A bust of a Greek man in bronze. One thing that few people realize is that most of the "Greek" statuary we have is actually roman. The Greeks typically created sculptures using a lost-wax casting technique. The resulting piece was made of bronze. The Romans, being the warriors they are, melted down all that valuable bronze to make weapons. The sculptures were replaced with marble copies of the original bronze figures.
A plaster cast of the famous Bust of Nefertiti. The real one is in the Altes Museum in Berlin. Even this replica is strikingly beautiful. Manchester Museum of History, Manchester, UK.
A greek statuette of a woman with child. I found this was interesting because of the lack of proportion in the child. Many artists in antiquity could not or did not represent children acurrately due to the different proportions involved. Instead, children and babies were represented as diminutive adults. Even in the renaissance period representations of this sort can be found.
This chunk of basalt is perhaps one of the most iconic artifacts of ancient history. It's so iconic, that it's become a metaphor for "something that allows to interpret".
While it's true there were 300 Spartians at the Battle of Thermopolyae, what Frank Miller completely neglected was the 5000 greeks that made the bulk of the opposing forces against the Persians. Upon discovering the overwhelming size of the Persian force, King Leonidas dismissed the majority of the forces saving for 700 Thespian volunteers, and 300 hand-picked Spartians. (Forgot someone, Mr. Miller?)
Ancient greek pots using the Red Figure technique. My British "guide" suggested that the greeks let all their pots break and that's why their civilization fell. His American wife reminded me not to listen to him. :-D
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