Highlights of the Manchester Museum: a stela of the Overseer of Works, Mery-Ra
For this issue, Campbell Price choses a small stela in Manchester’s collection that commemorates the official responsible for the creation of a famous statue.
epigraphy
This week: Olympia
As fans of the world's most celebrated sporting contest know, the modern Olympic Games are no stranger to accusations of cheating. Things were no better, however, at the Ancient Olympics, the four-yearly panhellenic Games, which were first recorded in 776 BC and held at Olympia in the northwestern Peloponnese.
The Greatest Invention: A History of the World in Nine Mysterious Scripts
Review by Andrew Robinson. All academics would presumably regard writing as one of the world’s great inventions, perhaps even the greatest invention. Philologist Silvia Ferrara certainly does. An expert on the undeciphered Cypro-Minoan script, she is the founder of a…
This week: Maryport
It was a ploughman's chance discovery that led to one the greatest Roman finds of the Victorian age – described by John Collingwood Bruce, the 19th-century historian of Hadrian's Wall, as a 'sudden acquisition of treasure' such as had never before been seen in the region.
A tale of two temples: tracing religious remains at Maryport Roman fort
The Roman fort at Maryport is best known for the collection of altars, dedicated to the god Jupiter, that were found buried in a series of large pits just outside its walls. Where was this religious stonework originally displayed – and what can we learn from the remains of two temples first discovered almost 150 years ago? Carly Hilts explores a wide-ranging report on the site by Ian Haynes and Tony Wilmott.
Seeking a legendary lost city
The civil war had been very disruptive. There had been looting, pillage, and social upheaval. There are records of a most heinous crime, rooting up the boundary markers of land ownership, for which those guilty were impaled.
Petuaria revisited: searching for Brough-on-Humber’s lost Roman theatre
Eighty-five years ago, an inscription was discovered at Brough-on-Humber hinting that the town was once home to a Roman theatre. Peter Halkon and James Lyall report on more recent excavations seeking to relocate its remains.
Egyptian Mythology: A Traveller’s Guide from Aswan to Alexandria
What was understood about the gods, goddesses, spirits, and demons in ancient Egypt depended to a great extent on what was being explained or taught and by whom, when, and where. What was formally written down was also governed by…
The Great Inscription: law and order at Gortyn
The Cretan site of Gortyn may be overshadowed by the palace-complex of Knossos, also on the island, but among its varied remains is an important legal document that offers insights into the ancient city. Diana Bentley is our guide.
A Maya Universe in Stone
In 1951, Quest for the Lost City was published in the United States. Reviewed in The New York Times as ‘a sort of overland Kon-Tiki’ – in reference to Thor Heyerdahl’s recent Pacific Ocean adventure – the book was an…
Artistic obscurity: analysing Britain’s most elusive Roman sculptures
Research in the hinterland of Hadrian’s Wall has revealed remarkable examples of Romano-British artistry hidden in plain sight. Ian Haynes and Lindsay Allason-Jones explore some of the key examples identified by the Elusive Sculptures project, and how these carvings have evaded archaeological attention in the past.
Inscription reveals crystal jar from Galloway Hoard belonged to a bishop
The find possibly came from a church in the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Northumbria, of which Galloway was a part.
Roman Bath: a new history and archaeology of Aquae Sulis
For me, the crux of this book comes on page 132. Peter Davenport explains that ‘the plan of the Classical temple [was altered] into something quite similar to the more usual plan of temples in the north-west of the empire,…
Reading between the runes
The British Museum’s Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS) recently passed the milestone of one million records generated since the project’s foundation in 1997. Among the highlights announced at the launch of the latest PAS annual report (for 2020) is this gold…
A Maya Universe in Stone
A Maya Universe in Stone delves deeply into the imagery, inscriptions, and political and social contexts of several ancient Maya carved limestone lintels made in the late 8th century AD, likely in Guatemala’s Department of Peten. Eminent epigrapher and archaeologist…
Cage cup
What is it? This cage cup, or vas diatretum, dates to the 4th century AD. The intricate, colourless glass bowl is 12.6cm tall and 15cm in diameter and has a flared rim. A Latin inscription in the central part of…
Charting the creative process in an Egyptian chapel
On the north and south walls of the Chapel at the Temple of Hatshepsut, mirrored reliefs show a procession of figures bringing offerings to the enthroned female pharaoh
Butrint’s slave manumissions: shedding new light on the UNESCO World Heritage city
During 2020, 'squeezes' – copies – made in the 1930s of Butrint’s exceptional inscriptions from the Sanctuary of Asclepius were rediscovered by chance. Enrico Giorgi shares the story of these texts and their facsimiles.
The Hidden Language of Graphic Signs: Cryptic Writing and Meaningful Marks
Throughout history, scripts have become established by communicating language and meaning as transparently as possible to literate readers. But, of course, scripts have an aesthetic dimension, too, which both enhances their appeal and distracts readers from their meaning – as…
Mummified human remains discovered at Pompeii
Wax tablet archives revealed that the deceased was a public slave and a custodian of the Temple of Venus.
3D technology to shed new light on ancient Celtic writing system
Its alphabet represents a written language ancestral to Scottish Gaelic, modern Irish, and Manx
Rare stone marking the border of ancient Rome unearthed
Only ten other stones of this kind have been discovered in Rome – the last was unearthed 100 years ago.
Discovering Roman women’s lives: from slaves to a senatorial lady in Geneva
How much can we know about the role of women in Roman society? Natalya Kahn examines inscriptions from Geneva to build up a picture of their experiences of life within the Roman Empire.
The Dignity of Labour: image, work and identity in the Roman world
Immediately beyond the Porta Maggiore in Rome, at a busy intersection, lies the impressive tomb of Eurysaces, a baker who lived through the last days of the Roman Republic. In the ensuing centuries, his lavish funerary monument was swallowed up…
Forgotten faith? Tracing early Christianity in western Britain and Ireland
It used to be said that Christianity in Roman Britain was a short-lived phenomenon that sputtered out in the 5th century, needing the missionary efforts of St Columba, St Ninian, and St Augustine of Canterbury to revive it in the later 6th century. But there is now an increasing body of evidence that the religion continued to thrive as a force for learning, culture, and social organisation in the western parts of England and Wales, with links to Brittany and Ireland. Chris Catling goes in search of the latest thinking.
AI and ancient languages
Available in English and Arabic, Fabricius is an enjoyable introduction to hieroglyphs, but also presents new approaches for professional Egyptologists.
Bar brawl in Pompeii
Two gladiators wearing helmets with abundant, bristling crests are immortalised in paint in this Roman fresco, recently discovered at Pompeii. On the left, a murmillo stands tall and holds his large shield high in victory, while his vanquished opponent, a…
Plague on Hadrian’s Wall? Interpreting evidence for pandemics in Roman Britain
Was there plague on Britain’s Roman frontier? Two Hadrian’s Wall archaeologists examine the clues: Nick Hodgson investigates the Antonine plague of the later 2nd century, while David Breeze considers the possible impact of the less well-known late 3rd-century Cyprian plague.
Chinese Museums: the lure of the East
China’s marvellous ancient treasures are displayed in a number of venerable provincial museums throughout this vast and richly historical country. Seeking expert guidance, we asked Cathy Giangrande and Miriam Clifford, co-authors of two books on the subject – CHINA: museums and the Chinese Museums Association Guide – to choose six of the best archaeological museums and sites to visit when touring China
Settlement and sacred structures: exploring cultic and commercial activity at Maryport
Excavations at Maryport have shed vivid light on activity outside the Roman fort, from possible temple buildings and buried altars to signs of more everyday life. Tony Wilmott, Ian Haynes, and John Zant explain more.
The Phaistos Disc
This enigmatic fired-clay disc, dating to around 1700-1600 BC, was discovered in the palace of Phaistos on the Greek island of Crete.
Modernising Maudslay’s Maya casts
These monumental carvings are just two of the many the adventurous Alfred Maudslay recorded on his travels around Mesoamerican sites in the 1880s and 1890s.
Settlement and sacred structures: exploring cultic and commercial activity at Maryport
Excavations at Maryport have shed vivid light on activity outside the Roman fort, from possible temple buildings and buried altars to signs of more everyday life. Tony Wilmott, Ian Haynes, and John Zant explain more.
Roman writing on the Wall: recording inscriptions at a Hadrian’s Wall quarry
In the depths of a Cumbrian wood, intrepid archaeologists have been abseiling down the wall of a Roman quarry to document eroding inscriptions left by 3rd-century soldiers tasked with harvesting the sandstone to help repair Hadrian’s Wall. Carly Hilts visited the site and spoke to Jon Allison and Mike Collins to find out more.
Ancient Egyptian police and punishment
Stab wounds found on Ancient Egyptian skeletons suggest corporal punishment was used at the New Kingdom site of Amarna.
Olympic link on Antikythera Mechanism
In CWA 30 we reported on recent research to understand the 2,000 year old scientific instrument salvaged from a Roman ship that sank off the coast of the Greek island of Antikythera in the 1st century BC. Since then, Mike…