1200 BCE is the general date historians attribute to the fall of the Bronze Age. Empires in flames, widespread destruction of countless cities. Or maybe not. Getting history right is a subtle and complicated process. How much does physical destruction underlie the collapse of empires?
What makes another Egyptian tomb discovery interesting? The importance of the person buried inside certainly enters into it, so here’s the recently begun excavation of a dignitary with access to royal “top secrets.”
Happy holidays to you with cookies, of course. And in case you need something to escape the festivities, here’s a murder mystery at an archaeological dig in Mesopotamia.
With The Hidden Palace, follow-up to her historical fantasy The Golem and the Jinni, Wecker returned with a layered novel of many complex characters, including even richer developments of the golem and jinni, completely intriguing magical beings. Here’s my review of this enticing book.
The location of Cleopatra’s tomb is a longstanding mystery. Is a determined archaeologist narrowing in on uncovering this famed secret or should she appreciate a newly uncovered engineering marvel for its own sake?
In honor of Thanksgiving in the U.S. I’m sharing some very old recipes kept on clay tablets. Have fun watching the recreation of these Babylonian dishes.
In this 100th year since the discovery of King Tut’s tomb, here’s a good answer to that burning question, “Why did Tut have so much more treasure than any of the other Pharaohs?” It’s way beyond escaping the usual plundering.
A museum’s limestone stela, which functioned as an Egyptian sacred portal or false door, hides a more complicated history than it appears, quite beyond its unusual dedication to a woman. Artifacts have both the history of their origins and the tale of their passage through the ages.
I’m sharing the Bookseller’s interview with Natalie Haynes about her new novel Stone Blind. If you enjoy feminist tellings of Greek myth and sharp-witted humor, this is for you, I suspect. Check it out.
In Syria, archaeologists uncovered a magnificently detailed mosaic depicting the Trojan War, Neptune and Hercules. I’m less thrilled than those quoted in the press because–well, the artist’s choice of subject does matter. But Hercules has some gorgeous muscles. Here’s my view.
