The art and artefacts of ancient Egypt are still familiar around the world, but how much do we know about the people…
When Cyprus adopted the Euro early in 2008, the government had to decide what symbol should adorn its new currency. Although the…
Somaliland is not Somalia. Somaliland is in the northern part of Somalia, occupying the area of a former British colony. After gaining…
In the morning of 15 July 1099, the starving knights of the First Crusade broke through Jerusalem’s defences and stormed the Holy…
About ten years ago a collector of ancient Indonesian art contacted my husband and me to ask our opinion on a group…
Most people today probably think Marathon has something to do with the Ancient Greek Olympics. In fact, there was no marathon race…
The story of the rise of Rome is best studied not in the city itself, but in the area surrounding it. It…
Should you be caught in a heavy rain storm in modern Ercolano, you will understand why the local residents talk about ‘lava’…
Rome is an iconic city. From Grand Tour etchings to nocturnal portraits of the cityscape, Rome’s monuments have become familiar images. Yet…
Rome had a problem. The Tiber River is too shallow for maritime craft. So Roman vessels plying the Mediterranean routes had to…
This autumn the Penn Museum will hold an exhibition on their first-ever excavation at Nippur in modern Iraq. But it all centres…
Myra, on the southern coast of Turkey, was home to the 4th century bishop St Nicolas (of Santa Claus fame). What remains…
As the capital of two great empires, Istanbul (and in its previous incarnation as Constantinople) contains a great wealth of culturally important…