A colossal statue of Ramesses II has been restored and re-erected in its original position by the Egyptian-American team working at Ashmunein (Hermopolis), in Minya. The limestone statue measures approximately 6.7 metres in height, and weighs over 40 tons. It…
An Egyptian team working in the northern area of Alexandria has uncovered the remains of a residential villa and circular public baths. The villa, dating to the Roman Period, had mosaic floors in a variety of styles, reflecting the diversity…
• Egypt, rather than East Africa, may have been the region where the ancestors of modern apes and humans emerged according to researchers, following their discovery of fossil remains of an ape in the Qattara Depression dating back 18 million…
Why is Ramses II considered to be ‘the Great’? An exhibition focusing on his life and times sheds light on how Ramses earned this accolade. Matthew Symonds shares what he learnt.
Where is this? If you know, email the Editor peter@ancientegyptmagazine.com before 30 April with your answer, giving your full name, address, and a contact phone number. One lucky reader’s name will be selected at random from all the correct answers…
Dr Hourig Sourouzian, Director of the Colossi of Memnon and Amenhotep III Temple Conservation Project in Luxor, was recently honoured by Sherif Fathy, the Minister of Tourism, for her outstanding contributions to the restoration of the mortuary temple. The ceremony…
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.
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…
Tessa Dunlop uncovers the stories behind some of the UK’s most fascinating monuments to conflict, and reveals what they tell us about changing attitudes to war.
In 1925, two colossal statues of Akhenaten were discovered in an unpromising area outside the eastern enclosure wall of Karnak Temple. Since then, many more have been found.
A new study by Jun Yi Wong of the University of Toronto suggests that damage to Hatshepsut’s statues may not have been an act of animosity by Thutmose III. The examination of previously unpublished documents shows that many of the…
Continuing his series focusing on the kings of the Twelfth Dynasty, Wolfram Grajetzki explores the reign and innovations of Khakheperra Senusret II.
Hilary Wilson describes the way ancient Egyptian artists and craftsmen depicted the human form (especially the hands) in wall paintings and sculpture.
Campbell Price selects one of a pair of sphinxes from the first ‘avenue of sphinxes’, at Deir el-Bahri.
A new Fifth Dynasty tomb has been discovered at Saqqara by an Egyptian mission led by the Supreme Council of Antiquities and the Zahi Hawass Foundation for Antiquities and Heritage. The 4,400-year-old tomb belongs to Userafra, a previously unknown son…
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…
REVIEW BY QUITA MOULD In this volume, the author describes a range of Roman shoe- and foot-shaped artefacts and considers the cultural significance of such representations. She summarises the ancient written sources available and the thoughts of previous researchers, before…
Geoffrey Lenox-Smith visits the antiquities museum in Hurghada and comes face to face with the ‘White Queen’.
Once home to Celtiberians, Romans, Visigoths, and Moors, the ancient city of Valeria is now the venue for an archaeological project focusing on investigating the imperial Roman forum. Catalina Urquijo and Dionisio Urbina share their surprising discoveries.
A round-up of some of the latest news from the world of ancient Egypt.…
It was not just an important food item for the ancient Egyptians: milk had magical properties.
Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones continues his series on the later Ptolemaic queens
with the ambitious Cleopatra III and her murderous family rivalries.
REVIEW BY CATHIE BRYAN Ramesses II is notorious for his self-promotion and propaganda, rather than being famous for his many achievements and cultural advances. To adjust the balance, Wilkinson addresses what Ramesses, the only king of Egypt known as ‘the…
A selection of the latest publications on Egypt and Egyptology, assessed by AE’s team of experts.
Review by Campbell Price This finely produced book from AUC Press is written with eloquence by statue scholar and curator Simon Connor. Opening with recent debates about the role and identity of ‘public’ statues, the book sets out to investigate…
For almost 200 years, visitors to the British Museum have stood in awe in front of the statue known as the Younger Memnon – one of two colossal granite heads which originally flanked the entrance to the Ramesseum mortuary temple…
The enigmatic deer stones speckling the Mongolian steppe have long invited questions. Now fresh research is providing clues to why they were carved and what they may represent. William Fitzhugh and Richard Kortum, with Bayarsaikhan Jamsranjav, share the story of these remarkable relics.
From Ahmose I to Horemheb, the depiction of kings in Egypt’s 18th Dynasty was a tale of tradition and innovation. Even as the image of the chariot-riding warrior pharaoh became entrenched, there were more radical changes to come with the Amarna style of Akhenaten, as Guy de la Bédoyère explains.
The remarkable discoveries of headless falcon skeletons and a stele depicting an Egyptian falcon deity have led researchers to dub the temple the 'Falcon Shrine'.
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.
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.
Recent analysis of a 1st-century lead figurine at Wall Roman site in Staffordshire, depicting a man from sub-Saharan Africa, has shed new light on perceptions of identity in Roman Britain. Carly Hilts spoke to Cameron Moffett to find out more.
Forget London 2012. What about Olympia in 388 BC? Archaeologist Neil Faulkner has just published a new book that attempts to reconstruct the lived experience of the ancient games. So what were they really like?