Mediterranean Marketplaces: Connecting the Ancient World

View inside a replica iron age house.

Much like today, ancient “consumers” were connected to distant markets. Both basic and precious goods from faraway lands “shipped” to royal palaces, elite estates—sometimes even rural households—and technological advances in craftsmanship and commerce transcended boundaries of language, religion, or culture to spread rapidly. Mediterranean Marketplaces: Connecting the Ancient World explores how the movement of goods, peoples, and ideas around the ancient Mediterranean transformed the lives and livelihoods of people at all levels of society, driving innovations that had lasting impacts—even on the modern world.

Over eighty objects in Mediterranean Marketplaces have interactive 3D models—including the cat model seen in the short video below—which can be 3D-printed with the proper equipment. Watch Chief Curator Adam Aja describe six of the objects from this exhibition and how they represent ancient Mediterranean trade.

The videos below discuss food storage, harvest seasons, and yarn dyeing.

Gallery Tours

Mediterranean Marketplace Videos

2 skeins of colorful yarn.

Yarn Dyeing

Learn about traditional wool yarn dyeing with fiber artist Linda Whiting.

ancient clay food storage vessel.

Food Storage

Think of transport amphoras (storage jars) as the cardboard boxes of the ancient world.

bowl of different olives.

Harvest Seasons

Staple crops like wheat, barley, grapes, and olives set the rhythm for the agricultural year in the ancient Mediterranean.

curator and coin with head of alexander the great.

Alexander the Great Coin

This coin depicting Alexander the Great was a standard form of currency from Greece to India.

curator with statue of torso and head.

Stone Statue

Chief Curator Adam Aja shows this fine stone statue.

curator and cuneiform tablet.

Cuneiform Tablet

This tablet records the delivery of 32 high-end sandals and boots.

curator and headless prisoner statue with hands bound behind back.

Prisoner Statue

This statue may represent a prisoner of war.

curator and model of river boat with canopy and six standing figures.

Boat Model

This boat model was one of many objects depicting daily life in ancient Egypt.

curator and sculpture of seated cat.

Cat Figurine

This bronze cat is from Ptolemaic Egypt.

Gallery photo: EJSP Visual | Julieta Sarmiento