Features

Shipwreck!
Recovering 3,000-year-old cargo By Cemal Pulak

In the summer of 1982, a novice sponge diver working the waters off the southern coast of Turkey reported to his captain that he had seen “metal biscuits with ears” on the sea floor. The captain knew immediately that these “biscuits” were actually ancient metal ingots, so he alerted archaeologists from the Institute of […]

Recovered!
The world’s oldest book By Dorit Symington

In 1986, two years into the excavation of the Uluburun shipwreck, the team from the Institute of Nautical Archaeology, led by George F. Bass and Cemal Pulak, made one of its most remarkable discoveries. While sifting through the sediment of a large pithos that contained the remains of pomegranates, bronze implements and some […]

Architecture of Infinity
In their temples, the ancient Egyptians followed a simple plan that mirrored the creation of the universe. By David O’Connor

Most first-time visitors to Egypt will tell you that many ancient Egyptian temples have survived. But they’re wrong. It only seems that way on a two or three week tour. Although temples were once very common in Egypt, evidence of them today is surprisingly slight. For most of Egypt’s history, thousands of temples […]

Departments

Origins: A Codex Moment
2,000 years ago, a new writing surface and a renegade religion joined forces to create the modern book. By Timothy Rogers
Past Perfect: Reinventing Antiquity
A gifted 18th-century engraver celebrates the grandeur that was Rome.
Destinations: Kerkouane, Tunisia
On an eroding stretch of Tunisia’s coastline, a Punic fishing community conjures up Africa’s great lost civilization. By Hershel Shanks
Ancient Life: A Venerable Keepsake
Souvenirs from ancient Rome
The Forum
Should archaeology go corporate? Reassessing the pyramid builders.And a brief debate on the uses of the past.