An Egyptian team working in the Bahariya Oasis have discovered three tombs from different periods at the site of Sheikh Sobi, the necropolis for the priests and governors of the oasis from the Late Period. The first tomb was carved…
An Egyptian mission has uncovered a number of rock-cut tombs at the Tell el-Yahudiya site in Qalyubia Governorate – a rare find in the Eastern Delta, which has predominantly clay soil not suited to rock-cut structures. The tombs date from…
While research is increasingly looking at the experience of children in the past, this is still an under-researched area, and in terms of children’s exposure to violence, while cases of exceptional mass events can be recognised in archaeology, subtler, systematic…
An Egyptian mission at Marina el-Alamein (the site of the Graeco-Roman city of Leukaspis) has discovered 11 deep rock-cut tombs and 7 limestone surface tombs, many of which are still sealed and well preserved. One of the burials was originally…
A recently discovered high-status burial offers rare insights into ancient funerary practices and Colchester’s late Roman past. Carly Hilts spoke to Laura Pooley at a new exhibition about the finds.
Following Aidan Dodson’s history of the Libyan pharaohs of Egypt in the last issue, Roger Forshaw explores the latest discoveries from the site of Tanis, their capital city.
Festschriften are, by their very nature, both scholarly tribute and personal testament, and No Good Deed Goes Unpunished succeeds admirably on both counts. Produced in honour of Peter Lacovara, this substantial volume reflects not only the breadth of his academic…
A new exhibition at Discover Bucks Museum in Aylesbury draws together antiquarian excavations and very recent finds to illuminate life and death at different levels of early medieval society. Carly Hilts visited the displays and spoke to their curator Brett Thorn.
A glittering exhibition at Battersea Power Station in London explores the life and legacy of one of ancient Egypt’s most famous rulers. Carly Hilts visited to learn more.
A group of rock-cut Old Kingdom tombs has been uncovered by an Egyptian mission working at Qubbet el-Hawa, near Aswan. The tombs contained burial chambers that were reused in the First Intermediate Period and the Middle Kingdom. More than 160…
Across 7 Mercian king who ruled from AD 657 to 674 (8)8 Extinct language of Anatolia (6)10 US state containing the Grimes Point archaeological site (6)11 Roman name for York (8)12 Minstrel and poet of the Anglo-Saxon period (4)14 Ancient…
A spectacular tomb associated with the ancient Zapotec civilisation has been uncovered on Cerro de la Cantera, in San Pablo Huitzo, Oaxaca, south-western Mexico. The burial was brought to the attention of archaeologists from INAH thanks to an anonymous report…
Historically, the Roman Catholic Church in Ireland did not permit the burial in consecrated ground of stillborn babies and infants who died before they could be baptised (a rule that ended with the Second Vatican Council in the 1960s). Instead,…
Excavations at Harden Quarry, an active hard-rock quarry that is operated by Tarmac at Biddlestone in the Cheviot Hills of Northumberland National Park, has revealed a near complete view of Bronze Age life in this area: where people lived, where…
Although there are some statues of Amenemhat III as a young man, others depict him in later years with large ears and what appears to be a careworn expression. AE recounts the life and times of this, the last major king of the Twelfth Dynasty.
Patryk Chudzik describes recent archaeological discoveries in the Temple of Hatshepsut at Deir el-Bahri.
A newly published statue found at Gisr el-Mudir (Saqqara) in 2021 has revealed an unusual family portrait. The 100cm-high limestone figure depicts a nobleman standing in a typical Old Kingdom stance with his left foot forward, but also includes images…
Two decades of restoration work has finally been completed in the Tomb of Amenhotep III (WV22). The preservation of the tomb scenes was carried out by a Japanese-Egyptian team under the sponsorship of the UNESCO Japan Trust Fund. Restoration work…
Over the last century, Messenia in Greece has produced an extraordinary range of archaeological riches. Together, these finds showcase sumptuous burials and flourishing settlements, and shed vivid light on life during a pivotal period for the Mycenaean world. To find out more, Matthew Symonds spoke to Claire Lyons, Jack Davis, and Sharon Stocker.
Yesterday, I was able to cross off another archaeological site from my ‘must-see-one-day’ list. It was Hallstatt, the settlement that has given its name to the early Iron Age of Europe’s past. First, I was lucky to visit the Natural History Museum in Vienna, where there is a major section devoted to this site.
Highgate Cemetery, consecrated on 20 May 1839, was created to provide a more hygienic alternative to ‘intramural’ burial (within church walls) or in overcrowded church- and chapel yards. Today, Highgate is known as one of the so-called ‘magnificent seven’ cemeteries…
A joint Egyptian–Italian archaeological mission (University of Milan) has discovered more rock-cut Graeco-Roman tombs in the necropolis surrounding the Aga Khan Mausoleum on Aswan’s West Bank (for previous finds, see AE 144). The most impressive tomb to be found so…
A massive mud-brick enclosure wall has been found near Karnak by an Egyptian team working at Nagaa Abu Asba. Blocks from the wall bear stamps with the name of the Twenty-sixth Dynasty king Menkheperra Necho I (c.672-664 BC). The team…
French researchers using AI to analyse more than 500 intact early graves at the cemetery of Adaïma (8km south of Esna) have revealed an evolution in funerary practices that helped to shape early Egyptian statehood. The earliest First Dynasty burials…
Who was buried in the passage tombs of Neolithic Ireland? For centuries, many thought that these monuments were the final resting places of a ruling elite, and in 2020 this seemed to be confirmed by ancient DNA analysis which revealed that some of the individuals interred within them were related. Now, however, Penny Bickle, Kerri Cleary, Catherine J Frieman, Neil Carlin, Daniela Hofmann, and Jessica Smyth describe recent research that examines the results in light of their wider archaeological context, exploring complex funerary rites which, they argue, were just one form of kin-building among
a community with much wider social networks.
The owner of a tomb discovered in the 1970s in el-Assasif has finally been identified by a joint Egyptian-Canadian (University of Ontario) mission. Following the first archaeological work since the discovery of the tomb, known as Kampp 23, the team…
A line of pits unearthed during excavations in Dijon contained rare examples of Iron Age individuals buried in a seated position. Hervé Laganier reveals what has been found, and how it compares to other examples of this enigmatic phenomenon.
REVIEW BY CAMPBELL PRICE Much-anticipated from the prolific pen of Kara Cooney, the undisputed queen of coffin (re)commodification, this enormous tome is not for the faint-hearted. Introductory chapters gather, reformulate, and re-emphasise arguments Cooney has put forward in a number…
An ornately decorated mastaba has been discovered in the cemetery at Dahshur, the southernmost of the necropolises associated with Memphis, an ancient Egyptian capital. The tomb was discovered during recent excavations by the German Archaeological Institute (DAI), Cairo, which has…
An Old Kingdom mastaba tomb with painted decorations has been discovered by a team from the German Archaeological Institute working at Dahshur. Inscriptions name the deceased as Senebnebef, a palace official, and his wife Idut, a priestess of Hathor. The…
The Spanish mission that is excavating a series of rock-cut tombs at the ancient site of Oxyrhynchus (el-Bahnasa, Minya) has discovered two more mummies with gold tongues, and several terracotta figures of Isis-Aphrodite – the first to be found in…
Rachel Cotton investigates an extremely rare item: a linen ‘bag-tunic’ discovered by Howard Carter and Lord Carnarvon in 1909.
HORIZON OF KHUFU: JOURNEY TO ANCIENT EGYPT An immersive expedition to explore the Great Pyramid of Giza, including spaces previously closed to the public, followed by a trip 4,500 years back in time to attend the funeral of King Khufu.…
REVIEW BY CAMPBELL PRICE The book’s introduction sets the scene by briefly describing the find, with a chronological sketch of the archaeological landscape of Saqqara the subject of the first chapter. The caching phenomenon – the deliberate gathering and deposition…
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.
This year’s overall winner is Nickolas Warner’s photo of the West Cemetery of Meroë, Sudan.