Treasures in Tunis: An Archaeologist’s Guide to the Bardo National Museum
Helen Dixon picks twelve highlights from Tunis’s reopened Bardo National Museum, from Punic amulets and Roman mosaics to the Blue Quran and a shipwreck.
Cyprus Through Syrian Eyes: Reflections on Hanna Diyab’s 1707 Travels
Hanna Diyab’s 18th century travelogue offers not only a rare view of Ottoman Cyprus but also insight into eastern Mediterranean trade across the ages.
Did Meretneith Rule Egypt as a Female King in the First Dynasty?
Egyptologists have long disputed whether Meretneith was an independent ruler of Egypt. Can new digital analysis of an old photograph solve the mystery?
From Trash to Treasure: Nahal Omer and the Virtual Silk Road
When people think of the archaeology of Israel, the Silk Road is not usually the first association that comes to mind. A new virtual exhibition—From Trash to Treasure—aims to c
Who Were the Sea Peoples? And Did They Bring About the End of the Bronze Age?
Christopher Nolan’s Odyssey has sparked a resurgence of interest in the Sea Peoples. But who were they and should they be blamed for the fall of the Bronze Age?
In Search of Wes Anderson’s “Phoenicia”
Wes Anderson’s The Phoenician Scheme invokes the ancient Mediterranean world without depicting it, raising an interesting question: what exactly does “Phoenicia” mean in the
Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey, A View from the East
What is The Odyssey? Is it an accurate historical depiction of a hero returning to his island home? Or a tale of existential crisis about a brave man drawn into a foolish and des
The House of Aršāma, Persian Satrap in Egypt
Satraps (“governors”) did the everyday work of maintaining Persian imperial rule across its vast empire. Ancient texts from Egypt allow us to understand how this arrangement wo
Why Odysseus Had to Go to Scheria —Memories, Flashbacks, and the End of the Bronze Age
As the main setting for a large part of The Odyssey, Scheria is not meant to be understood as just another stop on Odysseus’s wanderings, but as a deliberate flashback to a vanis
The Meaning(s) of Achaemenid Silver
A silver drinking cup given by the Achaemenid Persian king was worth more than its weight in metal — but exactly how much more?