Paleo-Babylonian, from what is now modern day Iraq.

The house was bought by Mannum-balu-Samas at the price of 1/3 shekel and 15 grains of silver. The text records names of witnesses present including the mayor Sin-magir and the courier Apil-ilisu, in the 32nd year of Hammurabl's reign, 10th month, c. 1750 BC.

My photo shows a Paleo-Babylonian clay tablet inscribed with cuneiform text, still partially enclosed in its original clay envelope. The clay is pale orangey-brown in colour displayed against a grey display case background. The outer envelope has been broken open, revealing the inner tablet beneath. Both surfaces are covered with densely packed wedge-shaped characters, which record a contract for the sale of a house purchased by Mannum-balu-Samas at the price of 1/3 shekel and 15 grains of silver. This is followed by the names of the numerous witnesses including the mayor Sin-magir and the courier Apil-ilisu. The same text is repeated on the envelope in the event of a dispute, which was broken to inspect the internal document. It is dated 32nd year of Hammurabl's reign, 10th month, c. 1750 BC. The clay envelope measures 87 mm (height) × 55 mm (width), while the inner tablet measures 64 mm (height) × 43 mm (width). On display at the Museum of Antiquity in Turin. Collection number MAT 740.

A 3,750 year-old contract for the sale of a house recorded on a clay tablet, still in its original clay envelope!

Museo di Antichità, Turin
📷 by me

#Archaeology

Cover of the April 2026 issue of Antiquity, featuring an image of an aqueduct.

Our April issue is out now! Featuring great #archaeology such as:

🍽️ Cuisine and culture in Viking Age England
🦠 Parallels between Early Modern plague and Covid-19
🛶 The dangerous maritime journeys taken by the first people in the High Arctic

& more! 🏺
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

For #TombTuesday I offer the wonderful West Kennet. My 📷 taken this last weekend

Medieval floor tile from Gloucester Cathedral. 📸 My own. #TilesOnTuesday #GloucesterCathedral

#TombTuesday

Loughcrew Cairns is a passage tomb cemetery located near the village of Oldcastle in County Meath. The most striking features of the #archaeological landscape of Loughcrew are the three large cairns that dominate the summit of three steep hills. #Ireland #Archaeology

More beautiful ancient glass. This mosaic glass bowl is over 2000 years old.

My photo shows a Hellenistic era hemispherical mosaic glass bowl viewed from above. The glass has a floral pattern made up of tiny, many-petalled blue, white, and yellowy-green flowers against a dark purple background (looks black in my photo). The bowl has an alternating diagonal-striped black and white glass rim. The bowl has been reconstructed from fragments and the plain light blue areas are where missing glass fragments have been replaced during reconstruction. It measures 13.2 cm in diameter and 7.5 cm in height. It was made in the eastern Mediterranean about 200-100 BC.

This Hellenistic mosaic glass bowl looks so modern, yet it was made over 2,000 years ago!

Ancient glassmakers created the tiny flower pattern using a technique now known as ‘millefiori’ (thousand flowers). A timeless design still made by glassmakers today!

British Museum 📷 by me

#Archaeology

Webpage containing several links to recent news stories relating to Antiquity research. Each story is depicted with a category, image, title and short 'teaser' paragraph.

Want to explore the latest in #ArchaeologyNews? Our website's news section covers everything from accessible summaries of new research to personal blogs from Antiquity authors!

Check it out at antiquity.ac.uk/news

🏺 #Archaeology

The picture shows a pair of Egyptian sandals made of woven reed and palm leaves, the sole with bound edges and pointed toe. One sandal is completely preserved with ankle strap and toe strap.

#Egyptian flip flops: a pair of sandals made of woven reed and palm leaves. Dating around 1500-1400BC

On display at Museum of the University of Tübingen

📷me

🏺

Part of a colourful Roman mosaic floor depicting doves drinking from a vase from a townhouse that dates AD 1-50. The house is now below the Caseggiato delle Taberne in #OstiaAntica.
📷 my own.
#MosaicMonday #Archaeology #AncientRome

First to Second Century AD floor mosaic from Rome with the head of Medusa at the centre. Now part of the collections at the Terme di Diocleziano in Rome. 📸 My own. #MosaicMonday #Rome

Central panel from a Roman mosaic featuring two naked male characters, one seated playing a lyre, the dancing with pan pipes

Here's one of our favourite #Dorset #Roman floors for #MosaicMonday

The lively depiction of a music battle between Apollo (with lyre) and Marsyas (pipes)

[Spoiler alert: things end badly for Marsyas]

Found 1834 and moved to Sherborne Castle

Painting by David Neal for @antiquaries.bsky.social

Glassmaking Technique: Mosaic Glass YouTube video by Getty Museum

Watch how to make a mosaic glass bowl
m.youtube.com/watch?v=5qgt...

It’s the name given to this type of ancient glass where pre-formed canes of multi-coloured glass were placed in a mould and heated so that they fused together

allaboutglass.cmog.org/definition/m...

#bloomscrolling

Museum catalogue record:
www.britishmuseum.org/collection/o...

My photo shows a Hellenistic era hemispherical mosaic glass bowl viewed from above. The glass has a floral pattern made up of tiny, many-petalled blue, white, and yellowy-green flowers against a dark purple background (looks black in my photo). The bowl has an alternating diagonal-striped black and white glass rim. The bowl has been reconstructed from fragments and the plain light blue areas are where missing glass fragments have been replaced during reconstruction. It measures 13.2 cm in diameter and 7.5 cm in height. It was made in the eastern Mediterranean about 200-100 BC.

This Hellenistic mosaic glass bowl looks so modern, yet it was made over 2,000 years ago!

Ancient glassmakers created the tiny flower pattern using a technique now known as ‘millefiori’ (thousand flowers). A timeless design still made by glassmakers today!

British Museum 📷 by me

#Archaeology

A display of a well preserved object resembling a bucket, with a triangular handle and rough, decayed texture. The object is mounted upright in a glass case within a modern museum setting.

A Neolithic well bucket made of lime bast and a willow handle, dating back some 7000 years ago.
Lime bast fibre is a strong and flexible inner bark of a lime (linden) tree that was, for example, used to make textiles or ropes.
Found in a well in Eythra, dating 5100-5000 BC. 🧵1/2

📷 me

Elegantly shaped Minoan wine jug covered in a delicate pattern of reeds, brown on cream background. Minoan Neopalatial period. 1500-1450 BCE.

I've been many times to the museum, as I live on the island. This jug is my absolute favourite Minoan ceramic. I think it's exquisite.

My photo shows a frontal view of a buff-coloured Minoan pottery jug with a dark-red, stylised octopus painted beneath the dark red pouring spout. The jug has a rounded body with very short neck with out-turned rim, the body tapers downwards to a slightly turned out flat base also painted red. On each shoulder there’s a small chunky loop handle. The octopus is stylised and looks cartoon-like with a vertical dumbbell shaped body, with two large circular eyes with central red dots staring out at the viewer. From the top of the head emerge eight suckered arms. Four arms hang symmetrically downwards on each side of the body, writhing and curling at the tip. There is a similar red octopus on each side of the jug not shown in my photo.

A 3,500 year-old Minoan jar with a cartoon-like octopus under the spout! 🐙

From Kommos, Crete. Heraklion Archaeological Museum 📷 by me

#Archaeology

An unusual statuette from Egypt's Late Period or Ptolemaic era, depicting an elegant #cat feeding her kittens. In this case, she's not a just a cat - she's Bastet, goddess of fertility, and protector of women and children. I love the kitten trying to give mama a kiss. 🐈‍⬛ 🏺 1/

📸 me #BrooklynMuseum

Small figure of a standing hippopotamus in hard brown and white stone, as an amulet, as seen through a magnifying glass. It has a large loop on the top of its back, through which a thin cord could be threaded. The small size, material, and workmanship make possible a Middle Kingdom date.

This stone amulet of a hippopotamus is so tiny that it can only be fully appreciated with a magnifying glass. Its legs were broken before burial, to ensure it posed no threat to the tomb owner in the afterlife. 🏺 1/

Egyptian, ca. 2008-1630 BCE. #BrooklynMuseum
📸 me

A grey haired archaeologist points at the word hillfort on the screen behind him in a lecture theatre

Clare Randall midway through her talk on Dorset hillforts discusses Woolsbarrow in a lecture theatre

A great time spent with the Hillfort Study Group #HSG in Bournemouth talking about all things Iron Age

An evening of ramparty goodness 😊👍

#Archaeology

The columns of an arched building with a plant growing to one side. Venus is bathing with attendant nymphs holding her towel & fresh water.

Stone relief
From a water tank.

It shows Venus bathing with attendant nymphs holding her towel & fresh water.

From Bremenium (High Rochester) fort, Northumberland, to the north of Hadrian's Wall.

Now in Great North Museum: Hancock, Newcastle.

#RomanSiteSaturday #archaeology

The Great Lady Offerant, a pre-Roman Iberian limestone sculpture from the 3rd century BC.

Found at the Sanctuary of Cerro de los Santos (Albacete), she is shown presenting an offering, with remarkable detail in her clothing, jewelry and ceremonial dress.

#Archaeology #AncientArt #Museum #History

Looking down an ancient paved road with people, Roman ruins and mountains in the distance

Looking down the Via di Mercurio from the Roman city wall of #Pompeii towards the forum, early one Saturday morning

📷 Sept 2023

#RomanSiteSaturday #Archaeology #Archeology 🏺 #AncientBlueSky

Love this little fella! 😍

It is exquisite! By the so-called (Minoan) ‘Reed painter’