Querent's Quest Quay

19/06/2024

16/06/2024

Tiahuanaco (Bolivia) was the center of the Tiahuanaco civilization, a pre-Inca culture that based its economy on agriculture and livestock (1580 BC to 1000 AD.)

16/06/2024

Figurine of the god Priapus in two parts with top part removed, Gallo-Roman, 2000 years old.
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16/06/2024

Corinthian helmet from the Battle of Marathon (490 BC) found with the warrior"s skull inside.

16/06/2024

🔸The Shah Mosque, (known as Imam Mosque, after 1979 revolution), a part of the complex of Naqsh-e Jahan Square, the main attraction of Isfahan, Iran. It is regarded as one of masterpieces of Persian architecture in the Islamic era. Along with Naqsh-e Jahan Square, the mosque is registered as UNESCO World Heritage Site and is a popular destination for tourists visiting Isfahan.
Mosque was built between 1611-1629 CE, as a part of Naqsh-e Jahan Square Complex by decision of Shah Abbas I (1588-1629 CE), of Safavid Dynasty. The task for the leading architect of the project, Shaykh Bahai, was to build a Mosque that would symbolize the contribution of clergy in the Empire’s power structure.
📸 Credits to original owner

16/06/2024

Medieval ax with a preserved wooden handle discovered on the island of Ledniczka in Poland

16/06/2024

Ancient Egypt, Middle Kingdom, XII Dynasty, 1991-1802 BC, Dayr al Basha, Egypt. An interesting particular of a wall painting representing Scenes of Real Life in the Excavations of the Tomb of the governor Djehutihotep.

16/06/2024

David is a life-size marble sculpture by Gian Lorenzo Bernini, that was commissioned to decorate the villa of Cardinal Scipione Borghese where it still resides today, as part of the Galleria Borghese. It was completed in the course of 8 months from 1623 to 1624
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16/06/2024

Chatelaine, 1863 – 1885, probably England.
A chatelaine would have hung from a lady’s waist and was intended to be both decorative and practical. The small tools and accessories that might be incorporated included a watch, scissors, tweezers, magnifying glass, scent flask and miniature notebook or ivory writing tablet.
Cut steel was a fashionable material for jewellery, buttons, buckles, sword hilts and watch chains in the decades around 1800. They were made from brightly polished rivets, their ends faceted to imitate diamonds. Such pieces gave a grey but powerful glitter. Originally an English speciality, the production of cut steel had spread to other centres in Europe by the early 19th century.
© Victoria and Albert Museum, London

15/06/2024

An old photo showing a 4000-year-old Sumerian classroom in Iraq nad how did it look like then.
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15/06/2024

Pectoral jewel depicting a falcon with outspread wings around the sun disk, holding shen rings, the symbols of eternal protection in his claws. One of the Ankh’s broken (probably during use).
The cloisonné technique – which here achieves a degree of excellence – enabled the 18th Dynasty goldsmith who made this incredible pectoral to combine an enchantment of semi-precious stones, perfectly rendering the texture and composition of the plumage. From the Tomb of Tutankhamun (KV62). JE 61893
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15/06/2024

These 4500-year-old statues of Menkaure were excavated at Giza in 1908 AD. They were buried beneath layers of sand and debris, hidden from the world for thousands of years.

15/06/2024

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐕𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐊𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬
𝑾𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑽𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒚 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑲𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔 𝑰𝒏 𝑬𝒈𝒚𝒑𝒕?
The Valley of the Kings is situated on the west bank of the Nile in Luxor, 25 km from the train station. It is one of the necropolises that together with the city of Thebes are classified by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site.
𝙒𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙞𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙑𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙮 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙆𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙨?
It is a necropolis of ancient Egypt, in the vicinity of Luxor, where the tombs of most of the pharaohs of the New Kingdom (18th, 19th and 20th dynasties), as well as several queens, princes, nobles and even some animals.
It was inaugurated by Thutmose I, the third pharaoh of the 18th dynasty, which around 1500 BC, ordered the royal architect Inani, the construction of his tomb in the greatest of secrets.
It is believed that it was originally intended to be used as a family tomb, but with successive changes in power, and the construction of new tombs, the valley became a necropolis that remained in use for more than 400 years.
The Valley of the Kings is made up of two parts: the East Valley and the West Valley. The former is one of the most visited places by tourists and is where most of the tombs are found.
𝙃𝙤𝙬 𝙢𝙖𝙣𝙮 𝙩𝙤𝙢𝙗𝙨 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙑𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙮 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙆𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙨?
It includes 62 graves that were originally numbered as they were discovered, but have now been renumbered following their location within the valley.

𝙒𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙩𝙤𝙢𝙗𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙨𝙚𝙚 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙑𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙮 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙆𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙨?
The best known and most visited tombs are those of: King Thutmose I, Thutmose III, Ramses VI, Mrenptah and Amenhotep II; However, the tomb of Tutankhamun is the one that has deserved the greatest fame, since until today it is the only one to have been discovered with all its treasures, as it remained buried and therefore outside the range of looters until 1922.
The Valley of the Kings is the place where most of the pharaohs of the New Kingdom were buried, from that time when ancient Egypt was an empire that extended along the eastern coast of the Mediterranean (the 18th, 19th and 20th dynasties).
It was there that they were buried, for example Thutmose III, Tutankhamun or Ramses II.
In the beginning, during the Old Kingdom and the Middle Kingdom, Egyptian kings buried themselves in pyramids built in the northern part of the country, near Memphis, which was the capital.
After the last pyramids were built, Egypt went into crisis and the pharaohs lost their power. From Asia came a group of people who dominated the Delta area, they were the Hyksos. Meanwhile, the southern part of the country was left in the hands of a ruling family based in Thebes. Egypt was divided in two.
Not surprisingly, the princes of Thebes buried themselves in their city, on the west bank of the Nile.
When the Theban royal family managed to reconquer the entire country and its members became the new pharaohs, they decided that Thebes would be the new capital and they would not continue to build pyramids, as they were very large and easy to steal if no one was watching.
They preferred to bury their mummies in a more secluded and discreet place, where no one could get near and they would be safer. The perfect place was found on the western shore of Thebes.
𝙒𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙑𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙮 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙆𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙨 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚?
It was a secluded and lonely valley with plenty of space inside to excavate graves and whose access was a narrow passageway. It is what we know today as the Valley of the Kings.
However, they still liked the pyramids very much, as evidenced by the mountain at the foot of which is the Valley of the Kings, which has that shape. In Arabic it is known as El-Qurna, which means “The horn.”
All the tombs in the Valley of the Kings are numbered according to the order in which they were discovered. The last of all was that of Tutankhamun, who makes number 62.
Egyptologists know them by their number and an abbreviation that they put in front, the letters KV, which stands for “King Valley”, Valley of the Kings in English.
𝙒𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙩𝙮𝙥𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙪𝙘𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙚 𝙞𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙑𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙮 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙆𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙨?
All the Valley tombs are different, but according to their structure they can be divided into two main groups.
The oldest ones are steep and start with a straight corridor. After several corridors and stairs, the corridor turns to the left and it is there that the burial chamber is located. This type of tomb was built during the 18th Dynasty.
The second type of tomb is completely straight and has little slope, it is like a long corridor, with stairs, corridors and rooms one behind the other. This type of tomb was the one that was built during the 19th and 20th Dynasties.
The tombs, no matter what type they are, are decorated with reliefs and fragments from the Book of the Dead and other funerary texts.
These texts are like a kind of travel guide to get to the Other World, since they explain to the Pharaoh what was the path he had to follow and how to overcome the obstacles that could be presented to him.
In this way the pharaoh could be sure that his soul would arrive intact to the Hereafter to live eternally.

15/06/2024

‘Be cheerful, enjoy life,’ reads inscription on 2400 year-old dining room floor found in southern Türkiye.
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15/06/2024

One of the dragons from the dazzling Ishtar Gate of ancient Babylon. The Gate was constructed c. 575 BC during the reign of Nebuchadnezzar II. Most of the Gate is in the Pergamon Museum in Berlin, but this striding dragon is now in the Istanbul Archaeology Museum.

15/06/2024

Abu Simbel Temple‎

15/06/2024

Cappadocia,Turkey

15/06/2024

Samurai helmet with a Chinese character "大 (dai)" on the top, meaning big or great, and a silver skull on the front - 17th century CE
Kabuto is a type of helmet first used by ancient Japanese warriors, and in later periods, they became an important part of the traditional Japanese armour worn by the samurai class and their retainers in feudal Japan.

15/06/2024

This image perfectly shows the size of the pillars of Göbekli Tepe. 10000 years old.

15/06/2024

Fall of the Rebel Angels, early 18th century, sculpted from a single piece of ivory. Unknown author (formerly attributed to Jakob Auer). Currently located at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art
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15/06/2024

Brick with a child"s footprint. Ur, Iraq. 4000 years old