Museum news

This article is from Current Archaeology issue 418

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Secutor souvenir from Corbridge Roman town

A rare Roman knife handle cast in the shape of a gladiator is set to go on display at Corbridge Roman Town on Hadrian’s Wall, close to where it was recovered from the River Tyne.

The handle depicts a distinctively armoured kind of gladiator called a secutor. Interestingly, its subject is left-handed, an unusual artistic choice, as this trait was considered unlucky in Roman society – might this aspect of the figure suggest that it represents a real individual? Could the knife handle have been a souvenir of a favoured fighter?

Despite their low social status, gladiators could attain celebrity status, notes Dr Frances McIntosh, English Heritage’s Collections Curator for Hadrian’s Wall and the North East. Other items in English Heritage’s national collections reflect this fascination, among them a Samian bowl depicting gladiatorial combat, from Richborough Roman Fort and Amphitheatre in Kent, and a piece of glass painted with the image of a leopard, from Corbridge, which is thought to represent the animal hunts that also featured in arena spectacles.

The handle will go on display in summer 2025, alongside other finds from the Tyne. For more information about Corbridge Roman Town, see http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/corbridge-roman-town-hadrians-wall.

Kushite Kingdom on tour

A new exhibition highlighting the Kushite Kingdom, which flourished in Sudan nearly 3,000 years ago, is set to tour three museums next year.

At its peak, the Kingdom of Kush (8th century BC-4th century AD) was one of the largest empires in the ancient world, and a vital conduit for the movement of people, goods, and ideas, positioned on a crossroads between central Africa and the Mediterranean.

Ancient Sudan: enduring heritage (a British Museum Spotlight Loan) will visit Portsmouth Museum & Art Gallery (1 February-19 April 2025), Bristol Museum & Art Gallery (3 May-27 July 2025), and Stirling Smith Art Gallery & Museum (9 August-9 November 2025), showcasing nine illuminating artefacts. Highlights include a bronze figurehead of a goddess (below), possibly Isis, that would have adorned the prow of a ceremonial boat in the 3rd century BC; a carved offering table (AD 25-150) with inscriptions in Meroitic, the indigenous written language of the later Kushite period; and a clay jar decorated with Nile crocodiles, from a wealthy later 3rd-century AD grave near Faras.

Image: © 2024 The Trustees of the British Museum

The objects will tell stories of skilled craftsmanship, distinct religious beliefs, and the important role of women in Kushite society, as well as exploring the rich culture of modern Sudan. This cultural heritage now faces significant threats from the ongoing civil war, and the displays within the exhibition aim both to highlight the efforts of Sudanese people to protect their heritage, and to introduce audiences to a significant culture that is not defined by present conflict.

For more information about the exhibition, see http://www.britishmuseum.org/ancientsudan.

New exhibitions

War Rugs: Afghanistan’s knotted history
British Museum, London
Until 29 June 2025http://www.britishmuseum.org/exhibitions/war-rugs-afghanistans-knotted-history

Seeing and Unseeing the Pyramids: Lee Miller in Egypt
Petrie Museum, London
Until 28 June 2025
http://www.ucl.ac.uk/culture/whats-on/lee-miller-egypt

Oracles, Omens and Answers
Weston Library, Oxford
6 December 2024-27 April 2025
https://visit.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/event/oracles-omens-and-answers