Paris, Louvre

It is hard to write a review of the Louvre in Paris, because it is one of the world’s largest museums. There are many departments, and each one of them might, in its field, have been a museum of the first order. For example, it is hard to find another Egyptological museum in Europe that equals the Louvre.

The museum also has a reputation for interesting expositions – one on Meroe and one on the archaeology of Saudi Arabia during my latest visit – and to be honest: one ought to visit the Louvre twice a year to keep in touch. The people of Paris are unusually blessed.

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 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 Code of Hammurabi was found in Susa, which is a prominent part of the oriental collection. You will also see a wall decorated with Achaemenid soldiers and cuneiform tablets from this Iranian town. Other important excavations are Mari and Khorsabad, but there is a lot more to see. There are also rooms devoted to Jordan and western Syria; they are not adjacent to the eastern Syria and the other Levantine rooms, which is a bit impractical – but the Mesha stela is worth the detour. You need a full day to study the entire oriental department.

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 galery 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 Greek department also has some fine temple remains (from a/o Assos), the Tanagra statuettes that I increasingly love, and lots of pottery. Unfortunately, the rooms with Greek ceramics have rcently been closed. I haven’t seen the Croesus to the left for quite some time: last time, the room was closed to install better protection; before that, it was on loan to another museum.

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 diploma’s, 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.

298 pictures related to this museum

Vase painting of an archaic Greek galley	Tepe Sialk, Pot from the fourth millennium BCE, decorated with an ibex	Susa, Soldiers' Relief, Flowers	Osorkon I
Susa, Temple of the Šutrukids, Goddess	Susa, Neo-Elamite decoration (dragon)	Amulet of Darius	Cartouche of Osorkon I
Nectanebo I, wearing the crown of Upper Egypt	Ramesses IV	Byzantine, Dromedary-shaped lamp	Ugarit, Temple of Baal, Stele with the king of Ugarit in front of the god Baal Saphon
Khorsabad, Lamassu	Bowl from Tepe Hesar I	Marib, Dedication to Almaqah, detail	Lambaesis, Rules for the trumpetters of III Augusta
Figurine from Bactria	Nicomedia, Hellenistic Funerary relief	Susa, Soldiers' Relief	Informal portrait of Sobekhotep IV
Crassus	Fayyum, Coptic chalice	Smyrna, Attalus II Philadelphus	Timna, Dedication by Rathad'il
Susa, Statue of queen Napirasu, wife of Untaš-Napiriša	Susa, Achaemenid administrative document	Apollonia, Relief of two hoplites	Egypt, Byzantine textile, Erotes picking grapes
Julia Domna	Tayma, Relief of a sacrifical meal; Assyrian influence	Portait of a priest	Ptolemy IV Philopator
Antinoopolis, Coptic textile, Nilotic scene (including nilometer)	Mithridates VI Eupator of Pontus	Messalina	The "Mistress of the animals": slab from the original temple of Artemis. The archer partly visible to the right must be Heracles
King of the Eleventh/Twelfth Dynasty	Choga Zanbil, Model	Alexander, statuette from Lower Egypt	Relief of a scribe
Bishapur, Palace, Stucco apse	Susa, Apadana, Inscription DSf (Old Persian)	Bottle from Tepe Hesar level II	Montuhotep II wearing the red deshret crown
Cleopatra VII in Egyptian style	Rhodes, Mycenaean jar with a bull (LH IIIa2)	Statuette of a Libyan	Mosaic of the Birth of Paris
Statuette of Raherka, inspector of the scribes, and his wife Merseanch	Alexandria, Alexander the Great as City Founder	POWs being led away on an Akkadian victory stele	Susa, Inscription of Nicocles
Kition, Egyptianizing capital	Shabaqo	Alexandria Troas, Psyche on a dromedary	Khorsabad, Iron tool
Susa, Stone fish	Seleucus I Nicator	Tablet from Girsu with a fragment of a Sumerian Creation Epic	Nimrud, Northwest Palace of Aššurnasirpal II, Foundation Inscription
Old Paphos, Epitaph of King Echetimus	Choga Zanbil, Ziggurat, Doorknobs (Paris)	Alexander IV	Hadrumetum, Sanctuary of Baal Hammon, Punic stela
Smyrna, Honorific decree for an officer of VI Ferrata	Corbulo	Eretria, Two-headed phial	Susa, Stela of Adda-hamiti-Inšušinak
Susa, Apadana, Inscription DSf (Babylonian)	Khorsabad, Relief of Sargon and Sennacherib, king Sargon	Nineveh, Palace of Aššurbanipal, Sumerian-Akkadian Dictionary	Temple of Athena, relief, Triton
Susa, Funerary portrait	Marib, Dedication to Almaqah	The Azara herm	Mask of a Sumerian
Susa, Soldiers' Relief, Lion	Keki, the courtier	Sippar, Cylinder with a building inscription from the reign of Hammurabi	Statuette of an Etruscan warrior
Susa, Soldiers' Relief with inscription	Mithridates V Euergetes	The Azara herm	Susa, Soldiers' Relief
Geta	Yemen, Woman's head	Sallustia Orbiana	Khorsabad, Relief of Sargon and Sennacherib
Senusret III	Berenice II	Susa, Temple of the Šutrukids, Relief	Tayma, Dedication to Salm
Bawit, Icon of Christ and St.Menas	Livia	Kition, Statuette of a woman	Pompey the Great. Louvre, Paris (France)
Ptolemy I Soter	Sippar, Contract from the reign of Xerxes about a canal	Susa, Temple of the Šutrukids, Relief: the bull-man	Antiochus VI Dionysus
Persian nobleman; statue from Egypt	Ugarit, Alphabet tablet	Carthage, Christian funerary mosaic	Achmim, Funerary stela of Pamim
Susa, Soldiers' Relief	Susa, Soldiers' Relief	Salonina	Susa, Soldiers' Relief
Babylonian map of the western Zagros. A road, a mountain, and a river are indicated.	Agrippa	Herodes Atticus	Bosra, Nabataean altar
Rhodes, Dish with a sphinx	Beirut, Tombstone of Valerius Rufus of VII Claudia	Senusret III	Rhodes, Head-shaped aryballos
Statuette of Bes, dedicated by Pakher, chancellor of king Psamtek I	Annius Verus	Rhagae, Dancers on a piece of pottery	A Sumerian phalanx on the Vulture Stele from Lagash
Tayma, Taymanite inscription	Statues of Sekhmet	Portrait of a man, third quarter of the first century CE (the so-called "Vitellius")	Tayma, Aramaic funerary inscription
Achaemenid jar with representation of Bes	Byblos, Temple of Baalat, Figurines	Antioch, Judgment of Paris	Matidia
Sippar, Victory stela of Naram-Sin	Apollonia, Relief to commemorate the battle of Actium	Bawit, Portrait of a lady	Eshnunna, Relief of Ištar
Leo I	Theodosius II	Gortyn, Inscription with laws	Sphinx with the portrait of king Siamun
Roman officer	Taharqo venerating the falcon-god Hemen	Susa, Sasanian cup	Coptic tunic
Ostracon with a Coptic Writing Exercise (Thebaid)	Susa, Soldiers' Relief	Fragment of the sarcophagus of Sety II	Aššur, Annals of Tikulti-Ninurta II
Rhodes, Mycenaean cup (LH IIIa2)	Ramesses VII	Yemen, Relief of a bird eating grapes	Thyatira, Relief of a gladiator (thraex)
Idalion, orientalizing gold dish	Edessa, Mosaic of a lady	Susa, Relief with the sacrifice of goat	Head of Croesus on a Greek vase
Khorsabad, Foundation Tablet	Arsinoe II	Susa, Soldiers' Relief	Bishapur, Palace, Mosaic of a Dionysiac head
Antiochus III the Great	Thelsae, Nabataean altar	Byblos, Relief of a lion	Susa, Hellenistic or Parthian figurine of a harpist
Utica, Funeral stela	Relief of an Anatolian fort (from the Assyrian city Nimrud)	Faustina II	Sobekhotep IV
Sobekhotep IV	Bishapur, Palace, Mosaic of man dressed as an ostrich	Aegis of Osorkon IV	Artemis and Apollo killing the Niobids
Suovetaurilia	Caere, Sarcophagus of the Spouses	Antinous	Pupienus
Ptolemy XII Auletes	Corinth, Tydeus painter, Hoplite battle	Susa, Treaty between Naram-Sin and Elam	Susa, Temple of the Šutrukids, Inscription
Susa, Stela of Šutruru	The Albani Alexander	Demetrius Poliorcetes	Akhenaten and Nefertiti
Soknopaiou Nesos, Stele of Isis, Horus, and Cleopatra VII Philopator	Pharsalus, Funerary stela with a relief of a flower offering	Titus	Julia Mamaea
Tyche (figurine)	Antonia Minor	Susa, Dedication to Inšušinak	Cleopatra II or III as Isis
Alexandria, Tombstone of Longinus of II Traiana	Stele of the "smiting god" from Ugarit.	Upper part of the Codex of Hammurabi; taken from Babylon to Susa, it was excavated in what is now Iran.	Idalion, statue of Melqart
Athens, Black-figured dish with a Scythian archer	Cyprus, Bilingual inscription	Pyla, Temple of Apollo, portrait of a man	Punic sphinx
The Mesha Stela	Dedication by Ilîmagud Mayfa	Demetrius Poliorcetes	Susa, Soldiers' Relief
Ladjvard, Sasanian king, perhaps Peroz	Rome, S. Pietro, Sarcophagus with Christ as Lawgiver	Statuette of a hippopotamus	Merenptah
Valerian Jr	Socrates	Bawit, Coptic church, Model	Apries
Bishapur, Palace, Mosaic of a musician	Antinoopolis, Coptic textile, Praying man with candelaber and ankh	Olympia, Temple of Zeus, Model	Delos, Portrait of Alexander the Great
Giza, Diner of Nefer	Susa, Soldiers' Relief, Sphinxes	Temple of Athena, relief, symposium	Didia Clara
Boy with hoop and rooster	Tayma, Nabataean votive stela	Khorsabad, Relief of Sargon and Sennacherib, prince Sennacherib	The Azara herm
The Azara herm	Yemen, Dromedary pendant	Susa, Rim of a cup with the name of Xerxes	Isis and Nectanebo II (Serapeum, Saqqara)
Coptic jar with decoration of a woman with wild animals	Susa, Middle-Elamite model of a sun ritual	Charlemagne	Susa, The Awan King List
Drawing of Amenhotep I	Susa, Temple of the Šutrukids, Relief	King Djedefra	Susa, Soldiers' Relief, Lion
Aelius Caesar	Gladiator helmet	Psamtek I	Portrait of a Roman man (CE 070-100)
Aglibol (Moon), Ba'al Šamem (Lord of Heaven), and Malekbel (Sun)	Utica, Oil lamp	Susa, Soldiers' Relief with inscription DSm	Temple of Athena, relief, bulls
Imperator inscription (EDCS-05600393)	Ptolemy X Alexander	Utica, Oil lamp	Khorsabad, Relief of two courtiers
Justinian (Barberini Ivory)	Smyrna, Diadumenianus	Nectanebo I wearing the war crown	Susa, Stone relief with a banquet scene
Susa, Silver rhyton	Susa, Apadana, Inscription DSf (Elamite)	Susa, Soldiers' Relief, Immortal, Counterweight of a spear	Khorsabad, Relief of rafts on a great river
Corinth, Small painting of Poseidon	Megara, Figurine of two hoplites	Alexander I Balas	Susa, Weight from Didyma
Greek plate with a picture of the Chimaera. Louvre, Paris (France)	Esarhaddon and his mother attend the restoration of Babylon	Chalouf, Darius' DZb inscription	Fausta
Susa, Gold plate with royal warrior	Nineveh, Palace of Aššurbanipal, Relief of Arbela	Agrippa Postumus	Susa, Soldiers' Relief, Mythological creatures
Cherchell, Inscription of Micipsa	Enkomi, Late Bronze pectoral with sphinxes	Moabite warrior god	Arsinoe III
Saba, the Arab warrior Mushayqat Hamayat ibn Yusuf on a dromedary	The body of Hector	Hadrumetum, Sanctuary of Baal Hammon, Punic stela with three baetyls	Horus, Osiris, Isis (from the reign of Osorkon II)
The Azara herm	Susa, Apadana, Capital	A Christian phylacterium, invoking the protection of several celestial beings to protect one Alexandra	Khorsabad, Lion-taming spirit ("Gilgameš")
Susa, Battle axe	Amasis	Ptolemy IV Philopator or Ptolemy VI Philometor	Susa, Middle-Elamite basrelief of warrior gods
An Egyptian poem about the battle of Kadesh	Tombstone of Iglum, son of Sa'adillat	Byblos, Temple of Baalat, Figurine of a bull	Tepe Sialk, Sherd from the fourth millennium BCE
Susa, Soldiers' Relief	Ptolemy XI Alexander, gold sealing ring	Susa, Letter from Artabanus II, requesting the appointment of one Hecataeus as treasurer	Heraclius and Khusrau
Caere, Banditaccia necropolis, Wall painting of an archer	Uruk, Cuneiform tablet with first use of a zero	Ptolemy II Philadelphus	Cirta, Sanctuary of El-Hofra, Votive stela
Hermopolis, Portrait of a Cleopatra I, Cleopatra II, or Berenice III	Ptolemy III Euergetes	Ajax and Cassandra.	Funeral inscription of Itaybel
Tyre, Hellenistic building inscription from Al-Ma'shook	Pittacus