History
Discovery of an Industrial Brewery in Ancient Egypt Rewrites the History of Beer
To archaeologists, understanding the building of the Pyramids at Giza is a matter of scaling up the labor system seen earlier at sites like Abydos.
Sarah Bond
Sarah E. Bond is an associate professor of history at the University of Iowa. She blogs on antiquity and digital humanities, and is the author of Strike: Labor, Unions, and Resistance in the Roman Empire (Yale University Press, February 2025).
Art
A World-Famous Ancient Collection, on Display for the First Time, Awaits Visitors in Rome
The impressive exhibition undertaken by the Capitoline Museums and the Torlonia Foundation was 40 years in the making, and placed close to 100 marble sculptures from the storied Torlonia collection on view.
Art
Identifying Slut-Shaming, Racism, and Transphobia in the Byzantine World
In his new book, Roland Betancourt examines how stories of gender, race, and sexuality from the Byzantine world of the Eastern Mediterranean provide insight into the intersectionality that existed in the medieval world.
Art
How Racial Bias in Tech Has Developed the “New Jim Code”
When machine learning and the use of computers are emphasized in artistic research, in reconstructions, or in beauty contests, viewers often take the results to be scientific, objective, and unbiased. But they are not.
Art
Seeing Through the History of Ancient Roman Glass
Emerging technologies used for chemical and isotopic analysis combined with new archaeological discoveries are uncovering the sources, craftsmanship, and long-distance trade of the delicate commodity of "Alexandrian glass."
Art
The Story of the Black King Among the Magi
The story behind the rise and decline of the popularity of the black magus during the Renaissance has been largely forgotten, but at one time, the tale was used to explain the perceived need for conversion to Christianity, the three ages of man, as well as emerging theories of race.
Art
Did the Ancient Romans Use Infographics?
A new book by classicist and historian Andrew M. Riggsby investigates the types of information technologies drawn, painted, and inscribed on the surfaces of the ancient Roman world.
Art
The Origins of White Supremacists' Fear of Replacement
This fear of being replaced can be traced to the French far right, but racist fears regarding supposed White genocide, and invasion by varied ethnic groups, go back centuries.
Art
Interpreting the Beasts of the Middle Ages
Animals were an important part of the everyday lives of ancient and medieval people, whether they were real or imagined, and their literary use in the Middle Ages formed a moral language.
Art
The False Narratives of the Fall of Rome Mapped Onto America
It is disturbing to see how gravely inaccurate 19th-century depictions of the destruction of Rome are used to illustrate news stories today, particularly those that draw parallels between Rome and the United States.
Art
Archaeologists May Have Found the Place Where Roman Emperors Were Baptized
Excavations conducted around the largest Christian cathedral built in the ancient Mediterranean have yielded new archaeological discoveries.
Art
The Sensuality of Ancient Art in the Round
In antiquity and in the Renaissance there was an inherent sensuality to being able to visually consume a sculpture from every angle.