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