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 name for York (8)15 Visigoth king who captured Rome in…
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 take that rightfully emphasises the unique material produced across Sudanese…
A BESTIARY OF ANCIENT NUBIA A Bestiary of Ancient Nubia reveals the animal world of ancient Nubia from the A-Group culture to the medieval period, including lions, crocodiles, birds, cattle, and insects depicted in statues, paintings, and other artefacts. INSTITUTE…
Hilary Wilson describes the many depictions of birds in ancient Egyptian tomb scenes.
Geoffrey Lenox-Smith visits the antiquities museum in Hurghada and comes face to face with the ‘White Queen’.
What and where is this Christian monument? If you know, email the Editor (peter@ancientegyptmagazine.com) before 31 December with your answer, giving your full name, address and contact number. As this is the Christmas issue, we will pick two lucky readers…
When you envisage Greek statues and friezes, you probably picture pure white marble sculptures, pockmarked with age – that is, after all, how they appear today. But that was not how they appeared to the ancient Greeks who made them,…
This is one of the seven Anglo-Saxon disc brooches found within a silver vessel discovered by a metal detectorist in September 2014 – one of more than 100 objects that were subsequently excavated and are now known as the Galloway…
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.
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.
From the worship of local Syrian protector gods to Christianity, many different religions flourished in the cosmopolitan crossroads city of Dura-Europos. Jen Baird brings us face to face with the diverse divine through the art of this ancient site.
Animal art over thousands of years paints a picture of the ways we live with and study different species, from Roman hunting hounds to swarms of bees, as Lucia Marchini investigates.
Text by Andrew Robinson
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.
In early Christian art, Mary Magdalene was a key figure in the Resurrection of Christ, as first witness and ‘apostle to the apostles’. Diane Apostolos-Cappadona explores how her significance was set in stone, tiled on walls, and carved in wood and ivory.
Review by Diana Bentley Nearly two and a half millennia after it was written, Thucydides’ History of the Peloponnesian War not only remains vibrantly alive and regularly referred to in discussions of modern conflict and politics, but is a rich…
Painting the zodiac Colourful ceiling paintings including the signs of the zodiac have been revealed at the temple of Esna in Egypt. Executed in relief, the images also depict planets and other constellations, snakes, crocodiles, and hybrid creatures such as…
Archaeologists working at the Moche site of Pañamarca, which is in western Peru, have uncovered intriguing depictions of a two-faced figure among the murals of its pillared hall. This building, which archaeologists believe may have been the most important at…
Stories from the world of archaeology, art, and museums
As he made his journey through the green steppe, Robert Byron (1905-1941) could see his destination 20 miles away:‘a small cream needle stood up against the blue of the mountains’, as he wrote in The Road to Oxiana, the account…
Eleusis – modern Elefsina – is in the spotlight as European Capital of Culture. Dalu Jones visits its ancient remains to enter the realm of the Eleusinian Mysteries, secret rites honouring the renewal of life.
Review by Andrew Robinson The Indus civilisation – which flourished c.2500-1900 BC – was about twice the size of its equivalent in Egypt or neighbouring Mesopotamia. In its own way, it was as extraordinary as those civilisations, with its technically…
Review by Nigel Fletcher-Jones This volume brings together eight historians of Africa under the editorship of John Parker (formerly at SOAS, University of London) to discuss the origins and structure of kingdoms through time and across the continent – from…
Strands of human hair from the Bronze Age burial and cult-cave of Es Càrritx in Menorca have been analysed, providing the first direct evidence of ancient drug-use in Europe. Around 1450 BC, Menorca’s inhabitants started to use natural caves as…
Stories from the world of archaeology, art, and museums
A beautifully painted zodiac ceiling has been revealed at the Temple of Esna following cleaning and restoration work by a German-Egyptian team. The colourful scenes, carved on the ceiling of the Roman Period columned hall, have not previously been published,…
The Egyptian archaeological mission working at the Meir archaeological site in el-Quseyya (Asyut Governorate) has uncovered a building dating to the Byzantine era. The structure consisted of a courtyard with a number of rooms, storage spaces, and a fireplace. The…
More than 2,000 mummified rams’ heads have been discovered by an American Mission excavating near to the Ramesses II temple at Abydos, inside a newly discovered storage room in the northern area of the temple. Alongside the rams’ heads, the…
A Dutch-Italian team has discovered a new tomb at Saqqara, belonging to a man named Panehsy who was associated with the Temple of Amun in the early part of the Ramesside Period. The tomb is in the form of a…
A new exhibition at the British Museum delves into drinking and decadence in the ancient Persian and Greek worlds. Henry Bishop-Wright tells Lucia Marchini how elements of luxury could be adopted and adapted to express power across cultures.
Review by Lucy Shipley This book is very clearly a passion project, the result of a lifetime’s love for and engagement with the Etruscan past. It provides a rare opportunity to hear the views of a specialist from another discipline,…
Inside the cist tomb were the remains of a man and a woman, thought to have died in their 30s
Extraordinary burials discovered in south-eastern Europe marked out individuals even at a time of egalitarian societies. Attila Gyucha and William A Parkinson guide us through spectacular finds from eleven countries that show how the elite grew their power in prehistory.
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.
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
Known today as Tello, Girsu is one of the oldest cities in the world.