What’s in a Style? Minoanizing Paintings in the Eastern Mediterranean
Do similarities in style mean a shared set of styles, craftsmen, or a network? The mid-second millennium BCE case of Minoan-like paintings in Near Eastern palaces shows the problem
Trees and Power in Aegean Art
Every society has symbols of leadership, and in a surprising number of Mediterranean and Near Eastern societies these are trees. A look at tiny examples of Aegean art gives some hi
Rock Art in Central Sahara: From Analogue to Digital
There are hundreds of thousands of examples of rock art in the Sahara, dating from the present back to over 10,000 years ago. But with access currently difficult thanks to unrest,
The Golden Pome: The Pomegranate from its Deepest Roots to Modern Culture
Pomegranates are renowned as health food but that association is very ancient. And it should not be surprising that pomegranates are also associated with powerful deities across th
The Bearded Figure Who Might be King
Figurines appear in the Iron Age Levant but very few are made of the material called faience. Fewer still can be plausibly interpreted as representing an actual king.
The Cross: History, Art and Controversy
The Christian cross is a ubiquitous symbol today, but actual images of the cross were uncommon in Christian iconography before the mid-4th century.
The Levantine Ceramics Project
Pottery is the most common find on archaeological excavations in the Eastern Mediterranean. But studying pottery is increasingly difficult for specialists and non-specialists alike