Lugdunum Museum, Lyon, France,

(Gallo-Roman Museum of Lyon-Fourvière),

Bernard Zehrfuss Architect,

Last Picture by Thierry Allard

Lugdunum Museum, architect: Bernard Zehrfuss

Roman imperial portrait: The Severan Tondo (199 AD)

One of the few preserved examples of panel painting from Classical Antiquity. The panel depicts the Roman Emperor Septimius Severus with his wife Julia Domna, and their sons, both also Emperors Geta and  Caracalla. Geta's face has been removed after his murder by his brother Caracalla and the ensuing Damnatio memoriae (Condemnation of memory)  

The image is an example of imperial portraits that were mass-produced to be displayed in offices and public buildings throughout the empire.

Antikensammlung Berlin. Altes Museum, Germany (Inv: 31329)

Of this family, only Geta was born in Rome (city). Septimius Severus was born in Leptis Magna (near Tripoli, Libya). His wife Julia was of Arab origin and was born in Emesa (modern Homs, Syria). Caracalla was born in Lugdunum, Gaul (modern Lyon, France)

1,800-Year-Old Roman Sarcophagus Unearthed in France

Archaeologists excavating an ancient necropolis have unearthed a Roman-era sarcophagus containing the remains of a second-century woman, who was buried with oil lamps and accessories.

Archaeologists excavating an ancient necropolis in northeastern France have discovered an unlooted, unopened Roman-era sarcophagus dating to the second century A.D. The tomb likely holds the remains of an elite woman, archaeologists said.

The rough limestone sarcophagus was sealed shut with eight iron clasps, and its contents were hidden beneath a thick stone lid weighing 1,700 pounds (770 kilograms), according to a translated statement from the French National Institute of Preventive Archaeological Research (INRAP). To glimpse what lay inside, archaeologists X-rayed the sarcophagus and then inserted an endoscopic camera, which revealed a human skeleton and various grave goods.

"It's quite exceptional, it's the first time we've found a tomb that is intact and has not been looted," Agnès Balmelle, assistant scientific and technical director at INRAP, told the French newspaper Le Parisien.

The woman's skeleton was surrounded by beauty accessories — including a small mirror, an amber ring and a comb — intended to accompany the body into the afterlife. Such a monumental tomb suggests the woman, who was around 40 years old when she died, held a "special status," Balmelle said.

"The skeleton occupied the entire space inside the 1.53-meter [5-foot] tank," Balmelle added, leaving just enough room for the accessories, as well as four oil lamps and two glass vials that may have held scented oils.

Archaeologists discovered the sarcophagus while excavating an ancient necropolis sprawling over 13,000 square feet (1,200 square meters) in the northeastern French city of Reims. During the second century, Reims, then known as Durocortorum, was one of the largest cities in the Roman Empire and the capital of Belgic Gaul — a province in northeastern Roman Gaul that included parts of modern-day France, Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Germany.

The newly unearthed necropolis is one of several that extended beyond the city's fortifications and along seven main thoroughfares leading to other Roman Gallic metropolises, including Lutetia (now Paris) and Lugdunum (modern-day Lyon). Since the first of these cemeteries came to light in the second half of the 19th century, archaeologists have excavated 5,000 ancient burials in Reims, according to the statement.

Most of these burials were looted over the centuries, however, and the grave goods that survived were largely destroyed during World War I, when the museum they were housed in was bombed.

The sealed sarcophagus is the first unlooted tomb of its kind discovered in a former Gallo-Roman town, according to the statement. In the area surrounding it, archaeologists found another 20 buried and cremated human remains laid to rest over several centuries.

These remains will be added to a growing bank of samples salvaged from Reims' necropolises. Scientists hope that by comparing DNA from the skeleton in the sarcophagus to some of these samples, they may be able to determine whether the woman belonged to a local or foreign elite.

By Sascha Pare.

Gaulish Goblet from Lyon.

"This goblet seems to have been chiselled in Lyon, Lugdunum in the second half of the 1st century AD. J.-C., by a goldsmith who freely dealt with themes of indigenous and local religion according to the traditions of Greco-Roman art » © Jean-Michel Degueule, Christian Thioc/Lugdunum.

There are figures of Lugh (Mercury), a snake on a tree where mistletoe grows, an eagle (symbol of Jupiter), a crow flying above a table

And the scene here. A male figure, reclining on a bed, holds a cornucopia in one hand and a torc in the other, while wearing a torc around his neck. He is flanked by a deer and a dog. No doubt a classicized version of Cernunnos, had he kept his own antlers? The damage that the goblet suffered makes it impossible for us to know.(Museum of Gallo-Roman civilization, Lyon)

Roman mosaic from the Lyon Lugdunum museum

Mercury and Diana

Lugdunum Gallo-Roman Museum of Lyon-Fourvière

Lugdunum, formerly Gallo-Roman Museum of Lyon-Fourvière, on the Fourvière hill, built from 1971 to 1975 by Bernard Zehrfuss.

Pic by @Guilmetayer on Twitter

More images of Mercury, as well as of Bacchus and Silenus. Yes, I know Greek gods don’t equal Roman gods precisely, but religious syncretism and all that. Let me live my life happy to see representations of Hermes. - From the Lugdunum Museum in Lyon, France.

Lugdunum Museum (1969-1975). Bernard Zehrfuss architect.

A Tale of Two Harry's lol

Trying to back track like I always do, January of 2023. Another year, another 365 days of trial and errors (mostly errors, my pessimist self tells me). 

Being in a long-distance relationship suck, because number 1.  It's 'long-distance'. 2. I have no other reasons to think of. But I'd say we're managing well. No big fights, no big misunderstanding that can't be solved within the day.

No massive Facebook drama. We feel like we're too old for that sh*t. I'm hoping in the nearest future, this predicament of us being an 'LDR' couple will come to an end. But honestly, it doesn't feel as difficult the way it was before, especially now that we're near to each other. I believe I made that point very clear before. 1 hour flight away is such a breeze, but no flight at all would be the dream.

 So anyways, I went to Lyon, France to visit Alex. With his field of work, he gets the opportunity to travel places, that means me too. I've been to Paris 2019, pre CoVid time. Now, I'm glad I get to see Lyon. France has indeed redeemed itself on my perspective (yet it's only the 2nd city I saw of France, I'm trying to make jokes here). Quite the contrary to Paris, Lyon has less rubbish, less drunk people. And although they're not very welcoming (which I'm very much used to), at least they will try their best to speak English to a foreign looking person like me asking where I could find a type C to iPhone cord charger. Plus, I love the countryside-side-but-not-really vibes to it. Let me explain, even though Lyon is geographically small and not highly urbanized. Massive known shops can be seen everywhere, I would even say it has the best options of products that I haven't seen anywhere else. And at the same time, side by side local shops of the most expected French products are also there, but in a tiny, secluded version. The Airbnb we stayed in, is somewhat weird but in a way, Passing through the door, you will step into a narrow 2-person capacity elevator, I can't imagine how one can bring heavy groceries in there or appliances. There's a choice to use the stairs which is cemented, reminds me of stairs in churches, dark and roughly rendered, it adds up to the already cold temperature coming from the outside. And there's the museum, situated in the center is the Lyon, is the Museum of Fine Arts where I finally saw The Great Flood painting. I think I spent nearly 15 minutes just staring at this beauty, and the rest well I lost count. There are other museums to see but we haven't got much time. It's important that I get to ride their transports, the train, buses, we even tried the public scooter (we learned so much from our Barcelona experience), and little did I know they have a tram. This steep tram leads to another town in Lyon, forgive me I forgot what it's called but the main thing we intended to see is the Roman Lugdunum Theatre. I don't really want to describe this (I realize I'm bad at it as you can see), and there you can appreciate how beautiful this ruin is, plus the history it has. I was in a trance imagining what it's like living there before. I hope I get to see more of these in future, it is comforting how they preserve this historically significant places over the years, especially during the war. It just sat there, and survived.

Most of the year I was ill. I had Covid again (which is the worst one, I literally thought I would die there and then), and had flu atleast three times. I guess this was just me adjusting to this cruel cold place. In between those times, all I could do is go to work, the usual cycle. In April, we get to see Jo Koy, he was just fantastic. He's given us our money's worth sitting near front. We plan to see him again in his next show(s). And the midst of searching houses online, when the universe really wants to make it happen, I swear it will happen. Few days prior I was crazily searching decent houses online. The very next day, a colleague of mine randomly asked me if I was 'looking for a house', she was presenting their one-bedroom bungalow flat which was super cute and cozy. As I said, it was the perfect timing. When we first went to see the house, Alex and I immediately fell in love with it and right away said yes. I had to leave my old place, and in that time no one in any of my housemates seen me off. Or even sent me a message of good luck, goodbye or see you around, nothing. *one tear drop But well, I won't hold a grudge and just move along. But here I am mentioning it. lol If it wasn't for Alex the whole process of moving will be four times as hard, he arrange all the things, made sure everything is in order. Alex is too nice that sometimes I feel like I have to balance it, but he won't budge. My colleague who was moving out, have so much stuffs that it took them days and many rounds to completely clear everything out (ours only took one go because of how organized we did it), but Alex helped them all through out. especially with the heavy lifting , throwing out old furniture, and still volunteering to do other things. When everything was done, he thought of things needed for our new house, thought of arrangement in the living room. Even he though he doesn't like folding clothes, he helped me with it and actually did more than I do. He would let me do things I like, such as hammering nails just because I enjoy it and using the screwdriver, and the others he'll finish. I understand it gives off the impression that I'm the useless one here . Well, I do important things sometimes like vacuuming, it's fun. He also does the cooking and prefers to do the dishes after, he would let me carry on sitting on the couch and watch tv, read or scroll on my phone. And still, I have the guts to be mad at him for just anything. tsk tsk Women.

It may seem like we're living together all this time. But not actually, we just had the opportunity visiting each other frequently and we're lucky for that. I was alone in the summer doing the usual boring things. And oh, I went to see Harry Styles out of bliss. When I first came in the UK, I would always listen to his songs. I'm not a fan of One Direction during their peak, not once ever. His solo songs are for me my guilty pleasure, it's kind of stupid that I don't want anybody else to know I'm quite obsessed with him just because I hate joining the bandwagon, I'm pretentious like that. But in all honestly, I just legitimately enjoy his music and he's one of the many artists whom I pleasurably listen to the entire album top to bottom, even until now, no joke. I went alone in his concert in Wembley which is filled with white people, I don't know why is this relevant. It's not 'unusual' that I would go alone if you know me well. The whole time, I swear to God I was just standing there singing out loud and dancing, and because it's a sudden decision, I regret not bringing a pink feather boa or wore a pink glittery hat. I wore my staple black on black outfit. 

I'm pretty sure I didn't mention before. Visiting the Harry Potter Studios was of course one of the musts-see places once I arrive in the UK. I met an old college friend who's also a big 'HP ' fan, without having second thoughts, I went to the studio for the second time, no regrets. lol I missed my friend and we reminisced our college times, drunk and fun times but still thrived. Summer season is the best time to travel anywhere, but weather is just so unpredictable here that even in summer you can't be 100% sure. We arrived there bright and sunny as hell. mid day turned cloudy and by afternoon it rained hard, did I see this on the weather app, no. I went to Bath with my colleagues, it was of course no surprise historic. Same with Lyon, the Roman Bath was beautifully preserved to its core and make you feel like you're a part of an important history. And also, you'll realize how the Roman conquered pretty much everywhere in the world leaving their marks. There's this one juicy information I came across, that they just copied their 'ideas' from those who invented it first, flourished them and presented it in the entire world as theirs. What a cheeky bunch, and now they're known as the brilliant minds. I want to say more but I might be haunted by Julius Cesar's soul in my sleep. Goodnight, it might be a very long wait, but good things are coming. (:

Lugdunum Museum by Bernard Zehrfuss

📍 Lyon, France

Although renown for its prestigious culinary heritage, Lyon is also well known in the field of Roman art and archaeology because of its history as Lugdunum, the former capital of the Gallic Roman province, Gallia Lugenensis. Due to its ideal location at the centre of several road networks that spanned throughout Gaul, it was one of the most important cities in the Roman Empire, and the fact that two Roman emperors, Claudius (10 BC-54 AD) and Caracalla (188-217 AD), were born there is no coincidence. Fourvière hill, the current location of the Gallo-Roman Museum and amphitheater ruins, which we visited, was once the heart of the ancient capital. 

The Brooklyn Museum’s two mosaics of lions are particularly apt examples of the art found in ancient Lugdunum. Not only is the image of a lion found throughout Lyon as the city’s symbol, but its mosaic format also recalls the many expansive mosaics that are highlighted throughout the Gallo-Roman museum. 

The process of making a deluxe mosaic, as explained by the Roman architect Vitruvius (c.85-16 BC), involved doing almost all of the work offsite in a studio. Each of the stone pieces were cut into cubes and laid into an outlined design, either on a piece of fabric on which the design had been drawn in the reverse image, or in a tray of sand, after which the fabric was glued onto the pieces to lift them out. The prepared motif was then packed with mortar, turned over, and placed into position on a leveled floor. Finally, the fabric was removed, and the cubes were polished and grouted. 

Other noteworthy Roman objects that were excavated from Lyon included sculptures and ceramics, but we’ll be delving more into those type of objects in our next posts on Rome and Pompeii!

Posted by Amanda Imai

This museum of Archaeology in Lyon, France is remains of Ancient Roman city called Lugdunum. It was founded in 34 BC, which was the capital of Gaul. . . . Send your clicks to BBT. This was captured by @banjaro_balak in June 2019. . . . Follow @banjaro_balak_tales . . . #lyon #france #museum #art #roman #architecture #lugdunum #travelphotography #travelblogger #travel #europe #ancientart #cityphotography #beautiful #blackandwhite #banjaro_balak_tales #BBT #viewpoint #ampitheatre #arcitecture (at Lugdunum - musée et théâtres romains) https://www.instagram.com/p/B-inoqPHcjM/?igshid=16vlc8gaht0bm

Ancient Hoard of Roman gold Coins Discovered in UK  

A hoard of Roman gold coins hidden in the decades before the Roman invasion of Britain has been discovered.

Eleven coins have been found so far, scattered near Norwich in Iceni tribe territory. Their queen Boudica would later rebel against Roman rule.

Numismatist Adrian Marsden said the hoard is "really quite exceptional" and more coins might be unearthed.

An inquest at Norfolk Coroner's Court into the two latest finds deemed them treasure.

The first coins were found by two metal detectorists in 2017 and they have been uncovering more ever since.

Mr Marsden, from the Norfolk Historic Environment Service, said: "In the last two or three years, they've said, 'There won't be any more,' and I've said, 'There will be,' and sure enough they pull another one out.

"Hoards get dispersed by tractors and ploughs or planting, so coins get moved about fields and can travel quite some distances."

They were struck at Lugdunum, now Lyon, in France, between the last years of the 1st Century BC and the first years of the 1st Century AD - a generation before the Roman invasion in AD43.

They are hardly worn and each has a tiny peck mark by the emperor Augustus' head, which Mr Marsden believes was done by Iceni craftsmen to check their quality.

"These are really high purity gold, whereas the Iron Age gold coins circulating at that time is quite debased - they knew good Roman gold when they saw it," he said.

Mr Marsden believes an Iceni goldsmith might have intended to use them to create gold torcs, similar to the ones found at Ken Hill at Snettisham between 1948 and 1990.

He said: "To have a hoard where the coins in it are all from or before the Roman invasion - and we have good cause to believe they are going into the ground before the Roman invasion - is really quite exceptional."

The British Museum has acquired the first nine coins and is expected to acquire the latest finds.

Lugdunum Museum (1969–1975, arch. Bernard Zehrfuss)