Strata: Special Collections

The second millennium B.C. was an epoch of unprecedented political and economic contact among the great powers of the Near Eastern and Mediterranean worlds. In history’s first true “international age,” the royal palaces of Egypt, Mesopotamia, Anatolia, Syria and Greece established a global network of trade and communication that stretched from the Nile to the Caucuses and beyond.

Beyond Babylon showcases this remarkable period of international relations with over 350 priceless artifacts recovered from the palaces, temples, tombs and royal workshops of the competing powers. The objects, which include magnificent finds from such renowned sites as Kanesh, Ebla, Qatna, Ugarit, Amarna and the Uluburun shipwreck, document the remarkable exchange in luxury goods, artisans and ideas that characterized the period.