Ancient World

NYU President Linda G. Mills and Provost Georgina Dopico today announced the appointment of Greg Woolf—currently the Ronald J. Mellor Distinguished Professor of Ancient History at UCLA and the former director of the Institute of Classical Studies (ICS) at the University of London—as the new Leon Levy Director of NYU’s Institute for...

ISAW is excited to announce our upcoming Fall exhibition, Through the Lens: Latif Al Ani’s Visions of Ancient Iraq, opening November 8, 2023. Through the Lens explores the cultural and political exploitation of Iraq’s history through the eyes of nineteenth century archaeologists, twentieth century photographers, and contemporary artists.

Thanks to a five-year loan of over 70 artefacts from the Bahrain National Museum, this presentation provides an overview of the succession of different cultures on the island of Bahrain between the Bronze Age and the beginning of our era. Bahrain was called Dilmun (from 2300 to 500 BC), then Tylos (from 300 BC...

The New York Times - King Dagobert’s bronze throne. Charlemagne’s ivory chess pieces. Mozart’s handwritten score of “Don Giovanni.” A 16th-century globe — the first to use the word “America."  In a library? Yes, but not just any library. These works belong to the National Library of France. After 12 years and 261 million euros...

In present-day Romania, archaeologists have discovered twenty-one stylized female figurines and thirteen model chairs—none more than 3 1⁄2 inches in height—inside a vessel at a site where a sanctuary likely stood almost seven thousand years ago. Although the ceramic women all share a similar shape, close inspection reveals variations in their faces and bodies, and...

The Times of Israel -  One of the most beautiful treasures of Roman-era Holy Land — the seafaring-themed Lod mosaic — was restored to its home port on June 27.  Given a hero’s welcome in the form of a dedicated museum, the late 3rd century– early 4th century mosaic is now housed in the newly...

The Jerusalem Post - Work has begun on the reconstruction of some of the 50 massive marble columns of the basilica in the Ashkelon National Park as part of an overall facelift for the park, and next week the fourth pillar will be put in place. The largest basilica uncovered in Israel,...

The Wall Street Journal - The destruction of Roman Pompeii in A.D. 79, when Mount Vesuvius buried the city in volcanic ash, was a horrific event. Plaster casts made of hollows in the dense ash, the spaces once filled by corpses, reveal the death agonies of Romans who didn’t get out in time. It’s been...

Smithsonian Magazine - Archaeologists in Ashkelon, Israel, have revealed the country’s largest Roman-era basilica, or public building. Constructed during the first century B.C., the monumental structure dates to the reign of Herod the Great, a Judean king immortalized in the Bible as a murderous tyrant. (The BBC and ...