This is clear in any gallery of Greek & Roman art.”Headless Bodies in Top-Shelf MuseumsMany heads were lost because of the wear and tear of time. But other, less innocent explanations for the legions of severed heads include looting and regime change. Ancient insurrectionists and invaders decapitated statues to undermine the authority of rulers who had erected images of themselves as symbols of dominion. “Every culture in the ancient world seems to do it,” said Rachel Kousser, professor of ancient art at the City University of New York. was decapitated by Kushite raiders in Egypt, who then defiantly buried the severed head beneath temple steps in the Kushite capital of Meroë, in modern Sudan.

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Persons: ” Kenneth Lapatin, ”, Rachel Kousser, it’s, Emperor Augustus Organizations: Paul Getty Museum, City University of New, British Museum Locations: Los Angeles, “, City University of New York, Egypt, Meroë, Sudan