Palmyra, Blemmyes, Diocletian, and Egypt
Ancient Egypt Magazine explores an often overlooked period of Egyptian history: the short-lived control of Egypt by Palmyra, and the incursions of the Eastern Desert Blemmyes.
The comprehensive website for archaeology, history, heritage and the ancient world
Current Archaeology
World Archaeology
Military History
Ancient Egypt
Wasabi and papyrus
A team at the Grand Egyptian Museum in Cairo has just published the results of their research showing that a traditional condiment for Japanese sushi can be used to conserve papyri. Wasabi,
‘Magical’ Coptic texts
A collection of 600 ‘magical’ texts written in Coptic has been published following five years of study by researchers at the University of Würzburg. Papyri Copticae Magicae (published by de Gruyter) includes
Comment
Chris CatlingSecret Tunnels
Secret tunnels are a trope of local folklore – many a town in the UK has its story about long-lost underground passages, doubtless providing the inhabitants of a monastery or castle an escape route from their confinement.
Joe FlatmanExcavating Wiltshire
I have now examined the archaeology of every county in Britain bar one – Wiltshire. This was no accident, for I have a confession to make: Wiltshire’s archaeology terrifies me.
Charles HighamRehabilitating the Neanderthals
He told us that he was a speleologist, whose girlfriend had just left him. He was in a very sorry state of distress.
Changing conclusions
It might have been used as an antiseptic or… a hunger suppressant – or just because people liked the taste.
Finds tray: Early Bronze Age pin
This is a unique early Bronze Age pin, made from the first phalanx (or toe-bone) of a golden eagle (Aquila chrysaetos). It is the only example ever found in a Bronze Age
The East End Preservation Society
Founded in 2013, the East End Preservation Society (EEPS) is an informal group that uses the power of social media to bring people together who ‘care about the East End and are
Finds tray – Roman mount
This is a Roman mount made of copper alloy and probably dating to between AD 200 and 300. It was discovered by a metal-detectorist near Doulting in Somerset and recently remotely recorded
Welwyn Archaeological Society
This month’s ‘Odd Socs’ column pays tribute to the late Tony Rook, who died on 11 September 2023 at the age of 91. Tony and his wife Merle Rook (who died in
War of Words: ‘PAWN’
Pawn emerges etymologically from the Anglo-Norman poun, which itself comes from the medieval Latin pedo (‘footsoldier’), derived from the Latin pes (‘foot’).
The Long Distance Walkers Association
Active travel, as it is known, is set to become even more popular as people rediscover the riches of the UK’s natural and cultural heritage.
Excavating Suffolk
The result of many years’ fieldwork by local voluntary and educational organisations came to a head there in the early 1990s, when a long-proposed bypass was constructed, destroying major elements of the Roman settlement.
Austria-Hungary’s Viribus Unitis-class battleships
Although the Austrian navy had won a remarkable victory against the Italians at the Battle of Lissa in the Adriatic on 20 July 1866, economic problems following the creation of the Dual
War zone: Plymouth
Matt Leonard explores the military history etched into the townscape of Plymouth.
Evans at Knossos
Neil Faulkner on the greatest excavations.
The decipherment of hieroglyphs: A momentous achievement in Egyptology
The intricate symbols that adorn Egyptian monuments and papyri stood mute for millennia, their secrets locked away in a forgotten language. Hieroglyphs, with their captivating blend of pictorial and phonetic elements, had
In-depth features
Beliefs and narratives: Images from Predynastic Egypt
Barbara A Boczar explores the imagery of Egypt’s Naqada periods.
Rediscovering Egypt – Part 1: The Harrogate Collection in Swansea
Many artefacts from a museum in Harrogate are currently on display in the Egypt Centre at Swansea University in Wales. The Centre’s curator Ken Griffin explains how this three-year loan came about.
Precise construction of funerary structures at Qubbet el-Hawa (Aswan)
Antonio Tomás Mozas Calvache, Jose Luis Pérez, and José Miguel Gómez show how the creation of 3D models of three adjacent tombs highlights the extraordinary precision of Twelfth Dynasty tomb-builders.
The Cleopatras – Part 4: The last Cleopatras
Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones completes his series on the later Ptolemaic queens and assesses their legacy as women of power in the ancient world.
Hilary Wilson on… Milk
It was not just an important food item for the ancient Egyptians: milk had magical properties.
The meaning of Joseph’s Egyptian name
Joseph L Thimes explores a range of different translations of the Egyptian name given to his namesake, the biblical Joseph.
Documenting a sacred landscape: Rock art and monuments of the South Wales uplands
Over the last three decades, archaeologists and amateur enthusiasts alike have been greatly expanding our understanding of how the upland areas of Glamorgan were used in the late Neolithic and early Bronze Age. George Nash, Kim Allen, and Dewi Bowen are our guides to a series of recent discoveries hinting at a significant and complex symbolic landscape almost 100km wide.
Between the salt water and the sea strand: Excavating the Hornsea Project One Cable Route in Lincolnshire
A 40km trench dug to accommodate cables linking an offshore windfarm to the National Grid sparked eight years of archaeological excavations along its route. With the results of Wessex Archaeology’s wide-ranging work now published in a new monograph, Ashley Tuck summarises key findings from the heavy clay marshes of northern Lincolnshire.
Visualising Venta Belgarum: Touring prehistoric, Roman, and post-Roman Winchester
Pioneering excavations in Winchester in the 1960s and 1970s made a major contribution to the development of modern archaeological practice and trained many of those who subsequently became the leading professional and academic archaeologists of our day. So the publication of the latest Winchester Studies volume – a concise synthesis of the city’s prehistoric, Roman, and post-Roman development – is a landmark event, as Chris Catling reports.
A tale of three giants? New evidence for the evolution of Cerne Abbas’ chalk colossus
The 55m-tall hill-figure that towers above the village of Cerne Abbas in Dorset has long been the subject of debate, in terms of both its date and whom it represents. Mike Allen reports on fieldwork undertaken in 2020-2024 which revealed new clues – and surprises – about the Giant.
The Tomio Maruyama: Discovering the longest sword and largest mirror in ancient Japan
In January 2023, the finds from excavations within the Tomio Maruyama burial mound in Nara city caused a media sensation. For the second in a two-part series examining Japanese tombs, Simon Kaner travelled to Nara and caught up with Okabayashi Kosaku, recently retired Deputy Director of the Nara Prefectural Kashihara Archaeological Institute, to find out more about the discovery and see how the story is developing.
Mapping histories: Recent fieldwork at Jebel Hafeet
An international team of archaeologists specialising in early prehistory has undertaken pioneering survey work in and around one of the tallest mountains in the United Arab Emirates. George Nash, Genevieve von Petzinger, Aitor Ruiz, Juan F Ruiz López, and Yamandu Hilbert explain how their work unfolded and what they discovered.
Zimingzhong: The mechanical marvels where East meets West
A remarkable trade between Europe and China developed in the 1700s, when an emperor with a passion for science started collecting extravagant mechanical timepieces. The results are both beautiful to behold and steeped in a meeting of skills and cultures between East and West, as Jane Desborough told Matthew Symonds.
Hitler’s Fortress Europe: Planning for defeat?
D-Day, 80 years on: Graham Goodlad examines Germany’s flawed preparations to resist an Allied invasion of North-West Europe.
Dressing for battle: Arms and armour in the Roman Empire
A new exhibition at the British Museum looks at a soldier’s life at the height of the Roman Empire. Here, the show’s lead curator Richard Abdy considers some of the extraordinary objects on view, and reveals how they helped turn the Roman Army into such a formidable fighting force.
The ghost of Genghis Khan
After the Russian Revolution, one young officer forged a career so strange that it went down in legend. Tim Newark examines the short and bloody life of Baron Roman von Ungern-Sternberg, and recalls his bizarre mission to create his own barbarian empire in the Russian far east.
Looking death in the face: The battle for Beecher Island, September 1868
Amid the turmoil of the American Indian wars, a tiny band of US Army irregulars held out against a far larger force of Native American warriors. Fred Chiaventone tells the remarkable story of Major George Forsyth’s desperate last stand on an island in the Arikaree River.
The Lionheart in winter: Richard I’s last campaign, 1194-1199
He was the ‘Crusader King’, whose exploits made him a national hero. But does Richard I deserve his reputation as a martial genius? Stephen Roberts studies his final campaign in search of clues.
Frame of reference: Rare wooden funerary finds from Roman London
Excavations in central London have revealed the remains of a c.2,000 year-old cemetery, where waterlogged soil conditions have preserved an extraordinary array of wooden finds, including coffins and what may be the first complete funerary bed from Roman Britain. Carly Hilts learned more from Gwilym Williams.
Preserving the past: Highlighting the Welsh heritage sector’s rich history and uncertain future
In last month’s ‘Sherds’ column, Chris Catling described the threat to the future of the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales (RCAHMW), so we asked him to tell us more about the work of the Commission, as well as the heritage sector in Wales more generally. Here is his report.