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Asyut Treasure
The Asyut Treasure is the name of an important Byzantine hoard of jewellery found near the city of Asyut, central Egypt. Discovered in mysterious circumstances in the early twentieth century, the treasure is now divided between the Kunstgewerbemuseum in Berlin, the British Museum in London and the Metropolitan Museum in New York City. Discovery In 1909, a large gold hoard from late antiquity was found either at Tomet near Asyut, or at the ancient site of Antinoë, on the eastern bank of the Nile in central Egypt. The exact circumstances of the find remain obscure as the treasure was not excavated by professional archaeologists. The very high quality of the pieces, some of which were embossed with medallions of the Byzantine Emperor, link the Asyut Treasure to the imperial court in Constantinople. The assemblage of gold jewellery was possibly brought from the capital to the supposedly safer environment of Egypt in the early 7th century, before it was hidden there from the Arab i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Byzantine Jewellery (2)
The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinople. It survived the fragmentation and fall of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD and continued to exist for an additional thousand years until the fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Empire in 1453. During most of its existence, the empire remained the most powerful economic, cultural, and military force in Europe. The terms "Byzantine Empire" and "Eastern Roman Empire" were coined after the end of the realm; its citizens continued to refer to their empire as the Roman Empire, and to themselves as Romans—a term which Greeks continued to use for themselves into Ottoman times. Although the Roman state continued and its traditions were maintained, modern historians prefer to differentiate the Byzantine Empire from Ancient Rome a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
