Featured Ancient ... but not a coin! Artifacts thread! Post 'em!

It is a small scoop used for getting cosmetics out of the tall narrow-necked glass or ceramic unguentaria. They could also be used as ear-spoons for cleaning ears. Some are labelled "medical instruments". The truth is that while they could be used to spoon out medication too they are really just a form of spoon and the vast majority would have had nothing to do with medical uses.

 

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I have very few antiques. This is probably the finest; a Byzantine cross. It has cracked and been reinforced with a silver sole. Looks like it could have been done before modern machinery. I bought it as a present for my mother.

 

Been reading through this thread and found it really interesting...
Some great artifacts...
I have a couple of Roman Fibulae...
The first is a Bow type Fibula Group B3: Two-piece construction with a pin holding the spring and is commonly called a Trumpet Fibula...
Here's a great reference site for those interested.. https://www.forumancientcoins.com/n...p?key=Fibula

The second 32mm diameter, bronze, with a hinged pin and are more commonly known as a Disc Brooch. This type of brooch was not popular outside of the Roman provincies and was used around the 1st to the 2nd century AD...Due to the design it was probably not used for holding cloth in place but more as a decorative feature and probably had a coloured inlay.

 

10 points to anyone who guesses (correctly) what this is:

 

I’m guessing that this has had some kind of function, not decorative. Maybe it was used for pulling something? Part of a crossbow perhaps?

 

Terret ring from a Roman or Celtic wagon or chariot. A terret ring was part of the mechanism used to guide the reins and ropes.

 

I said in the "spears" thread that when I had a chance I'd post photos of a few of my ushabtis and/or other Egyptian antiquities. So here goes.

Two faience ushabtis and a bronze Osiris, all of which I bought in the 1980s. The ushabti on the right has no inscription, but I like his face:



The ushabti on the left does have an inscription; here are a few more photos of it (most together with the Osiris figure) in which you can see the inscription:







I had no idea what the inscription on this ushabti says until a few years ago, when I posted a photo of it on a yahoo group I used to belong to. I then received an email from Niek de Haan (of the website http://www.shabticollections.com), very kindly informing me that he recognized the smile on my ushabti, and that it's apparently one of a number of very similar ushabtis all created for the same person in the 30th Dynasty. An example is the one illustrated in the 1990 book entitled Ägyptische Totenfiguren aus öffentlichen und privaten Sammlungen der Schweiz, by Hermann A. Schlögl and Andreas Brodbeck (Freiburg 1990). It's object number 191 on page 274. (See this copy of page 274, plus an enlargement of one of the photos on that page, both of which Mr. de Haan sent me.)





As you can see, the appearance and inscription are nearly identical to mine.

According to Mr. de Haan, the inscription on my ushabti (as translated from the German-language transcription in the book) means "the illuminated one, the Osiris, the overseer of the army (general), Hor-em-achbit, born to Hathor-em-achet [his mother], true of voice."

It's nice to know that finally, more than 30 years after I bought it!

 

Knowing exactly whose ushabti it was is very cool!

 

Still mine but not for long (consigning it with CNG and it is part of current electronic auction), so better to post now .
Jewish seal depicting Menorah with lulav and etrog, and greek inscription on the reverse. Probably Alexandria, V-VI century. Unpublished. This is CNG's picture and they managed to put the reverse upside down .

 

The following stone is the biggest and probably the oldest item that I own. It weighs a little bit over 10 kilograms. It barely attracts the magnet. So I guess it might be a meteorite. Otherwise it's just an old ferrous or iron rock. Hope it's from the outer space, millions of years ago. I do appreciate your guess. Thank you.

 

Here's my third photo that could help. Thanks..

 

Sculpture is usually out of my price range, but I found this fragment of a Gandharan schist panel at an estate sale for a very reasonable price. I'm reasonably certain it is authentic, for a variety of reasons. It probably comes from a Buddhist themed scene, being the head of a worshipper or background figure, based on the hairstyle. It's Hellenistic in style, but probably dates to the Kushan period, circa 2nd - 4th century AD.

 

Here’s a ring from the Viking age. Found in the ex Soviet Union 700-1200 ad. I have a bunch old old paper artifacts and documents if anyone’s interested.

 

Is anyone bored out of their mind yet?

Anyway, I came across these pictures of, I think, my brothers first venture into the land of the ancients. It’s supposed to be a Roman dice. But, based on other pictures I’ve seen, I’m pretty sure it’s not. I don’t think I’ve ever posted this one.

Any thoughts would be much appreciated!



Thanks all!

stay healthy and stay safe!

Erin

 

Of course Erin. We all need to pray for the safety of all Humanity from that wicked virus. It's like war.. Just a tiny organism.. Patience, hope and above all faith.
Here are a couple of dice. They told me they were Roman. No matter..

 

Here's a charming carving of a frog, which served as a weight two millennia ago, this one equaling 1 1/2 shekels.

I purchased this artifact from Harlan J Berk last year. Here's the description:

"Old Babylonian Period, ca. first half of the 2nd Millennium BC. The frog is superbly sculpted in a green mottled stone with white inclusions. Excellent even finishing brings out the moss-like patterns in the stone. American Private Collection, acquired 1981. L. 2 7/8" H. 1 5/8" (7.3 cm x 4 cm).."

Upon receiving the weight, I examined its composition. The carving is dentritic agate, a very hard stone at 7 on the mohs scale (talc, at one, the softest and diamond at ten, the hardest). Close examination reveals flower-like formations in greenish-yellowish chalcedony. These are manganese deposits. The white areas are probably from the weathered surface of the stone. Chalcedony, over the eons, bleaches on the surface, turning it into an opal-like opaque white.

I imagine that this carving was originally a river stone, perhaps from the Tigris or Euphrates itself!

 

You too, Erin. As far as your dice are concerned, if you do a Google Images search for ancient Roman dice you'll find plenty of photos. And here are some for sale at the website of someone who's considered a reputable antiquities seller: http://www.ancientresource.com/lots/roman/roman_dice.html.

I'm not sure that yours are genuine -- the dots on all those photos look a bit different, and are usually surrounded by an incised circle. But I'm no expert.

 

Nice!

What are the dimensions?

 

Ok @Johndakerftw and @7Calbrey ... let’s play YAHTZE!!!


RI Pair of Roman dice 1st -3rd century 10mm Bone


Wow, @robinjojo , very nice Frog!

 

That's what I'm doing, 7Calbrey, everyday.

Thanks Donna, that's the site I was looking at and realized the difference. I don't really see anything like my brother's dice. It would be nice to have a real one someday.

My brother has moved on to video games, so his ancient collecting days are on hold for now. He was building a pretty sweet collection of stuff too. Oh well, he's happy with what he has and so am I.

You're on, Alegandron!

Erin