ANE Today - Current News About the Ancient Past

Welcome to The Ancient Near East Today, a digital platform for public scholarship on the Ancient Near East and beyond. Whether you are a student, scholar, or enthusiast, you are bound to learn something new.

Subscribe to our Substack Newsletter!

Recent Articles

Map of Cyprus from 1873-1874 CE, while under Ottoman control. Public Domain via Wikimedia.

History

Cyprus Through Syrian Eyes: Reflections on Hanna Diyab’s 1707 Travels

October 22, 2026

Close-up of a seal impression on a mudstopper from Saqqara tomb S3503 with serekhs (rectangular symbols that were used to frame an Egyptian king’s name in the Early Dynastic period). Courtesy of the Egypt Exploration Society; used with permission from the author.

Digital Archaeology

Did Meretneith Rule Egypt as a Female King in the First Dynasty?

October 1, 2026

Nahal Omer textile collection: a. Supplementary weft cotton; b. Ikat cotton; b. Wool fragment; d. Green cotton with Ikat patch e. wool and cotton; f. Supplementary weft cotton; g. silk.

Archaeological Method

From Trash to Treasure: Nahal Omer and the Virtual Silk Road

September 17, 2026

Featured Articles

Bible

How Old is the Hebrew Bible?

July 18, 2019

View of the so-called Temple of Concord with the Temple of Saturn, on the right the Arch of Septimius Severus, by Giovanni Battista Piranesi. 1760-78. Metropolitan Museum of Art 2012.136.916. Public Domain.

Bible

The Hebrew Bible and the Meanings Ruins Hold

May 16, 2024

Jebel Aqra (north of Ugarit) where it meets the Mediterranean Sea at Samra beach, on the border between Syria and Türkiye. Photo by Kevorkmail via Wikimedia, CC BY-SA 3.0.

Funerary Practices

“Lift the mountain on your hands,” or How to Cross a Netherworld Border

February 6, 2025

Distilling apparatus, Add. 25724, fol.36v. The British Library Board.

Food

Arabic Medieval Cookbooks in English Translation: Treasure Troves for Near Eastern Material Culture

May 3, 2019

Female worshipper from Nippur, ca. 2600–2500 BCE. Metropolitan Museum of Art, 62.70.2.

Gender

#MeToo-potamia (or systemic gender inequality in Mesopotamia)

September 23, 2020

Recent Articles

Cyprus Through Syrian Eyes: Reflections on Hanna Diyab’s 1707 Travels

Did Meretneith Rule Egypt as a Female King in the First Dynasty?

From Trash to Treasure: Nahal Omer and the Virtual Silk Road

Featured Articles

How Old is the Hebrew Bible?

The Hebrew Bible and the Meanings Ruins Hold

“Lift the mountain on your hands,” or How to Cross a Netherworld Border

Arabic Medieval Cookbooks in English Translation: Treasure Troves for Near Eastern Material Culture

Visualizing Food Storage in Ancient Houses

Search ANE Today

Subscribe

Explore the World of ANE Today