Ancient Life

Stories about how people lived thousands of years ago, and the art they made

Latest

  1. Excavating Your Pantry for an Ancient Roman Meal

    Wall painting of two men holding a small mammal while one cuts it with a knife, standing in a room with a large silver vessel and a pillar with a tray of food

    Three simple recipes to help you eat like a Roman

  2. New Book Explores Secrecy and Production of Knowledge in the Byzantine Empire

    The Secrets We Keep book cover

    The author explores the medieval and Byzantine practices of secret keeping around religious objects, military history, and imperial ceremony

  3. Your (Medieval) Cancer Horoscope

    A detail of an illumination. A lobster-like creature is inside a golden circle, surrounded by red stars

    It’s phlegmatic season. Here’s what you should know for the month

  4. So You Want to Be an Ancient Roman Soldier

    Copper alloy Roman legionary helmet

    For the unprivileged, serving in the ancient Roman army was a path to wealth building, social climbing, and citizenship

  5. How to Make an Ancient Roman Toga

    Picture of person posing in a cream toga outside a colorful villa garden on the right and the text How to make and wear a toga over a maroon background on the right. Below, a smaller image of two peop

    Becoming Artsy, Episode 308

  6. Preserving the Past and Honoring Communities

    A group of people in lab wearing lab coats work with materials like metal, rocks, and woven baskets, using tools to study them.

    Together, UCLA and Getty are teaching aspiring conservators how to care for Indigenous and archaeological objects

  7. Pottery Then and Now

    man makes pottery in a studio

    Little has changed since antiquity, it turns out, when it comes to the best ways of shaping a bowl or firing a pot

  8. Beautifully Illustrated Guide Illuminates How Medieval Europeans Saw the World

    The Book of Marvels book cover

    This new volume is based on the 15th-century French illuminated manuscript Book of the Marvels of the World

  9. Power in a Mummy Portrait

    An ancient portrait in gold and colorful wax of a woman with large eyes and dark brown hair, adorned with earrings, a diadem, and bejeweled necklaces

    Look closely at this beautiful mummy portrait on display at the Getty Villa and you’ll find powerful signs of wealth, status, and beauty

  10. First Open-Access Issue of Getty Research Journal Now Available

    Getty Research Journal, No. 19 book cover

    Essays explore artworks from Iran, Iraq, France, Germany, and Brazil