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