Cover Story
Ramses the Great: How a pharaoh built his legacy Why is Ramses II considered to be ‘the Great’? An exhibition focusing on his life and times sheds light on how Ramses earned this accolade. Matthew Symonds shares what he learnt. Features
Beyond the luxurious: Tracing the Late Antique ivory trade Study of ivory use in the early medieval world is revealing fresh insights into how this material was viewed. The results have important implications for our understanding of the scale… 
Monuments of kingship: Power, memory, and belief at Jelling Study of the monuments at Jelling has revealed much about an extraordinary royal complex in 10th-century Denmark. Olympia Bobou, Ilaria Bucci, Rowan S English, and Rubina Raja explore the evolution… 
Grim devastation: Roman Republican sieges in Hispania and Gaul Roman sieges could come with serious consequences for besieged and besiegers alike. Mike Dobson examines the evidence for such warfare in Hispania and Gaul. News
Heritage mismanagement Recent research at several heritage sites in Tanzania suggests that they may be under threat from the very organisations tasked with protecting them. 
Sacred activity at the summit Evidence of Iron Age ritual activity has been discovered at the Bruchhauser Steine, a prominent rock formation in the hilly Sauerland region of western Germany. This natural landmark, which comprises… 
A rare religious site Excavations at the ancient Egyptian port city of Pelusium have identified a unique 2,000-year-old temple believed to be dedicated to the local deity Pelusius. In 2019, archaeologists from Egypt’s Supreme… 
A stunning souvenir A remarkable Roman cup discovered in central Spain is revealing links between Hadrian’s Wall and the Hispanic soldiers who served there. The object was uncovered by chance in farmland in… 
A mysterious mass murder Analysis of an Iron Age mass grave in northern Serbia reveals surprising new information about the group of individuals buried here. Gomolava is a tell site in the Pannonian Plain… 
Ceremonial coin from catastrophic colony Archaeological investigations at a short-lived 16th-century Spanish settlement in southern Chile have uncovered a coin associated with its foundation. In 1584, colonists led by veteran navigator Pedro Sarmiento de Gamboa… 
Sacrificial scents Analysis of two votive offering vessels from Pompeii is enhancing our understanding of Roman domestic rituals. 
Constructing coral cottages A new study is investigating the architecture of a Pacific society after European colonialisation. Views
The copper road Comment For the first time in human experience, a substance could be melted and converted into something new. If you set off by car from the Volga River to Hungary, you… 
From the fringes of the Roman Empire: Locally crafted empires Travel In our high-speed modern world, it can be easy to forget that the ancient world was experienced at a slower speed. Rubina Raja shares the insights that can spring from… 
CWA 137 crossword, and answers to crossword #136 Competitions Across 8 Mexican state, location of Mitla archaeological site (6)9 Ancient stringed musical instrument (8)10 People conquered by the Assyrians in 1157 BC (8)11 Central European Neolithic culture (6)12 Roman… 
Crossing to Inis Cealtra Travel Firsts. I first went to Inis Cealtra – Holy Island in County Clare – with my first girlfriend, Leigh, in 1973. From County Antrim, a northerner, she had an esprit… 
Picturing Pompeii The Picture Desk A 19th-century photograph sheds light on a forgotten part of Pompeii, as Janice Kinory describes. 
Ceramic trumpet Objects This kind of trumpet is rare in Germany. What is it? This ceramic trumpet, found in Bavaria, is more than 200 years old. Measuring 44cm long, the instrument comprises a… 
An ancient altar The Picture Desk Recent excavations at the ancient city of Savatra, in the Karatay district of Konya, central Turkey, have uncovered an impressive altar in the site’s theatre complex, which is believed to… 
Migration, mobility, and a Mesolithic refuge Comment A study of human remains from two cemeteries in Bulgaria, all buried with distinctively ‘Gothic’ jewellery, brooches, and belt buckles, suggests that the ancient Goths were ethnically diverse and not… 
Pilgrimage cities Comment Ritual practices have been part of human life for almost as long as we can trace archaeological remains. The supernatural and inexplicable attract, excite, and worry people, with religion and… Reviews
From the fringes of the Roman Empire: Locally crafted empires In our high-speed modern world, it can be easy to forget that the ancient world was experienced at a slower speed. Rubina Raja shares the insights that can spring from… 
The Egyptian Book of the Dead An exhibition exploring ancient Egyptian funerary texts and traditions returns to the Getty Villa Museum. 
Rock Art and its Legacy in Myth and Art Rock Art and its Legacy in Myth and Art is an illuminating and deeply engaging exploration of humanity’s earliest artistic expressions, brought vividly to life by Christoph Baumer and Therese… 
The Early and Middle Bronze Age in the Central Balkans This volume examines the later phases of the Early Bronze Age and the Middle Bronze Age in the central Balkans, offering a comprehensive review of the archaeological evidence from the… 
Ancient Nubian Art: a history A new synopsis of the history of Nubia is needed given the increase in new research in recent years; Freed’s focus on the art of the region is a refreshing … Crossing to Inis Cealtra Firsts. I first went to Inis Cealtra – Holy Island in County Clare – with my first girlfriend, Leigh, in 1973. From County Antrim, a northerner, she had an esprit… 
From the editor
Ramses II knew how to make his mark. A fondness for ambitious architectural projects drove him to build new temples and embellish those of his predecessors. As a consequence, the names and likeness of this remarkable ruler can still be seen across Egypt, more than 3,000 years after his death. Amid the bombastic sculpture and self aggrandising statements, though, it is possible to catch glimpses of the character of the king. As an exhibition focusing on him visits London, our cover feature takes a look at who Ramses was, and what he did to deserve the honorific adjective so commonly associated with him today: ‘the Great’.
When it comes to siege warfare, the Romans were also willing to build on the achievements of others. The operations conducted by Republican armies borrowed heavily from Hellenistic techniques. An enduring interest in the archaeology of Roman sieges means that there is plenty of scope to compare surviving ancient literary accounts with the evidence from the field, providing a vivid sense of the day-to-day realities of such warfare.
Research into the Late Antique ivory trade is bringing the everyday to the fore as well, by showing that ivory was not just for the production of high-status artefacts. Instead, more mundane objects also relied on access to the material. The results have implications for our understanding of the quantities in circulation, as well as the impact on the elephants that the trade exploited.
Making elite statements was very much the order of the day at 10th-century Jelling, in Denmark. There, monumental architecture and inscribed texts shed light on how a place that was originally intended to honour the dead became a venue for royal and Christian display.
In our travel section, Richard Hodges returns to a site that made a lasting impression when he first visited in 1973: the monastery on Inis Cealtra, in Ireland.
Finally, CWA is delighted to introduce a new regular section: ‘Every Picture’. Starting on p.64, it will make use of archive images to illuminate the changing face of the past.
MATT SYMONDS
