: Metropolitan Museum of Art (17.192.97)

Roman-Byzantine grave unearthed on Istanbul’s İstiklal Avenue

Archaeologists have uncovered a Roman-Byzantine grave underneath Istanbul’s famous İstiklal Avenue, providing evidence of human activity in one of the city’s most important areas at a date earlier than previously thought.

The grave was unearthed during the restoration of the historic Casa Garibaldi building on the avenue when a worker discovered a 1,600- to 1800-year-old skull eight meters under the surface.

Archaeologists from the Istanbul Archaeology Museum subsequently arrived and conducted excavations in the area.

According to experts, excavations suggest the presence of a late Roman or early Byzantine grave that stretches along İstiklal Avenue.

Although the first skeleton was removed by archaeologists and taken to the Istanbul Archaeology Museum, the remaining skeletons have not been removed. Read more.

Byzantine 'flat-pack' church to be reconstructed in Oxford after spending 1,000 years on the seabed

Centuries before the Swedes started flat-packing their furniture, the Holy Roman Emperor Justinian had his own version, sending self-assembly churches to newly conquered parts of his empire.

Now one of the “Ikea-style” churches, which spent more than 1,000 years on a seabed after the ship carrying it sank, is to be reconstructed for the first time in Oxford.

The Byzantine church will be on display at the Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology as part of the exhibition Storms, War and Shipwrecks: Treasures from the Sicilian Seas, opening in June. 

Paul Roberts, co-curator of the exhibition, said: “Everything in the exhibition will be from under the sea. It’s very different from what’s been done before. Read more.

Byzantine Emerald and Pearl Earrings, C. 6th Century AD

Byzantine Gold and Emerald Necklace, 6th-7th Century AD

Ancient ‘luxury villa’ found at Kourion

DIGS at the ancient site of Kourion (Curium) have started revealing an early Byzantine cityscape with mosaic floors and signs of a cistern, the department of antiquities said yesterday following the completion of the first season of an excavation project.

Archaeologists from the University of Cyprus and a Texas theological seminary hope to reveal how early Christians in Kourion lived. 

As part of the Kourion Urban Space Project (KUSP) archaeologists have found two mosaic floors and a floor fragment and have prepared them for conservation. The floor fragment is associated with a cistern.

Future excavations will reveal the size and complexity of the mosaic floors, with one of them possibly including a figure and another decorated with geometric patterns. 

The foundations of a water structure – modified at least twice - have also been found. After the destruction of the city’s main aqueduct in an earthquake in 365AD, the Byzantines used the terrain to create flat surfaces for cisterns. Read more.

Greek and Byzantine-era tomb discoveries in Alexandria prompt construction freeze

Egyptian archaeologists have discovered four Greek and Byzantine-era rock tombs in a section of old Alexandria’s eastern necropolis in an area neighbouring Al-Ibrahimeya tunnel.

The site was discovered during excavations carried out by the Ministry of State for Antiquities (MSA) and stretches between the areas of Al-Shatbi and Mostafa Kamel.

Excavations uncovered four rock-hewn Greek and Byzantine tombs containing a collection of funerary pots, perfume containers and lamps.

MSA minister Mohamed Ibrahim stated that the aim of the excavations was to inspect the area for archaeological artefacts before declaring it free for residential building.

“It is a very important discovery that adds more detail to the archaeological map of Alexandria,” Ibrahim told Ahram Online. A finely decorated clay container from the second century BC was among the discoveries, he added.

Director general of Alexandria antiquities, Mohamed Mostafa, explained that the most important tomb is one dating from the Greco-Roman era which include an open courtyard with two rocky cylindrical columns in the middle. Two burial shafts filled with human skeletons and clay pots were also uncovered. Read more.