Winged Victory of Samothrace (Nike of Samothrace) - Marble, 2nd century BCE.

Erechtheion Caryatid 1928-1929

Caryatid, greek: Καρυάτις - Karyatid, literally means "maiden of Karyai"
Caryatid is the name given to an architectural column which takes the form of a standing female figure. The first examples come from ancient Greek architecture .
The term Caryatid first appears in the 4th century BCE in reference to Karyai in Laconia where women often danced balancing a basket on their heads in honour of Artemis and where Caryatids were used in Archaic architecture. They were an evolution of the earlier korai statues of both male and female figures prevalent throughout the Archaic period and used as columns in Ionian architecture. These were themselves an evolution of Persian columns which often employed animal figures within the column design.
Archaic Caryatids were usually used in the porches of Treasury buildings which were built to house offerings from specific states at religious sanctuaries such as Delphi and Olympia. The most important treasury at Delphi was from the Siphnians (c. 525 BCE) and this and at least two other Treasuries had Caryatids. Caryatids of this period often have a short column drum above the head in order to facilitate the join with the column capital.

The great leader Vercingetorix formally surrendered to romans and a period of relative peace and prosperity was established in this region . The gaulish were incorporporated to empire , Caesar apparently showed a politics of some magnanimity and not of annihilation.

Ostracon - Ancient Egypt

In ancient Egypt ,"Ostracon" : pieces of broken pottery or stone (most often limestone) were used as notepads as they were a cheaper and more plentiful option than papyrus which was costly and time consuming to make.
Were used by students in scribal schools to practice their writing and by administrators to write notes, keep tallies of goods and calculate taxation.
They were used to scribble messages and draw preparatory sketches for artworks. The ancient Egyptians also used them to make votive offerings to gods and to the deceased.

Hunting with eagles , Nomadic tradition .

This millennial nomadic tradition is still current today .The Golden Eagle Festival, celebrated in Bayan-Ölgii Province ( Altai Mountains of Western Mongolia ), brings together the community’s best hunters ( about 40) ,during the first weekend in October each year.
These honoured eagle trainers ride into the festival atop exceptionally groomed horses while wearing traditional regalia.
Surrounded by an astounding Mongolian mountain range, the Festival is a fantastic cultural event where specially trained golden eagles shows its speed, agility, and accuracy.

Hunting with eagles is a traditional form of falconry found throughout the Eurasian steppe, practiced by Kazakh and Kyrgyz people in contemporary Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, as well as in Bayan-Ölgii, Mongolia, and Xinjiang, China.

In 936-45 AD the Khitans, a nomadic people from Manchuria, conquered part of north China but retained many nomadic traditions, including eagle hunting.
Some Archaeologists trace back falconry in Central Asia to the first millennium BC.

During the communist period in Kazakhstan, many Kazakhs fled for Mongolia,settling in Bayan-Ölgii Province and bringing with them their tradition of hunting with eagles. There are an estimated 250 eagle hunters in Bayan-Ölgii, in the Altai Mountains of western Mongolian.

Abu Simbel, one of the most spectacular buildings in Egypt, is a complex made up of two temples excavated in the rock, one of them is dedicated to Ramses II and the other to Nefertari, his first wife and his favorite.

Thracian Tomb of Kazanlak - UNESCO World Heritage

Gipsy Woman - Mosaic Roman villas at Zeugma ( Turkey ).
1st cent BC to AD 3rd cent .
The use of mosaics was an expensive practical, which involved creating a smooth floor,highly decorative, designed to impress. ZEUGMA : an important point near the Euphrates on the Silk Road .

Centuries of Preserved Shipwrecks Found in the Black Sea

A wreck dating back to the Byzantine Empire is illuminated by the Surveyor ROV in this reconstructed 3D image. Part of the mast still stands upright. In the low-oxygen depths of the Black Sea, the organisms that normally eat through the wood of shipwrecks can't survive, making conditions ideal for preservation.

Magnificent stela behind a statue of King Ramses II, with his double Shennu (cartouches) at the top. Luxor Temple.

Theotokos

The Apse Mosaic in the Hagia Sophia shows the Virgin Mary holding baby Jesus. It is 13 feet tall.

Theotokos : title of Mary, mother of Jesus, used especially in Eastern Christianity.

Byzantine mosaic floor of the Great Palace of Constantinople.
For over a thousand years, from the fourth century until the Ottoman conquest in 1453, the art of mosaic formed an integral part of the decoration of monumental buildings in Constantinople.
Ancient sources mention the mosaic floors that decorated the palaces of Byzantine emperors and they refer also to the teams of mosaic makers who travelled from Constantinople to various parts of the empire, sometimes taking with them the materials they needed. The remains of a mosaic floor of the Great Palace of Constantinople, gives some idea of the superb craftsmanship of these mosaicists.

Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut.

Fragment of a Queen's Face (Nefertiti ? , Kiya? )
ca. 1353–1336 B.C.

Lion Gate in Hattusa, the capital of the Hittite Empire.
(Detail)

The Lion Gate demonstrates the details of Hittite sculpture of the 14th century BCE period and represents excellent piece of Hittite art.

The capital of the Hittites - Hattusa - was surrounded by massive fortifications when the Hittite civilization had a status of the Near East superpower. The walls were erected using the natural shape of the terrain or completely changing it, depending on the architectural and strategic needs. At least six gates let people enter the interior of the city. The Lion Gate is the first one that can be seen when following the official sightseeing route around Hattusa.
The Lion Gate, built in the early 14th century BCE, is located in the south-western part of the fortifications.
The statues of the front halves of two lions that gave the gate its customary name, were carved in huge blocks of rock on both sides of the external doors. The silhouettes of these wild animals with open jaws and wide open eyes probably played a protective function - they were to scare away evil spirits from the city. This explanation has been deduced by the researchers on the basis of the similarity of the lion theme to other such representations, known from Hittite and Mesopotamian architecture.

Statuette of Amun
Third Intermediate Period, Dynasty 22

Amon, king of the Egyptian deities, in the form of a ram protecting Taharqa.
The British Museum/Heritage-Images

Taharqa (reigned ca. 688-ca. 663 BC) was a Nubian pharaoh of Egypt and Qore (king) of the Kingdom of Kush.
He was the last ruler of the Twenty-fifth Dynasty, the so-called Ethiopian Dynasty, and was driven out of Lower Egypt by the Assyrians as they began to conquer Egypt.

Archangel Michael
He is the General of God according to the Jewish, Christian (Catholic, Orthodox, Coptic and Anglican Churches) and Islamic traditions, "prince of the heavenly host" in the fight against evil, he is a model to follow in the Christian imagination.

Krak des Chevaliers

Hagia Sophia , Byzantine art.

The Holy Theotokos .
The Virgin Mary is the Theotokos, the mother of Jesus Christ.

Alexander The Great , was born in Pella , 20/21 July 356 BC.
Died: 10 or 11 June 323 BC (aged 32).

"Is King Alexander alive? He lives and reigns and the world takes over"

Alexander the Great Monument, Thessaloniki, Greece

NOV 11 , 100th anniversary of the end of of World War I.

At 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918, the cessation of hostilities took effect along the Western Front in France.

Compiègne, France : General Weygand, Admiral Wemyss and Marshall Foch after signing the armistice with Germany to mark the end of of World War I.

Colossi of Memnon - Statues of Pharaoh Amenhotep III.

BATTLE OF KOSOVO - 1389

The day of the battle, known in Serbian as Vidovdan (St. Vitus' day) and celebrated according to the Julian calendar ,corresponding to 28 June Gregorian in the 20th and 21st centuries. That day, a coalition of Balkan princes were defeated by the Ottoman Sultan Murad I.
The leaders of both armies, Lazar of Serbia and Murad I , lost their lives in the battle.
On June 28, 1389, the Serbian Tsar Lazar was defeated by the Ottoman Empire in the legendary Battle of Kosovo Polje, one of the decisive events in the disappearance of the medieval kingdom of Serbia, which would not regain its independence until 1878. Since then, Kosovo would become the great founding myth of the Serbian people, united in the adversity, sacrifice and blood of that battlefield. The legendary narration of that combat, from one generation to the next, was one of the main elements by which the Serbian identity maintained its essence for five centuries, until it regained its independence in 1878. Kosovo is therefore considered the cradle of that nation, being there the most sacred temples of the Serbian autocephalous church, including its headquarters, located in Péc.
A few years earlier, the Ottomans had defeated Serbs and Bulgarians at the Battle of Maritza (1371), shortly after they had conquered the city of Adrianople (1369) which they renamed Edirne. And in 1389 the Serbian prince Lazar Hrebeljanovic assembled an army to try to stop the Turkish advance towards the Heart of Europe, counting on the support of the Bosnian king, Tvrtko I and some Serbian nobles.

Armenian National Clothing , TARAZ .

Alexander the Great ,Silver Tetradrachm
Struck around 300 BC in Ptolemaic Egypt (Kingdom of Ptolemy I Soter), this silver coin posthumously depicts Alexander as Conqueror of India , wearing an elephant skin headdress (a reference to his victory over King Porus).

Battle of Arsuf

September 7, 1191 - Richard the Lionheart defeats Saladin at the Battle of Arsuf. Richard's forces number 11,200, Saladin's army is 25,000 strong. Despite their numerical disadvantage, the crusaders inflict an overwhelming defeat on Saladin. Around half of the Sultan's troops are slain over the course of three charges by the Christian knights. Richard himself is at the forefront of the fighting. The battle secures crusader control of the southern Palestinian coast.