Nov / Dec 2018

Volume 29, issue 6 

Twilight of the gods 

Stunning exhibits on show in Leiden - both from the Nederland's National Museum of Antiquities and on loan from national and private collections - reveal the mysteries of Ancient Egypt's many deities. Maarten J Raven 

King of the world 

Assyria's ruler Ashurbanipal and Nineveh, his "city of sin" have had a bad press but this scholarly king, who inherited a vast empire, also built up an outstanding library of cuneiform tablets. Dominic Green. 

A tale of four cities

Destroyed, damaged, looted or neglected, the ancient cities of Palmyra, Aleppo, Mosul and Leptis Magna can now be seen in dazzling virtual reconstructions at L'institut du monde arabe in Paris. Nicole Benazeth. 

Pointing the finger 

The discovery of Emperor Constantine's missing bronze index finger in the Louvre points in the direction of the Campagna collection, many of whose treasures are currently displayed there. Dalu Jones. 

Found in translation 

Emily Wilson, Professor of Classics at the University of Pennsylvania, the first woman to translate Homer's Odyssey, talks about the challenges of the task and explains why she kept the metres running. Lucia Marchini. 

On site at Sardis  

The capital of Lydian King Croesus is where money was first coined and it offers rich archaeological rewards to Professor Cahill and his Sardis Expedition team who make use of the latest technology. Ismail Mardin. 

Anglo-Saxon attitudes 

The last Book written by historian Jean Manco unravels the origins of the Anglo-Saxons, while an exhibition on the same subject at the British Library includes a manuscript not seen here since AD 716. David Miles.