Etruscan Beauty
Last Sunday, I fell in love with this handsome, big-bellied pot at an exhibition of Etruscan artefacts. I would have liked to have taken it home with me. Of course,…
Pharaonic Grafitti
Located in the Nile south of Aswan, Sahel Island is dominated by massive boulders that are covered with the stories of Ancient Egypt. Wherever you look, pharaohs and priests are…
The Ancient World’s Equivalent to Blood Diamonds
Through this narrow hole in an Egyptian mountain, the Romans lowered slave labourers on a rope to hack emeralds from an underground cavern. Anyone hauled up with insufficient gems was…
Carved in Stone…
... and written in the elegant but extinct language of Palmyrene. So what does it say? Probably something along the lines of "our king's dick is bigger than your king's".…
The Romans Were Highly Civilised…
binge drinkers! History shows us that some things never change. © www.anniewrightphotography.com, 2nd century AD sarcophagus, the National Museum, Beirut
Making Your Mark
Once it took an hammer and chisel to make your presence felt. Now we have Facebook. © www.anniewrightphotography.com, Baalbek, Lebanon
Waiting for Wisdom
An empty lecture room in the lovely al-Azm Palace in Hama, Syria. It seems so serene, a place where wise people may contemplate subjects such as the perfect, exquisite void…
Middle Eastern Conflict Comes to My Street
Some time ago, activist Gretta Duisenberg hung a Palestinian flag from her house in a posh district of Amsterdam. It didn't go down well with the neighbours, who are mainly…
Tightened Security?
Just four days after the Queen's Day attack, Queen Beatrix attended the annual Dutch Memorial Day ceremony in the centre of Amsterdam. Needless to say she was completely professional, as…
A Divine Place
I love vistas. The possibilities are endless. This one is located in the Gayer-Anderson Museum in Cairo. This 17th house is filled with furniture, carpets, curios, antiquities and artworks that…