Pardon me sir, but do you have any garum? Slurp up a puddle of fermented fish guts with the Ancient Art Podcast! Episode 45 explores the decorative delights, culinary curiosities, and amorous affections of the ancient Greek world. While it packs a punch as an interesting cultural anomaly, the fish plate is an often-overlooked curiosity in the lineup of ancient Greece ceramics. In the 4th century BC, the ancient Greek appetite for fish blossomed as a culture phenomenon, an art form, and a...

Episode 44 of the Ancient Art Podcast concludes the countdown of the Top 10 Ancient Egyptian Myths and Misconceptions with the false belief that Ancient Egyptian civilization is dead. Scarcely recognized around us in its present form, the legacy of Ancient Egypt continues to thrive. In pyramids and tombstones, icons and cupids, chemistry and alchemy, Ancient Egyptian civilization lives on in our art, language, architecture, and religion. Visit http://www.ancientartpodcast.org/top10 for the...

Number 2 in the countdown of the Top 10 Ancient Egyptian Myths and Misconceptions explores the hot issue of race and ethnicity in Ancient Egypt, including the two most frequently invoked figureheads of the discussion, the Egyptian queens Nefertiti and Cleopatra. Despite the heated rhetoric arguing for or against a specific racial identity for any Ancient Egyptian individual, the point remains that the Ancient Egyptians would have thought the whole modern debate is just plain silly, having...

Don't Panic! Celebrating the our 42nd episode with a brief nod to the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by the uncanny Douglas Adams, the Ancient Art Podcast continues to explore the Top 10 Ancient Egyptian Myths & Misconceptions with "The 'Boy King' Tutankhamun." Arguably the most famous and studied figure from Ancient Egypt, Tutankhamun is shrouded in mystery. Who was this enigmatic ruler behind all the myth and mysteries? Who were his parents? What does his reign tell us about the...

Is Ancient Egyptian art truly unchanging for thousands of years? Were the Egyptians just stuck in the mud or what? No and no! The Top 10 Ancient Egyptian Myths and Misconceptions continues with an examination of broad changes to Egyptian art across the history of their civilization. We go from the Early Dynastic Period through the Old and Middle Kingdoms up to the New Kingdom and beyond exploring stylistic and thematic variation that's deeply entrenched in Ancient Egypt's cultural evolution....

Too often the 18th Dynasty "Heretic King" Akhenaten (r. ca. 1353-1336 BC) is labeled the world's first monotheist, proselytizing the one true god Aten, the solar disk. But was he truly a monotheist or is there something deeper going on here? Episode 40 explores this question, continuing the countdown of the Top 10 Ancient Egyptian Myths and Misconceptions. We examine the pros and cons to the argument, looking at historic, literary, and artistic evidence. As an added bonus, we compare passages...

We learn that the Ancient Egyptians surrounded themselves in death with idyllic scenes from everyday life. Are these truly scenes from daily life or is there more to it than that? Episode 39 delves deeper into the meaning and symbolism behind tomb decoration. We compare private and royal tombs, examining the evidence of what is and isn't represented. Included in this episode are Theban Tomb 36 (TT36), the 12th Dynasty tomb of Djehutihotep, a nod to the "hotep-di-nisw" and Book of the Dead,...

Episode 38 sets the story straight about the misconception that the Ancient Egyptians were obsessed with death. We delve into the Ancient Egyptian concept of Heaven, unearth some ancient grave goods, and take a close hard look at the themes and subjects decorating the walls of Ancient Egyptian tombs. The evidence reveals a culture obsessed not with death, but with life! Included in this episode are the famous wall paintings from the New Kingdom tomb of Nebamun, now in the British Museum, the...

Coming in at number 8 in the countdown of the Top 10 Ancient Egyptian Myths and Misconceptions, episode 37 of the Ancient Art Podcast explores the age-old myth that the "Pyramids were Built by Slaves." From the tomes of ancient literature to the annals of modern media, the myth that slaves built the pyramids just can't seem to die. In this episode, we explore the ancient literary sources for the confusion, including The Bible, Herodotus, and Josephus. But current excavations on the Giza...

Number 9 in our countdown of the Top 10 Ancient Egyptian Myths and Misconceptions, episode 36 of the Ancient Art Podcast exposes the Orion Mystery, or the Orion Correlation Theory, the belief that the Ancient Egyptians were mapping out the heavens on earth. Do the pyramids of Giza correspond to the belt of the constellation Orion? Were hollow shafts in the Great Pyramid of Khufu designed to point to certain celestial bodies? Did generation after generation of pyramid-building Pharaoh follow a...

Number 10 in our countdown of the Top 10 Ancient Egyptian Myths and Misconceptions, episode 35 of the Ancient Art Podcast explores the truth behind the claim that the lotus flower in Ancient Egypt was used as an intoxicant, psychotropic stimulant, or form of sexual enhancement. We'll look at Ancient Egyptian medical texts and the latest scientific studies. We also briefly recap the symbolism of the lotus flower in Ancient Egyptian art, including works from the Art Institute of Chicago and the...

Enchanted riders, ghostly horses, and tortured souls round out this Halloween edition of the Ancient Art Podcast. The Art Institute of Chicago's new Weston Wing of Japanese Art showcases wonderful works from Japanese prehistory through present day. We wrap our head around the 5th and 6th century earthenware haniwa tomb figures of Japan's Kofun era, including a particularly magnificent clay horse. An interesting passage from an ancient text reveals there's more than meets the eye to these...

Learn all about the beloved elephant-headed Hindu deity Ganesha in episode 33 of the Ancient Art Podcast. We explore the annual festival celebrating his birth, Ganesha Chaturthi, and discover how he happened to get that elephant head. Plus we investigate why, oh, why he’s missing a tusk! We look closely at a few magnificent sculptures of Ganesha at the Art Institute of Chicago and conclude with an exploration of the contemporary art installation Public Notice 3 by Jitish Kallat on view...

Episode 32 of the Ancient Art Podcast revisits the lovely discussion of the disembodied with the portrait busts of Roman Emperor Hadrian and his young beloved Antinous from the Art Institute of Chicago. From the 2nd century CE, the larger-than-life marble heads of Hadrian and Antinous exemplify the Hellenistic aesthetics and innovation of the Hadrianic era. We discuss the life and times of this dynamic duo, explore the tragic fate of Antinous with his true-to-life unsolved mystery along the...

Episode 31 takes a look at the iconic figure of the Hindu deity Shiva Nataraja, the Lord of the Dance. Examining two images of the dancing Shiva at the Art Institute of Chicago and the Snite Museum of Art at the University of Notre Dame, we explore the timeless concept of the cosmic cycle of creation and destruction. We see a philosophy of balance and harmony expressed through the union of diverging opposites, like creation and destruction, male and female, life and death -- and we learn how...

Part 2 in our miniseries on Karnak Temple, episode 30 takes us behind the scenes, exploring the grand hypostyle hall and the meaning to the propagandistic and sacred imagery on the walls, both inside and out. We reenact one of the most famous Ancient Egyptian temples, the Opet Festival, following the sacred barque of Amun through the precinct and along the Avenue of Sphinxes. We wrap up with an investigation of the symbolism and spiritual function of Ancient Egyptian temple architecture as a...

The first of at least two parts, episode 29 invites us inside one of the world's most ancient, largest, and most mysterious sacred space, the Ancient Egyptian Temple of Karnak. Including video and photo highlights from the host's recent visit to Karnak, we take a survey of the temple complex, it's satellite precincts, layout, and orientation. Over the course of the "Karnak" series of episodes, we'll look closely at the architecture and history, the different divinities and their festivals...

With all the hype about James Cameron’s latest film, Avatar, episode 28 takes a look at the real story of the avatar as we explore the stories and art of the avatars of the Hindu god Vishnu. We’ll learn about the epic heroes Rama of the Ramayana and Krishna of the Mahabharata, discover the Buddha’s role in Hinduism, and encounter Vishnu’s fierce forms of the boar Varaha and man-lion Narasimha. See past episodes, image galleries, credits, transcripts, and additional resources at...

A short announcement about the new look and features of the Ancient Art Podcast website. Plus the debut of the Ancient Art Podcast Facebook Page! Explore more at http://ancientartpodcast.org.

Episode 27 explores the art and life of one of the most influential 20th century Japanese woodblock print artists, Hiratsuka Un'ichi, including prints recently on view at the Art Institute of Chicago. A pioneer of the early 20th century Japanese Creative Print movement (sosaku hanga), Hiratsuka is steeped in ancient Japanese spiritual and visual traditions, while strongly influenced by the evolving culture of early 20th century Japan. Discover how Hiratsuka Un'ichi broke the rules of the...

Keeping our promise from last episode, episode 26 explores the history, artistry, and mythology of the famous Hellenistic sculpture, the Aphrodite of Knidos by Praxiteles. Using the words of ancient authors like Hesiod, Pliny the Elder, and others, we examine multiple copies of the sculpture, including the Vatican’s Colonna Venus, the Uffizi’s Venus de' Medici, the Aphrodite Braschi of the Munich Glyptothek, and an example from the Art Institute of Chicago. We also expose the misnomer of the...

With a nod to the Art Institute of Chicago’s October self-guide and celebrating the Halloween season, episode 25 explores a few headless and disembodied works of art, including the humorous, the grotesque, and the just plain practical. We compare a Roman statue of a seated woman to its Classical Greek antecedents and explore one very logical explanation for why so many Roman statues are missing their heads and arms.

Episode 24 brings us the art of the Japanese folding screen from the exhibition Beyond Golden Clouds: Japanese Screens from the Art Institute of Chicago and the Saint Louis Art Museum. We’ll explore traditional styles, motifs, subjects, and forms, and also discover contemporary examples of the Japanese screen breaking boundaries and redefining the art form. Two works are examined in close detail, Flowering Cherry and Autumn Maples with Poem Slips by Tosa Mitsuoki and Mountain Lake Screen...

Putting the cap on the jar of Akhenaten, episode 23 explores works from the reign of the boy king Tutankhamun and his successors. Do the efforts of the 18th dynasty heretic king Akhenaten die hard or do his radical transformations live on? Dive in to discover the artistic legacy of the Amarna period on the throne of King Tut and a fragment from the private tomb of Iniuia and Yui. In this episode, we also closely examine a fragmentary statue bust of a woman from the New Kingdom at the Field...

Another foray into contemporary art, where antiquity and modernity collide. Episode 22 explores two works by contemporary performance and visual artist Lorraine O’Grady: Nefertiti/Devonia Evangeline and Miscegenated Family Album. We delve deep into the family history of Nefertiti and Akhenaten of the Amarna Period. We also explore the idea of race in Ancient Egypt, touching on Afrocentric theories and how our own cultural biases shape the field of Egyptology. Lastly, a short homage to the...