The past 20 years have seen Minerva, founded by Dr Jerome Eisenberg in 1990, grow into a unique publication combining auctions, news, and reports from the antiquities trade with articles and news about museums, exhibitions, and excavations. While our focus has always been on the ancient art and archaeology of Egypt, the Near East, and the Graeco-Roman Mediterranean, many issues – including this – have included articles and news features that span cover a far wider scope in both space and time.

Our previous issue’s editorial began with Winston Churchill’s famous quote: ‘There is nothing wrong with change, if it is in the right direction.’ Although I am not naturally repetitious, I thought it important to reiterate this because Minerva has been enhanced to bring it in line with the presentation of a magazine in the second decade of the 21st century – an essential move. Perhaps most importantly, the decision has been taken to give our text greater clarity and we have aimed to achieve this by replacing the old font with one that is clearer and more comfortable to read. For our established readers these changes will be immediately apparent and I am confident that Minerva loyalists and new readers alike will universally endorse them.

Despite the alterations in the design and layout of the magazine, our traditional ethos remains unchanged: to publish cutting-edge articles and new discoveries from the archaeological world, the very best museum exhibition features, and the ever-popular biannual antiquities sales reports. The atmosphere of excitement, enthusiasm, and creativity that pervades Minerva is set to carry the magazine into its third decade of publication with unswerving zest. As ever, we welcome the comments and opinions of our readers, so please let us know what you think of the new look of the magazine.

Dr Mark Merrony