A journey of wonder

Classical Studies and Ancient History at the University of Auckland, New Zealand

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A kohl bottle from York may hint at an ancient Egyptian in Roman-Britain

Ancient Egyptians are often depicted wearing black eyeliner, known as kohl, which was stored in small containers. While kohl containers are

Unexpected and unexpectedly cool find.

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Egypt Announces Major Archaeological Find at Panehsy Tomb in Matariya, Ain Shams | Egyptian Streets

The Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities has announced on Sunday, 31 May, a major archaeological breakthrough at the tomb of “Panehsy” in Mat

Glad there's still evidence of ancient Iunu (Heliopolis) to be found.

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How a shifting Nile landscape shaped the rise of the ancient empire of Kush in Sudan

When I first became co-director of an archaeological project at Jebel Barkal in northern Sudan in 2018, I was amazed by the site's pyramids,

The Nile moved a lot both in Sudan and Egypt.

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How a 4,000-year-old city defied history's 'rules' by becoming more equal as it became more successful

For decades, historians have generally agreed that the progress of small villages as they evolved into cities came at the price of widening

Interesting differences in state-building between the Indus Valley and the ancient Near East

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We found hundreds of huge ancient mass graves hidden in the Sahara desert

The circular mass graves were filled with the bones of people and animals, often carefully arranged around a key person at the centre.

This is fascinating.

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Plaster-making technique previously attributed to the Romans appears 8,000 years earlier in Motza

Excavations from 2015 to 2021 on the ancient site of Motza, just west of Jerusalem, revealed a sprawling settlement with some surprisingly a

Seems to me that the Neolithic is being looked at in a lot of 'new lights' lately. So much we think we know...

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4,000-year-old tablets reveal magic spells, kings feared, and a beer receipt

Long-forgotten ancient tablets have been decoded, uncovering a mix of magic, politics, and daily life from early civilizations. Among the di

This really is fantastic news for Ancient Near Eastern scholars.

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5th-century Belgian burial with 'scrap metal' may reveal missing link between Roman and Merovingian monetary systems

A study published in the journal Britannia analyzed coins and metal items found in an early 5th-century AD burial in Oudenburg, Belgium. The

Interesting find

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Rare Tyrian purple reveals elite Roman infant burials in York

Two infants buried in Roman York were laid to rest in costly purple cloth normally reserved for emperors and members of the aristocracy, new

This is kind of incredible, I think, that children were buried with such expensive materials. The very highest élite, I would imagine.

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The Science Behind Honey’s Eternal Shelf Life

A slew of factors—its acidity, its lack of water and the presence of hydrogen peroxide—work in perfect harmony, allowing the sticky treat to

This has some discussion on the use of honey medicinally and otherwise in ancient Egypt. Interesting.

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Location, location, location: How the Nile helped an ancient Sudanese city thrive for centuries

The ancient city of Napata, located in what is now Sudan, was a major urban and cultural center of Kush, an ancient empire in Nubia. Univers

Interesting. The area around Napata was certainly inhabited for a long time.

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Archaeologists Exploring Ancient Greek Ruins In Libya Just Uncovered More Than 100 Game Boards That’d Been Carved Right Onto The City’s Surf

Amid the ruins of the ancient city of Ptolemais, archaeologists found dozens of game boards that were once likely used by shepherds.

I love that this kind of things is found everywhere

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'Lifelong monogamy' and 'half orphans': DNA analysis reveals clues about life on the Roman frontier after the fall of Rome

Burials from over a millennia ago are revealing how people lived in part of the Roman Empire after it fell.

I'm fascinated by what happens to people after seismic changes in their lives, like the fall of the Roman Empire (although I know that word 'fall' is contentious)

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Roman cup unearthed in Spain may have been a keepsake representing a soldier's time at the Hadrian Wall

Archaeologists recently analyzed a broken, decorative cup found unexpectedly on a Spanish farm. The cup appears to represent Hadrian's Wall—

People being people since forever, keeping souvenirs from time away

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Archaeologists at Pompeii use AI to reconstruct the face of a man killed in the volcano's eruption

Archaeologists and researchers at the ancient Roman site of Pompeii have used artificial intelligence for the first time to digitally recons

It must have been absolutely terrifying

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Ancient mass grave reveals how a pandemic wiped out a city 1,500 years ago

A newly confirmed mass grave in ancient Jordan offers chilling insight into one of history’s first pandemics. Hundreds of plague victims wer

One of the most difficult things about being an ancient historian is trying to see the ancient ordinary people living day to day lives

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This 2,200-year-old Roman wreck hid a repair story that rewrites how ancient ships survived long voyages

Ever since humans have embarked on sea voyages, they needed to ensure vessels were waterproof, resistant to salty seawater, and could withst

Interesting article on examining an unstudied part of ancient boat building