ANTIQUITIES

PRINCESS FRESCO (detail) from the Ashmolean collections

ANTIQUITIES

Storage jar (pithos) with octopus design, Crete, 1450-1400 BC

Explore the Ashmolean's Antiquities online collection

EXPLORE

INTERACTIVE 3D TOUR

Examine the Arundel marbles in 3D and delve into their stories on this virtual interactive tour.

TAKE THE TOUR

ALFRED JEWEL

Made for the only English monarch known as 'the Great'

BALLYSHANNON 'SUN DISC'

An early discovery of a prehistoric object

CYCLADIC FIGURE

From Pre-history to Picasso

DJED-DJEHUTY-IUEF-ANKH MUMMY

Journeying to an afterlife

GUY FAWKES' LANTERN

Remember, remember the 5th of November

JERICHO SKULL

Plastered skull from Jericho around 7000BC

KNOSSOS STORAGE JAR

An octopus at home in a palace

MUMMY OF MERESAMUN

Singer for the Temple of Amun

POTTERY JAR, KITION

Inspired by trade and diplomacy

POWHATAN'S MANTLE

First encounters in North America

PRINCESS FRESCO

The idyllic life of the daughters of Pharaoh

PROTECTIVE SPIRIT

Protecting the king with a bucket of water

READING AND WRITING

This gallery shows how reading and writing have developed globally in different cultures over thousands of years....

This gallery shows how reading and writing have developed globally in different cultures over thousands of years. The examples in the Museum’s collection give a voice to people in...

This gallery shows how reading and writing have developed globally in different cultures over thousands of years. The examples in the Museum’s collection give a voice to people in the past and show different ways...

This gallery shows how reading and writing have developed globally in different cultures over thousands of years. The examples in the Museum’s collection give a voice to people in the past and show different ways in which they have recorded facts

ROME

This gallery provides a rich flavour of what it was like to live in Roman times and focuses on aspects of Roman...

This gallery provides a rich flavour of what it was like to live in Roman times and focuses on aspects of Roman public and private life throughout the empire from about 400 BC to AD...

This gallery provides a rich flavour of what it was like to live in Roman times and focuses on aspects of Roman public and private life throughout the empire from about 400 BC to AD 300.

ITALY BEFORE ROME

This gallery focuses on the Italian peninsula before its domination by Romans when it was a mixture of cultures,...

This gallery focuses on the Italian peninsula before its domination by Romans when it was a mixture of cultures, including Latin, Samnite and Etruscan.

GREECE

This gallery not only explores the familiar subject of life in classical Greece but shows how between 750 and 500...

This gallery not only explores the familiar subject of life in classical Greece but shows how between 750 and 500 BC Greeks founded hundreds of settlements abroad in southern Italy,...

This gallery not only explores the familiar subject of life in classical Greece but shows how between 750 and 500 BC Greeks founded hundreds of settlements abroad in southern Italy, Sicily, North Africa and around...

This gallery not only explores the familiar subject of life in classical Greece but shows how between 750 and 500 BC Greeks founded hundreds of settlements abroad in southern Italy, Sicily, North Africa and around the Mediterranean and the Black Sea.

EUROPEAN PREHISTORY

This gallery concerns the prehistoric peoples of Europe, and what can be learned about them from their surviving...

This gallery concerns the prehistoric peoples of Europe, and what can be learned about them from their surviving material culture.

ANCIENT CYPRUS

This gallery focuses on the wealth of the Mediterranean island of Cyprus from around 5000 BC to AD 200.

ANCIENT MIDDLE EAST

The development of the Assyrian, Babylonian and Persian empires is traced through wall cases on one side of the...

The development of the Assyrian, Babylonian and Persian empires is traced through wall cases on one side of the gallery, including a display of finely carved ivories from the ruined...

The development of the Assyrian, Babylonian and Persian empires is traced through wall cases on one side of the gallery, including a display of finely carved ivories from the ruined palace of Nimrud (900 to 600...

The development of the Assyrian, Babylonian and Persian empires is traced through wall cases on one side of the gallery, including a display of finely carved ivories from the ruined palace of Nimrud (900 to 600 BC).

AEGEAN WORLD

In this gallery you can find information about the Bronze Age (3200 to 1100 BC) around the Aegean Sea, especially...

In this gallery you can find information about the Bronze Age (3200 to 1100 BC) around the Aegean Sea, especially the early Cyclades, Minoan Crete and Mycenaean Greece.

GREEK AND ROMAN SCULPTURE

The sculptures and inscriptions on display here are part of the largest surviving portion of the first major collection...

The sculptures and inscriptions on display here are part of the largest surviving portion of the first major collection of Classical antiquities in Britain.

EGYPT AT ITS ORIGINS

The galleries of Ancient Egypt and Sudan will take you on a tour through thousands of years of human occupation...

The galleries of Ancient Egypt and Sudan will take you on a tour through thousands of years of human occupation of the Nile Valley.

ANCIENT EGYPT AND SUDAN

Displays in this gallery chart the progress of ancient Egyptian culture, from the funerary concerns of Old Kingdom...

Displays in this gallery chart the progress of ancient Egyptian culture, from the funerary concerns of Old Kingdom officials (around 2575 to 1975 BC), through the monumental building...

Displays in this gallery chart the progress of ancient Egyptian culture, from the funerary concerns of Old Kingdom officials (around 2575 to 1975 BC), through the monumental building projects of Middle Kingdom kings...

Displays in this gallery chart the progress of ancient Egyptian culture, from the funerary concerns of Old Kingdom officials (around 2575 to 1975 BC), through the monumental building projects of Middle Kingdom kings (around 1975 to 1640 BC).

LIFE AND DEATH IN ANCIENT EGYPT

The objects displayed in this gallery all served as practical tools designed to help their owner make the journey...

The objects displayed in this gallery all served as practical tools designed to help their owner make the journey from death to the afterlife, and to provide for them for eternity....

The objects displayed in this gallery all served as practical tools designed to help their owner make the journey from death to the afterlife, and to provide for them for eternity.

THE AMARNA 'REVOLUTION'

The informal theme of palace life is beautifully conveyed in the ‘Princesses fresco’ displayed in the wall...

The informal theme of palace life is beautifully conveyed in the ‘Princesses fresco’ displayed in the wall case on the right.

EGYPT IN THE AGE OF EMPIRES

This gallery covers the period after Akhenaten’s demise up to the Greek and Roman conquests of Egypt.

EGYPT MEETS GREECE AND ROME

The final room in the sequence of the Egyptian galleries charts the history of Egypt after the death of Alexander...

The final room in the sequence of the Egyptian galleries charts the history of Egypt after the death of Alexander the Great in 305 BC and the division of his empire.

MEDIEVAL CYPRUS

This small gallery highlights how Cyprus’s geographical position exposed the island to the campaigns of the Crusaders...

This small gallery highlights how Cyprus’s geographical position exposed the island to the campaigns of the Crusaders to the Holy Land in the Middle Ages.

ENGLAND 400-1600

This gallery displays items from the Ashmolean’s English archaeological collection – one of the finest in the...

This gallery displays items from the Ashmolean’s English archaeological collection – one of the finest in the world.

MEDITERRANEAN WORLD

The Mediterranean World Gallery examines the Mediterranean region after the division of the Roman empire by exploring...

The Mediterranean World Gallery examines the Mediterranean region after the division of the Roman empire by exploring the sea and life in some of the principal cities around its sh...

The Mediterranean World Gallery examines the Mediterranean region after the division of the Roman empire by exploring the sea and life in some of the principal cities around its shores.

RESEARCH PROFILES

View staff who conduct, and facilitate, research in the museum

Crates of archaeological finds from excavations in the Fayum

PROJECTS

View Antiquities research projects

Black and White photograph of Mummy Coffin

PAST EXHIBITIONS

View past Antiquities exhibitions

Want to view more Ashmolean curatorial departments?

VIEW

ANTIQUITIES

ANTIQUITIES

Explore the Ashmolean's Antiquities online collection

ANTIQUITIES COLLECTIONS

INTERACTIVE 3D TOUR

TREASURES FROM OUR COLLECTION

ALFRED JEWEL

BALLYSHANNON 'SUN DISC'

CYCLADIC FIGURE

DJED-DJEHUTY-IUEF-ANKH MUMMY

GUY FAWKES' LANTERN

JERICHO SKULL

KNOSSOS STORAGE JAR

MUMMY OF MERESAMUN

POTTERY JAR, KITION

POWHATAN'S MANTLE

PRINCESS FRESCO

PROTECTIVE SPIRIT

VISIT US

ANTIQUITIES GALLERIES

READING AND WRITING

ROME

ITALY BEFORE ROME

GREECE

EUROPEAN PREHISTORY

ANCIENT CYPRUS

ANCIENT MIDDLE EAST

AEGEAN WORLD

GREEK AND ROMAN SCULPTURE

EGYPT AT ITS ORIGINS

ANCIENT EGYPT AND SUDAN

LIFE AND DEATH IN ANCIENT EGYPT

THE AMARNA 'REVOLUTION'

EGYPT IN THE AGE OF EMPIRES

EGYPT MEETS GREECE AND ROME

MEDIEVAL CYPRUS

ENGLAND 400-1600

MEDITERRANEAN WORLD

FIND OUT MORE

RESEARCH PROFILES

PROJECTS

PAST EXHIBITIONS

CONTACT US

Coronavirus notice script (DO NOT EDIT)

Coronavirus warning content (Edit this content)