Spain, 600 - 400 B.C (the site said a.c but considering it is iron age a typo perhaps)
length 45.5 cm.
Straight, double-edged blade with eight narrow grooves tapering together towards the tip. Three-piece cast iron grip comprising a small guard enclosing the base of the blade with a cylindrical faceted grip; the pommel end with two flattened projections with separate hollow cast caps of flattened ovoid section. The blade with dark patina damaged by rust, the grip with traces of gilding
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Paintings in the Campana tomb. Veji, about 600 BC. 31 January 1847 Luigi Canina: L'antica città de Veii, Rome 1847, pl. XXXI
Object 7: Wall Paintings in Tombs (Campana Tomb)
Themes:
Funerary painting, cultural exchange, aristocratic identity, journey to the beyond
Visual Description
Deteriorated wall paintings in the Campana Tomb at Monte Michele, Veii, dated to around 600 BCE. Paintings decorate the rear wall of the first chamber, flanking the door to the inner room, in two superposed rows of tapestry-like design combining geometric, animal, and floral elements with narrative scenes. Horsemen, grooms, dogs, felines, a deer, and a sphinx move through fantastic vegetation of unequal scale. One figure carries a double axe. The inner chamber shows two superposed rows of three shields painted with concentric circles of colored trapezoids on its rear wall.
Significance
The Campana Tomb represents the earliest phase of Etruscan tomb painting — a tradition arising directly from the development of smooth-walled rock-carved chamber tombs. The iconographic mixture (Cretan sculptural models, Corinthian and Etrusco-Corinthian vase-painting) is itself a statement about cultural exchange: Etruscan elites absorbed and synthesized visual vocabulary from across the Mediterranean. The double axe motif and the hunting/journey scene point to aristocratic self-representation and ideas about passage to the afterlife. The painted shields in the inner room may replicate actual bronze shields hung in earlier tombs, connecting painting to real funerary objects.
Broader Themes & Connections
Origins of Etruscan tomb painting; synthesis of Cretan, Corinthian, and Etruscan visual models; aristocratic hunting as a recurring motif; the journey to the beyond as a funerary theme; shields as symbols of warrior status; the relationship between painting and actual grave goods.
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Pair of Protomes Depicting the Forepart of a Griffin, 625-575 B.C.
Bronze with bone or ivory inlay
1: 20.3 x 7.6 x 7.6 cm (8 x 3 x 3 in.); 2: 21.6 x 8.3 x 7 cm (8 1/2 x 3 1/4 x 2 3/4 in.)
Greek, probably Samos
Description: “The great holy sites of ancient Greece, such as the sanctuary of Zeus at Olympia and the Heraion of Samos, functioned as repositories for gifts brought by believers seeking divine favor. The most impressive of these offerings were large bronze cauldrons, which were set on a conical stand or tripod base and embellished with cast-bronze attachments like these two griffins. These beasts, facing outward, would have been fastened to the vessel by means of the rivets still present on their collars. This hollowcast pair is remarkable for the superb quality of their craftsmanship, their condition, and their partially preserved inlaid eyes.A mythical creature revered for its protective powers, the griffin combined a feline body, an avian head, and tall, horse-like ears. It has been argued that the beaked Protoceratops dinosaurs that once roamed Central Asia were the iconographic inspiration for these ferocious beasts. Travelers may have seen the fantastic fossilized remains of the dinosaurs and then created stories to account for them. Meanwhile, local inhabitants may have spread tales about their ferocity as a way to discourage marauders from looting their wealth. These two griffins are highly agitated; their mouths are agape and their tongues curl up as they screech bloodcurdling warnings to ward off intruders.
The iconographic inspiration for the ferocious griffin (a feline creature with a beak), which the Greeks revered for its powers of protection, was probably the fossilized remains of four-legged, bird-beaked dinosaurs that once roamed Central Asia. Traders and others may have come across them in their travels around the Gobi Desert. Having no knowledge of the paleontological past, they created a story to account for the strange creatures. These two griffins were once riveted to the shoulder of a ceremonial vessel that sat atop a three-legged stand. It was placed in a religious sanctuary by a prosperous Greek as a demonstration of his piety and a display of his wealth.”
Source: Art Institute of Chicago
Bronze Figure of a Seated Cat, 600 BC, Egypt. Currently at the British Museum. Love the jewelry. Wonder if it had stones for eyes... via: museumsyndicate.com
Was Vasco da Gama Really the First Around the World?
Most, if not all, textbooks will tell you that the Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama was the first to sail around the world. Accounts from Greek historian Herodotus (c. 440 B.C.) say that Phoenician sailors, working for Pharaoh Necho (610-595 B.C.), were instead the first to sail around the world.
Because the Phoenicians lived on a few islands and a strip of land on the coast of the Lebanon, they didn't have many resources, but what they did have they made good use of. One of the things they had was a great deal of timber, they used the timber to make the boats that would transport the goods they made and, apparently, sail them around the world.
It was for that fact that Pharaoh Necho chose them to set sail on a voyage that he commissioned around 600 B.C. Herodotus says that Necho sent a Phoenician fleet to sail south from the Arabian Gulf, work westward, and then return to the Mediterranean by going through the Straits of Gibraltar. This voyage took over two years, because twice they had to stop and sow grain and wait to harvest, and then in the third year they returned.
Unfortunately, Herodotus is known as both the "Father of History" and the "Father of Lies", depending on who you ask, so, despite the many details pointing towards the truth, many chose to ignore or disregard this.
James, Peter, and Nick Thorpe. "Voyagers and Discoveries." Ancient Mysteries. New York: Ballantine Group, 1999. 368-369. Print.
