He reportedly received death threats in the 1970s for promoting pre-Islamic history in the Kingdom. During a helicopter trip to the site in 1981, tail-rotor failure at 9,000 feet almost brought his life’s work to an untimely end (mine as well). Professor Abdul Rahman Al Ansary led excavations during 20 years on the site of […]
Issue 32
Pompeii, The Life of a Roman Town
With the decline of grammar schools in Britain, Classics seemed to be heading for a fall. Recently however, both in the UK and USA, the subject has achieved something of a renaissance. Popular culture, ironically, provides the impetus: Latin is the working language at Hogwarts; Gladiator and Troy are two of the most testosterone-fuelled films […]
Roman Amphitheatre in Britain, The
Tony Wilmott started with the re-excavation of one amphitheatre, that of Chester. He promptly went on to a re-examination of amphitheatres, sorts of amphitheatres (you need to read the book!), and theatres of Roman Britain to explain how they worked in practice. But this book is far more than a warm up for an excavation […]
Cultural Heritage in Post War Recovery
Maintaining conservation standards in our towns and villages is essential work but light years away from the stench of cordite in Beirut or the poignant sight of Italian soldiers distributing bread below the citadel in Durres. This uplifting collection of 12 papers reminded me of our core values for they bring together the experiences of […]
Lucy
A snapshot of the Australopithecus afarensis, otherwise known as ‘Lucy’.