Wreath

3rd century-2nd century B.C.E.

Wreaths like this one formed to resemble flowers and leaves were used to crown athletic victors throughout the ancient Greek world. The Egyptian-born Greek writer Athenaeus of Nitocris (circa late second to third century C.E.) tells of guests wearing gold wreaths on their heads at lavish dinner parties in Alexandria, the Egyptian capital in this period. This wreath is one of four preserved from the ancient world in modern museum collections.