Ancient History Roundup

Mummies, fossil jewelry, handprints and more!

It is that time once again, so here are the ancient history news stories that caught my eye.

Museum’s ‘mummy’ question

Manchester Museum has long been at the forefront of debate when it comes to the ethical conundrum of exhibiting human remains, so this news story does not come as a big surprise. The museum are canvassing public opinion on whether the body of Asru, an Egyptian woman living over 2,700 years ago, should remain on display. Her body has been in the collection for around 200 years and was unwrapped in 1825. The question about the display of human remains is one that inspires strong opinions from all sides, so it will be interesting to see what decision wins out here!

Undisturbed Etruscan tomb discovered!

Exactly as it sounds, researchers have discovered a tomb at San Giuliano dating back to approximately 400 BCE. This Etruscan tomb is one of many in the area, but what makes it so unusual is that the tomb has never been opened or looted by grave robbers … or earlier archaeologists. The tomb holds 4 Etruscan people and over 100 items including vases, iron weapons and an array of other artifacts. The Etruscans are often overlooked by history enthusiasts for the Greeks and Romans, but hopefully finds like this will ignite a public love of a fascinating culture!

Roman fossil jewelry

Who doesn’t love a beautiful fossil? Clearly the Romans would have agreed with me, if this latest find in Spain is anything to go by. Discovered at the Roman-era site of A Cibdá de Armea, Galicia, the small trilobite shows evidence of wear that suggests it was modified either to be used as a pendant or similar, or placed on an altar perhaps as an offering. Also, interestingly, the fossil was not from the region but was likely to have come from south-central Spain - so are we to visualise some sort of fossil trade in the Roman period?

Decoded ancient script!

Regular readers of this Substack will begin to recognise my growing obsession with ancient Arabia, so this news was very exciting. Researchers are beginning to decipher a hitherto unknown written script from ancient Oman. The written language, known as the Dhofari language, has been known for over a century, but we are witnessing a genuine breakthrough which could open up the world of ancient Oman. It seems it was one particular sequence of 26 symbols and glyphs that has cracked the case, with one researcher identifying them as a type of alphabet. So hopefully, we will be seeing more of ancient Oman in the Ancient History Roundup!

Egyptian handprint

I love finds like this. Researchers have found a 4,000 year old handprint on the outside of ancient Egyptian ‘soul house’, a model house found inside tombs. The handprint was likely left by the craftsman who made it, accidently leaving his mark on the wet clay. These finds offer us little in the way of understanding the ancient world on a grand scale, but they give us such a human connection between ourselves and the civilisations that came before us - they are just amazing! You will be able to see this artifact when it is on display at the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge from the 3rd October.

New Sumerian myth revealed

Researchers are always finding new things, but sometimes it is going back over old things that gives us the most insight. This news story is an interesting one, a Sumerian inscription that has been known about since the 19th century has finally been given due attention and a full edition published. In so doing, the researchers have shed light on a new myth about the storm god Iškur, who is held captive in the netherworld. Exciting stuff! The inscription dates from around 2,400 BCE and is the only known example of this story. It is unfortunately incomplete, so we await a new discovery of a more extant version. Who knows, maybe it was found over 100 years ago and now awaits some academic attention.