Minerva Magazine 202
The comprehensive website for archaeology, history, heritage and the ancient world. Find out more about us here
Making a splash
How did water go from being something to fear to a place of privilege in Greece and Rome? Karen Eva Carr plunges into the cultural history of swimming.
Secrets of their craft
Many metalworkers and ceramicists in Renaissance Europe seemingly had no qualms about killing a lizard – or other animal – for their art. Pamela Smith investigates the intriguing practice of life-casting that turned nature into art, and why artisan authors recorded practical knowledge in words.
Minerva’s April listings: exhibitions from around the world
The dates listed below may have changed since we went to print. Check the websites of the museums for the most up-to-date information and bookings.
Oldest Odin inscription identified
The inscription appears next to the image of a man – possibly a king or warlord named Jaga or Jagaz – on an early 5th-century bracteate
Lost Sumerian palace uncovered in Iraq
Known today as Tello, Girsu is one of the oldest cities in the world.
Nubia: Lost Civilizations
Review by Nigel Fletcher-Jones In recent years there has been increasing desire among travellers to visit the archaeological sites of southern Egypt and Sudan in search of ‘ancient Nubia’, an elongated oval
Siena’s medieval monuments
As the Tuscan city of Siena grew in prosperity, its citizens made their mark through magnificent art and architecture, from aristocratic towers to allegorical frescoes. Historian Jane Stevenson takes us on a tour of its medieval monuments.
New moai statue revealed at Rapa Nui
Moai are monolithic stone statues with elongated human faces, thought to have been created by Rapa Nui’s ancestral inhabitants more than 500 years ago.
Brigit: Irish goddess turned Christian saint?
She is a goddess of poetry, medicine, and blacksmithing, but there is no mention of the fire that becomes associated with her sainted counterpart.
Wooden wonders of Herculaneum
An astonishing array of wooden objects has survived from Herculaneum, carbonised by the volcanic eruption that destroyed the town. This invaluable material may be less showy than the celebrated marble and bronze statuary, but it was still used for everything from beams and boats to purses and small shrines, as Dalu Jones finds out.
Scotland’s oldest tartan goes on display
Radiocarbon dating found that a date of c.1500-1600 was probable
Empire’s new clothes? Study sheds light on Inca tunic design
Elements were added by local weavers according to their own regional design traditions
Face to face with Fayum mummy portraits
The Fayum mummy portraits are masterpieces of ancient painting, but are they portraits? With an exhibition of these paintings and golden mummies on view in Manchester, Lucia Marchini speaks to Egyptologist Campbell Price to find out more.
Margaret Alice Murray (1863-1963)
These same people would not hesitate to wear a scarab-ring taken off a dead man’s hand… Their objections – their opinions even – are an offence to science.
Gods of Thunder: How Climate Change, Travel, and Spirituality Reshaped Precolonial America
Review by Eric Singleton It is a welcome departure to see a scholar stepping outside their regionalised field of study to offer an interconnected view of North American history that is not
Jalame, 1963-1971
Viewers of the Netflix competition series Blown Away will be familiar both with the mesmerising transformations that take place under extreme heat as glass is blown, shaped, and decorated, and with the
Beneath the cathedrals: discoveries at Notre-Dame and Leicester Cathedral
At another English cathedral, that of Exeter, excavations have revealed Roman remains
Into the Labyrinth: unravelling the myths and archaeology of Minoan Knossos
Myth surrounds the famous Palace of Knossos, but there is much more to the Cretan site than the fabled Minotaur and King Minos. A new exhibition at the Ashmolean Museum delves into the archaeology of the Minoan site and the later work that is reshaping Arthur Evans’ controversial interpretations, as Maev Kennedy finds out.
Riches and ritual uncovered in England
Archaeologists from MOLA were excavating the site in Northamptonshire when they uncovered a group of some 30 pendants, other grave goods, and fragments of tooth enamel in a grave.
Island lives: art and identity in the Mediterranean
Water may separate the Mediterranean islands from the mainland, but the sea also offers a vital link. Anastasia Christophilopoulou considers how objects from Crete, Cyprus, and Sardinia reveal aspects of shifting island identities over time, and stories of their connections.
Minerva Magazine 200
Touring the ancient theatres of Epirus, Greece
The mountains and forests of Epirus offer a dramatic backdrop for a tour through the theatres of the Greek region’s ancient cities. Diana Bentley finds stories of a famed oracle and a celebrated victory along the way.