The Myth of the Servant: A New Tale of Kingship from the Ancient Near East
Why do so many of the ancient world’s most famous kings share the same unlikely origin story? The answer may lie in a mythical template first forged in Mesopotamia.
Lifting the Sky: The Cosmic Program on the ˁAin Samiya Goblet
The ˁAin Samiya goblet is small enough to sit in the palm of a hand — barely eight centimeters tall — yet its imagery reaches for the architecture of the cosmos.
Osiris Must Die – Understanding the Practice of “Menacing the Gods” in Ancient Egyptian Magic
September 2024 | Vol. 12.9 By Franziska Naether Ancient Egyptian magical texts offer a rich repository of spells and incantations designed to manipulate divine forces for diverse p
The Myth of the Twelve Tribes of Israel
april 2023 | Vol. 11.4 By Andrew Tobolowsky The twelve tribes of Israel are, in a nutshell, how the Hebrew Bible’s historical narratives define Israel. Even today, the tribes are
What Can Mythological Narratives tell us about Mycenaean Long-Distance Trade in the Bronze Age?
February 2023 | Vol. 11.2 By Jörg Mull Locations of Mycenaean Pottery Finds in the Mediterranean basin. Map by Olav Ode. The Late Bronze Age (ca. 1600 to 1150 BCE) was a time of u
Ancient Automatons in Myth and History
Robot, androids and other artificial beings are common today, mixing technology and imagination. But they have unexpected ancestors in antiquity.