the culture

Native American Heritage Month

pomegranate shaped vessel | c. 1100s BCE | egypt, new kingdom, 19th or 20th dynasty

Carnelian stamp seal featuring a kitty, Minoan, 1900-1600 BC

A Romanian folk costume dating from the late 19th century.

Bead Collar from Egypt dated between 664 - 332 BCE on display at the Leeds City Museum in Leeds, England

An Egyptian rock crystal of a chonky hinpopotamus amulet

(Middle Kingdom, ca. 2050-1650 BCE)

Amulets were worn by ancient Egyptians for their protective and regenative properties. Used in both in daily life and during funerary rites, amulets represented animals, deities, symbols or objects thought to possess the magical powers of warding off evil spirits.

A Roman "hologram" effect ring found in the grave of 1st century AD noblewoman, Aebutia Quarta.

Rank badge with a pair of cranes, Joseon dynasty (1392–1910), late 19th century. Silk embroidery on silk satin damask

South Africa:

Vintage photographs of South Africans of Indian origin, c 1930s, Durban.

South Africans of Indian origin comprise a heterogeneous community distinguished by different origins, languages, and religious beliefs. The first Indians arrived during the Dutch colonial era, as slaves, in 1684. A conservative calculation based strictly on records shows over 16 300 slaves from the Indian subcontinent having been brought to the Cape. In the decades 1690 to 1725 over 80% of the slaves were Indians. This practice continued until the end of slavery in 1838. They made up the majority of slaves that came from the Far East and were by the 1880s totally integrated into the Cape White and Coloured communities.

In the second half if the 19th Century, Indians came to South Africa in two categories, namely as indentured workers in 1860 and later as ‘free’ or ‘passenger’ Indians. The former came as a result of a triangular pact among three governments, which stated that the indentured Indians were to work for the Natal colonial government on Natal’s sugar plantations. The ‘free’ Indians came to South Africa mainly as traders alert to new opportunities abroad. These ‘free Indians’ came at their own expense from India, Mauritius, and other places. However, emigration was stopped in 1914.  Read more.