Photographing Mosul, 1944
Exhibition at the Courtauld Gallery: 'Anthony Kersting: Kurdistan in the 1940s'
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Converting the Caucasus
According to legend, a king who had been saved after being turned into a boar ordered the conversion of Armenia to Christianity. From these royal beginnings came fights between crown, clergy, and defenders of different creeds. Christoph Baumer takes us on a journey through the ecclesiastical conflicts of the Caucasus and to its magnificent early churches.
Words of Wisdom: ‘At home, you can say or do anything’
What buddies could you prefer to a faithful wife? What brothers can you imagine skipping out on her for? A wife’s more trustworthy than friends, more faithful than a brother, and a beautiful bride even beats your mom for loyalty.
Solar Power at Stonehenge
The people of Neolithic and Bronze Age Europe explored their connection to the sun in a range of ways, from monumental stone circles to small gold discs. As a new exhibition opens at the British Museum, Lucia Marchini speaks to Jennifer Wexler to find out more about the ideas that linked them.
At Home in Roman Egypt: A Social Archaeology
At Home in Roman Egypt offers the first full-scale investigation of life as experienced by the ordinary people of Roman Egypt in the 1st to 4th centuries AD. It approaches the subject by looking at the life course, following people’s…
Ancient Greek necropolis to welcome visitors in June 2022
The Ipogeo dei Cristallini is situated just outside the limits of ancient Neapolis.
Off with their heads! The emperors of Chiragan
One of the finest collections of Roman emperors is to be found far from Rome in the Musée Saint-Raymond in Toulouse. But where did they come from, and how did such a magnificent gathering of Roman emperors come to lose their heads? The late Roman Empire was a time of growing religious intolerance. In the East, a Christian mob destroyed the Serapeum temple at Alexandria: did a similar outburst of violence take place in south-western France? Andrew Selkirk investigates.
Phallic-shaped Ethiopian monuments 1,000 years older than previously thought
Southern Ethiopia’s Gedeo Zone is home to many megalithic stelae that reach up to 6m in height, with an estimate of more than 10,000 across some 60 sites. Some resemble phalluses, others have faces or anthropomorphic designs, while some are…
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.
On show: the latest exhibitions from around the world
Due to changing coronavirus measures, the dates listed below may have changed since we went to print, and museums and galleries may close. Check the websites and social-media accounts of the museums for the most up-to-date information and bookings.
Rare Romano-British carving revealed
The substantial figure, measuring 67cm in height, was discovered in July 2021 in Buckinghamshire, southern England
Ninagawa Noritane
In the 1930s, an admirer remembered Japanese antiquarian Ninagawa Noritane fondly as ‘simple-hearted and unpretentious. He was frugal and sometimes walked around wearing a lampshade hat woven with rush.’ He added, perhaps unnecessarily, ‘It should be said that he was…
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…
Children of the Roman Empire
A new exhibition in Florence examines what life was like for the young sons and daughters of gods, emperors, and ordinary mortals in ancient Rome. Dalu Jones explores what the ancient art on view reveals about attitudes towards children.
Depictions of hybrid camels identified at a temple in Hatra, Iraq
Important as commercial commodities and as symbols of wealth and power, the animals also appear to be associated with the pre-Islamic Arabian goddess, Allat.
Terracotta dog found in Rome
It was uncovered at a construction site in the Via Luigi Tosti, which joins Via Latina, home to a number of large tombs.
Oldest known depiction of falconry unearthed in Norway
It is a detailed depiction, with the plumes of the bird of prey marked in careful lattice-work.
Egyptian afterlives: an interview with Salima Ikram
As shown by the excitement surrounding the discovery of Tutankhamun 100 years ago, mummies and Egyptian tombs have an impressive ability to capture our imagination. Richard Marranca speaks to Egyptologist Salima Ikram to find out more about these funerary finds, from early medicinal mummies to recent revelations at Saqqara.
Researchers identify the oldest known drinking straws
Barley starch granules from the residue inside one of the straws hint that people were using them to drink beer.
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.