Some 20, 000 pieces--including arms, armour, ceramics, earthenware, seals and decorative arts from ancient Persia, Mamluk Egypt and the Mughal emperors in India and Kuwait of the Bronze Age--were packed in crates and driven to the Iraq National Museum in Baghdad in a 17-lorry convoy.

FORBES: Connoisseur's Guide

In ancient times, however, such objects played a more significant role, with the intaglios used as seals (because these carvings were incised rather than raised) and the cameos employed as symbols of the state.

WSJ: Museum Exhibit Review: Gems of the Medici at the Bowers Museum