Learning about ‘alternative’ sexualities through time is often a murky business, beset with the prejudices and right-leaning morals of almost every culture in history. And when you’re looking as far back as ancient Egypt, the task becomes infinitely harder. This makes the Petrie Museum’s latest endeavour all the more impressive, as it falls in line with LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender) Month, a UK-wide event running throughout February. Watch our special AWiL video on Love & Sex in the ancient world here. Like lesbian or gay history in general, you’ll have to do more than scratch at the museum’s…
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Once more, the J. Paul Getty collection of antiquities may be depleted due to the repatriation of a 4th century BC bronze called ‘Statue of a Victorious Youth‘ thought to be the work of Lysippos, a Greek sculptor who flourished under the patronage of Alexander the Great. The work was originally salvaged from the depths of the Adriatic sea near the Italian town of Fano in 1964 by Italian fishermen trawling in international waters. The real irony in the Italian court’s ruling ordering the confiscation of the work from the Getty is that the bronze was probably on its way…
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The latest Tut research has revealed a king who, while still in his teens, probably had to walk around with a cane (as seen in this stele), had a cleft palette, suffered from malaria and had a spine that was out of whack. As an Egyptologist told me today, this pretty much kills the idea of King Tut as a sort of warrior king who died in a chariot accident. But for those wanting to see a warrior in the family, you may be interested in another research finding. The new Tut research has confirmed who one set of King…
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The King Tut results are in and right now everyone is going gaga over the fact that malaria appears to have played a role in the boy king’s death. While this is an interesting find, there is another discovery – King Tut looked fairly normal, or at least he did not have a significantly bizarre or feminine physique – which also carries major implications for Ancient Egyptian research. First a bit of background. During the reign of Akhenaten(who is probably Tut’s father)Egyptian art became, well, very weird. The formal prose that the Egyptians had followed for thousands of years was…
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The tourist climb to the top of Australia’s most famous ancient site, Uluru, could be closed following the approval of a new management plan for the UNESCO World Heritage-listed Uluu-Kata Tjua National Park. However the final decision to close the controversial climb will not be made until one of the following three conditions is met. The number of people climbing the ancient icon drops from the current 38% to less than 20% The climb is no longer the major reason visitors travel to Uluru A range of new experiences are in place for visitors. It could therefore take years for…
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Thanks to the Ancient World in London (and currently the books from Neal Stephenson) I’m quickly catching up on my history of London and neighbouring areas. I’m still far from an expert, or even seriously knowledgeable – hence I’ve decided to judge who the best invaders of London were on looks. Instantly the Silures – quite sexy in King Arthur, 2004 – spring to mind. Quite neglected when talking and writing about history, they would make the perfect entry… were it not that, unlike Boadicea, they never made it to London, and spent their days in Wales making sure the…
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A researcher has uncovered evidence of a widespread scam in Israel that results in tourists buying recently looted artefacts without their knowledge. Buying antiquities in Israel is legal if they were found before 1978, the year a major antiquities law was passed. There are numerous dealers in Israel, who are required to register with the Israel Antiquities Authority and keep an inventory of the artefacts they have for sale. Dr. Morag Kersel, of Brown University in the United States, has been studying the illegal antiquities trade in Israel, Jordan and the Palestinian Territories. Dr Kersel has been conducting interviews with…
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Georgiana Aitken, Head of Sale, Antiquities at Christies South Kensington, was kind enough to answer my questions about auctioneering. HK:Is it possible for an ordinary person to acquire items from antiquity? If you had, say, a few thousand pounds to spend? GA:Yes absolutely, antiquities are much more affordable and accessible than people would think. Estimates in our sales start at 500. HK:How healthy is the antiquity market at the moment from the point of view of the vendor and auctioneer? Has it been hit by the global economic downturn? GA: The Antiquities market has remained buoyant with strong results in…
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Ancient Egyptians faced tricky compromises over how they would be seen dead, a new exhibition at New York’s Brooklyn Museum reveals. “To Live Forever: Art and the Afterlife in Ancient Egypt,” emphasizes the often unpalatably expensive options that lay before Ancient Egyptians when considering burial. They had to think long and hard about what they could afford in the afterlife. As has often been pointed out, the phrase “you can’t take it with you” had absolutely no purchase in Ancient Egypt, and the lengths to which humans were expected to go to demonstrate material wealth in the next life made…
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Two iron-cast faux-Egyptian Sphinxes flank the either side of Cleopatra’s Needle in the City of Westminster, London. Although the original intention of the Sphinxes would have been to appear to be guarding the needle, an installation error means they are both facing the needle instead. The right hand Sphinx is visibly damaged after an aerial bombing campaign during the First World War saw a bomb land near Cleopatra’s Needle. To commemorate the event, the shrapnel holes remain unrepaired on the Sphinx to this day. This beautiful photograph by Manju shows one of the Sphinxes were it rests alongside the River…