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Göbekli Tepe overview

Prehistoric Cuisine at Göbekli Tepe

Go to Neolithic Göbekli Tepe (11,600 years old), and you will find one of the most mysterious archaeological sites in Turkey. The huge T-shaped stone pillars carved with humans and fantastical animals form impressive circles. Evidence from the site reveals people gathered there seasonally in extraordinary numbers. One of the enduring questions about this remarkable place concerns how a hunter-gatherer culture could supply the food for the massive feasts that took place. What did they eat? There’s an intriguing new answer and it took some open mindedness and cooking to find.

Trojan Horse with Matt

Trojan War Humor from The New Yorker

The Trojan War gets a humorous treatment in the New Yorker Magazine with a spoof diary by “the guy who drove the Trojan Horse back from Troy.” For those who love Greek mythology and literature, and wish to put a smile on their faces.

1200 BCE Fall of Troy

1200 BCE: The Year the World Ended?

History is more than a series of dates, but sometimes the date itself accumulates its own history. So it is with 1200 BCE when nothing happened and yet history tells us the world ended. The entertaining story of how “1200 BCE” came to be.

hybrid creatures human headed winged bull, Assyrian

Hybrid Creatures, Monsters, and Demons

Clearly, I’m a fan of the delightful hybrid creatures of the ancient Near East. Griffins appear (part lion, part eagle) in my fiction. I often point out the prevalence of griffins across the Mediterranean and Near East as portrayed on the architecture, seals, and other forms of art. I sometimes say in jest that given how often they are depicted, maybe they really lived on earth at some point.

But seriously, why are there so many hybrid creatures across the many cultures of the ancient world? Why do many versions of Egyptian gods have human bodies and animal heads, for example? I have wondered.
An interesting article offers an intriguing theory. Maybe I buy it, maybe not–but I’m having fun.

Bog man Tollund man

Bog Man’s Last Supper: the Archaeology of a Meal

A man’s last meal, 2400 years ago during the Iron Age in what is now Denmark, undergoes a fascinating analysis, but I also want to know the circumstances of his mysterious death. Culinary history meets murder mystery. Read on!

Egyptian Cartouche at Luxor

The Egyptian Cartouche: Magic & Political Propaganda

Have you ever wondered where the pharaohs got the idea of representing power and identity with an Egyptian cartouche? The answer involves both magical rituals and propaganda, according to David Lightbody.

Bronze Age Silver Trade, example of hacksilver

Archaeology: The Bronze Age Silver Trade

How does a Bronze Age Hittite pay for something when barter isn’t an option? Coinage wasn’t around yet, so he or she couldn’t use the obvious means that would occur to a modern person. In this post, I look at some new evidence to answer this question.

Roman Hierapolis

Archaeology: Roman Hierapolis, Portal to the Underworld

Hierapolis is a place in Turkey I’ve never been, but I want to see the amazing hot springs and a gate to the underworld. Who can resist a city with a temple to Pluto that spews the poisonous breath of Cerberus?