Fort Rashid: The find-spot of the Rosetta stone.
Geoffrey Lenox-Smith visits the site where the Rosetta Stone was discovered in 1799.
military architecture
Never surrender: The siege of the Alcázar of Toledo, July-September 1936
No episode of Spain’s bloody and brutal Civil War is more swathed in myth than the siege of Toledo’s historic Alcázar. Ninety years on, Nigel Jones tells its story.
Fort Niagara
Reviewing the best military history exhibitions, with Christopher Warner.
Antonine Wall fortlet found
Archaeological investigations in Bearsden, near Glasgow, have revealed evidence of a previously unknown fortlet on the Antonine Wall. This is the 13th Antonine Wall fortlet to have been confidently identified, adding to other examples that were recently revealed during geophysical…
Fortress of the east
A well-preserved military fortress dating to the New Kingdom has been discovered by an Egyptian team at the site of Tell el-Kharouba, near to the coast in Sinai. Constructed close to the ancient ‘Way of Horus’ military road (connecting Egypt…
Excavations in the Roman Legionary Fortress at Caerleon: the Priory Field store building
REVIEW BY TOBY DRIVER From the outset, the authors of this impressive research report remind us of the importance both of Caerleon Roman fortress and of the excavations and evaluations carried out in the Priory Field between 2007 and 2010.…
In Brief
MHM’s round-up of the latest military history releases.
Fortress of the East
Recent excavations at Tell Abu Saifi in the Qantara region (Ismailia) have revealed new military architecture at the site of two fortresses dating back to the Ptolemaic and Roman periods. Located in the northern Sinai Desert, the ‘Fortress of the…
Newhaven Fort
An East Sussex landmark has reopened following a £7.5 million transformation. Carly Hilts reports on a recent site visit.
Military rest stop in northern Sinai
The remains of a royal fortified military rest area have been discovered at Tell Habwa (northern Sinai) by a mission from the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities. The team found the remains of a mud-brick building near the beginning…
Remains of a radar station, Craster, Northumberland
More than 200 radar stations were dotted throughout Britain during the Second World War, although very few survive intact today. A number of these were Chain Home Low, or CHL stations, so named because they could detect enemy aircraft flying…
CA 407 Letters – January
Your thoughts on issues raised by CA.
Castles and Fortifications of the West Country
REVIEW BY KK This brief volume provides a succinct overview of the main castles and fortifications found across the West Country. Starting in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, Powell-Thomas then gives special attention to examining the Palmerston forts surrounding…
Castles of Kent through Time
REVIEW BY AB It is easy to think of castles as a static part of the historical landscape, towering relics of a bygone era, but these buildings have rich stories, many of which are still being written. In Castles of…
Ancient Fortifications Quiz
Maiden Castle is one of Europe's largest Iron Age hillforts. In which English county is it situated?
The ancient world’s largest fortresses: Persia’s northern defences in late antiquity
In the 4th to 6th centuries AD, Persia was under attack from the north by the ‘White Huns’ and other powerful groups of steppe warriors. Persia’s response was to create a massive fortification belt – unsurpassed in scale anywhere in the ancient and medieval world, with only the possible exception of China. Eberhard Sauer, Jebrael Nokandeh, Hamid Omrani Rekavandi, Mohammadreza Nemati, and Mehdi Mousavinia have explored the backbone of the system: the densest concentration of mega-fortresses in the late antique world, in the Gorgan and Tehran Plains of Iran.
Mountain fortress in Iraq could be the royal city of Natounia, researchers suggest
Based on the architectural association between Rabana-Merquly’s rock reliefs, fortifications, and settlements, and some specific types of pottery, the team have tentatively dated the site’s main building phase to the 1st century BC.
Review: Fort George
Open 9.30am-5.30pm daily (April to September) and 10am-4pm daily (October to March)Ardersier, Inverness, IV2 7TDwww.historicenvironment.scot/visit-a-place/places/fort-george/+44 (0) 1667 462 834 Fort George is an imposing reminder of a turbulent period in British history. Its commanding position on the Moray Firth in…
Stow Maries Great War Aerodrome
Proudly claiming to be ‘Europe’s largest surviving World War I aerodrome’, the museum welcomes visitors to an impressive, hundred-acre site.
Denmark’s Viking fortresses: a Tuscan challenge
Richard Hodges explores the Viking fortresses at Trelleborg and Borgring.