Boarding Gate 101

The Mayans are getting a lot of press lately, thanks mostly to the brouhaha over the Mesoamerican long count calendar. According to doomsayers , the world will end on December 21, 2012, which coincides with the end of the 13th baktun, or creation era in Mayan mythology.  Monument with an Enthroned Ruler Whether the doomsayers were accurate with their reading of the Mayan calendar (we'd know that soon enough, maybe as soon as tomorrow), or not, the Mayan civilization is  very fascinating in its own right. The Mesoamerican civilization, which encompassed parts of Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, El Salvador and Honduras, has developed a written language, architecture and art. They were also made advances in astronomy and mathematics that enabled them to developed calendars and constructed pyramids for astronomical observations.  Although I haven't visited any Mayan site, such as Tikal, Piedras Negras, or Chichen Itza, during my travels, I have encountere...

Central Park is one of the most prominent landmarks of New York City. The picturesque public park, which receives around 35 million visitors a year, is also the setting of countless movies, including Serendipity , The Avengers , Eat Pray Love , and Cloverfield , making it the most filmed location in the world.  The park has a lot to offer: gardens, skating rinks, baseball fields, a zoo, woody and grassy areas for picnics, and a large artificial lake at the middle, the Jacqueline Kennedy Onasis Reservoir . Around it are jogging tracks popular to New Yorkers and tourists alike. During my visit in New York I went there to jog around one morning, as my hostel was close by. After jogging you may drop by the Loeb Boathouse , a lakeside restaurant, for breakfast. The Express Cafe in the boathouse opens at 8am.  Artworks also abound in Central Park. On display are sculptures scattered around the park, including works by Emma Stebins and John Quincy Adams. Most promin...

Eirene was the daughter of Zeus and Themis, and is associated with fertility and the nurturing of children. This statue was a copy of a Greek bronze statue put in an agora (or marketplace) in Athens between 375-360 B.C. Metropolitan Museum of Art.

A Late Minoan terracotta larnax (chest-shaped coffin). ca. 13th century B.C., from Crete. Metropolitan Museum of Art.

A relief of Egyptian deities are carved along the walls of the Temple of Dendur .  The pharaohs are identified by the cartouches above their figures. A cartouche is an oval inscription with a horizontal line at the end, which indicates that the name enclosed is that of a royalty.

This mosaic floor, on display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, was discovered in 1996 in a construction site in Lod, Israel. The mosaic, featuring exotic animals and fishes, probably belonged to a house by a wealthy Roman, dating to about 300 A.D.  The mosaic was on loan from the Israel Antiquities Authority, and the Met Museum was venue for its first public exhibition. by Kin Enriquez

Front view of the Sphinx of Hetsepsut, the fifth pharaoh of the 18th Dynasty , on display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. A sphinx is mythical creature with a body of a lion and a human's head. Egyptian sphinxes were guardians to the entrances of temples. by Kin Enriquez

This Colossal Seated Statue of Amenhotep III was once installed in a temple of Amen-Re in Luxor, Thebes. Amenhotep III was the ninth pharaoh of the 18th Dynasty [ 1 ]. The statue, which  weighs around 6,100 lbs,   was later usurped by Merneptah (ca. 1213-1203 B.C.). and was moved to a different part of the temple. Met Museum, Gallery 131

Old columns on a new structure? They look like they're in the wrong place at the wrong time. These columns date back to the 1st Century BC, from the Barcino temple in Rome. In the 11th century, new structures were built around the ruins, and for the sake or preserving the columns, the structures were literally built around the ancient Roman columns.

Closeup photos of the 6th century B.C. Etruscan chariot . The bronze carriage was found in  Moteleone di Spoleto in 1902.

The mummy Pet-Menek in its coffin. Identified as a priest for the god Chem, the Ptolemaic period (4th-3rd century B.C.) mummy was discovered in 1885 in the necropolis of Akhmin. 

The marble sarcophagus carved with the Triumph of Dionysos and the Seasons. Dating back to 260-270 A.D., the ornate, rounded sarcophagus - which means "flesh-eater" in Greek - probably belonged to a rich Roman aristocrat.

A 6th century B.C. bronze chariot, inlaid with ivory. Found in Moteleone di Spoleto in 1902

A quick look at the numbers: 2,300,000 giant stone blocks, each stone weighing over 2.5 tons. Would need 100,000 slaves to build and 30 years to finish. Built in 2566 BC for King Cheops and his wives

Known as "The Treasury", Petra's most elaborate ruin, this structure is hewn into the sandstone. This was declared as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1985. The Smithsonian Magazine lists this as one of the 28 places to see before you die.

Mummy Mask of the Lady Ka-nefer-nefer, of Dynasty 19 (1307-1196 BC) at St. Louis Art Museum. The mask was dug from Saqqara , a necropolis for the ancient Egyptian capital of Memphis. Ka-nefer-nefer was a noblewoman.  This artifact was bought from Phoenix Ancient Art in 1998. It was put under litigation as Egypt wanted this back, insisting that it was stolen sometime in 1959. St. Louis Art Museum prevailed, as Egypt "was not able to prove its claim of ownership." [ 1 , 2 ]

The bust of Emperor Marcus Aurelius, the Roman emperor from 161 to 180 AD. He is considered one of the Five Good Emperors, and is considered to epitomized the concept of "philosopher-king" as leaders. He also had a cameo role in Ridley Scott's Gladiator . The bust was found in an imperial villa at Acqua Traversa near Rome in 1674, and was purchased by Musee de Louvre in 1807. This bust was on loan to the Met Museum. 

The Temple of Dendur, originally built in Nubia in  15 B.C. for the goddess Isis of Philae, commissioned by Emperor Augustus The temple was disassembled in 1963, as the construction of the Aswan Dam threatened to inundate the structure, which is located near the Nile.  It was  presented by Egypt in 1965 to the United States as a gift, and was  reconstructed in the Sackler Wing of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, in 1978 [ 1 ].

The Leon Levy and Shelby White Court, a gallery at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, houses the largest selection of Hellenistic and Roman art  - artwork created between 900 BC and fourth century AD [ 1 ] -  in the museum . The gallery is an endowment from philanthropist Leon Levy [ 2 ] and his wife, Shelby White. The couple donated $20 million to construct the gallery, which includes items from their collection as well.  March 15, 2011

An Egyptian mummy in its cask at St. Louis Art Museum, St. Louis, Missouri February 28, 2011