The Enigmatic Tablets from Late Bronze Age Deir ‘Alla
January 2021 | Vol. 9.1 By Michel de Vreeze On April 1, 1964 Henk Franken and his Leiden University based team stumbled upon two clay tablets. Two days later a third tablet was fou
Sinai in Ten Maps
January 2021 | Vol. 9.1 By Ahmed Shams Can ten maps sum up the history of an ancient land mass? Moreover, can they tell us about the region’s future? Determining where humans se
Saqqara in 3D: A New Look at an Ancient Site
January 2021 | Vol. 9.1 By Elaine Sullivan The Saqqara cemetery, located about 15 kilometers south of the Giza pyramids, is one of Egypt’s most spectacular tourist sites. Modern
Fish Sauces – The Food that Made Rome Great
January 2021 | Vol. 9.1 By Benedict Lowe Recent research has done much to stress the importance of fish in the ancient Roman diet. But there were many ways to consume fish. The mos
Epidemics in Mesopotamia
Epidemics have been with us since long before the dawn of history. Three collections of documents record some of the ways ancient Near Eastern societies suffered and coped.
Are Monuments History? (Neo-) Hittite Meditations on Two Memes
Many societies express power by building monuments to commemorate people or events. Tearing down monuments are also expressions of power, but of a different sort.
How Greek is Limestone Sculpture on Cyprus?
Iron Age sculpture from Cyprus is sometimes regarded as ‘debased Greek.’ But what does a closer look at sculpture from an island at the crossroads of empire tell us?
Beneath the Euphrates Sediments: Magnetic Traces of the Mesopotamian Megacity Uruk-Warka
The southern Mesopotamian city of Uruk is approximately five kilometers in diameter. Even after a century of work, excavations have barely scratched the surface. But new techniques
A Calendar in Stone: Hittite Yazılıkaya
All cultures have calendars. Some also make stone monuments. Hittites’ stone calendar included depictions of some of their thousands of gods.
Resurrection in the Mediterranean World
The Christian belief in the resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth gradually made its way around the ancient Mediterranean world. But it fell on fertile ground because the idea of resur