Crossroads Roundup: Possible Egyptian Temple Found, a Forgotten Caravaggio, and Discoveries from Stone Age Britain
Exhausted after Thanksgiving? Curl up on your sofa and read the latest news in art, archaeology, and culture.
A team of archaeologists have found the entrance to a possible Ptolemaic temple in Egypt.
About four miles from Sohag lies the ancient Egyptian city of Athribis (not be confused with Lower Egypt’s Athribis, roughly 25 miles from Cairo). Athribis is a 74-acre site that was once the home of a busy settlement, temple complex, necropolis, and quarries.
Researchers from the University of Tübingen were conducting excavations along the cliffs of Athribis when they discovered a pylon—a large gateway that typically marks the entrance of a temple sanctuary. (See the above photo.) The suspected temple lies deep within the mountain, and what’s most thrilling about this find is that the entrance appears untouched. One can only imagine the artifacts that could be hiding within.
Hieroglyphic reliefs decorating the pylon indicate that the structure was likely built during the reign of Ptolemy VIII. The main temple complex in Athribis was built between 144 B.C. and 138 A.D., though the age of the pylon (and the possible temple within) are yet to be determined. In addition to the pylon, researchers found a previously unknown chamber (20 feet by 10 feet) that was used to store utensils and amphorae.
This coming month, excavations will focus on the chamber hidden behind the pylon. I’m looking forward to seeing what they uncover.
Sixty years ago, a privately-owned portrait was attributed to Caravaggio. Now, it is on public display for the first time:
The above Portrait of Monsignor Maffeo Barberini was discovered in a private collection sixty years ago. The painting is attributed to Caravaggio, an early innovator of Baroque art who would influence artists like Peter Paul Rubens and Rembrandt.
And who was the man in the portrait?
Caravaggio met Maffeo Barberini when he was a young man. Barberini was a Florentine aristocrat and clergyman who had earned a law doctorate from the University of Pisa; he used his intelligence and connections to rapidly ascend the Catholic church’s clerical hierarchy. In 1623, Barberini was coronated as Pope Urban VIII, and he remained an avid supporter of the arts. Sadly, the same can’t be said for science—Urban VIII was the pope who forced Galileo to publicly recant his belief that the Earth revolves around the Sun.
Caravaggio painted the future pope when he was a young, struggling artist. The two met at the family palazzo of clergyman Francesco Maria del Monte, who was hosting Caravaggio at the time. The painting remained in the Barberini family until the 1930s, when it was sold to another private collection, and its existence would not become public knowledge until the 1960s.
For the very first time, Portrait of Monsignor Maffeo Barberini is on public display in Rome. Visitors can view it at the Palazzo Barberini, which houses Italy’s National Gallery of Ancient Art.
Could the “sacred arc” theory of Stone Age-Britain be true?
I was intrigued by this story in the Smithsonian Magazine by Margherita Bassi about archaeologist Alan Endacott, who has long believed in the “sacred arc” theory, in which “Stone Age people in southwestern England built a ring—not an arc, as the name suggests—of Stonehenge-like circles of rocks in the Devon uplands.” Endacott was the discoverer of the Sittaford stone circle in 2007, which led him to continue looking for Stone Age sites in the area.
In a recent excavation at Dartmoor National Park, Endacott’s findings have brought him one step closer to confirming his theory. He and his team found not one but two stone circles, each about 5,000 years old—making them the same age of the central part of Stonehenge.
Endacott named one of the circles “Metheral” after a nearby hill, and it is composed of twenty stones. Bassi reports: “Significantly, the Metheral circle seems to align with seven other stone monuments in the shape of a half-circle, supporting the sacred arc theory. It sits on the opposite end of the arc from the Sittaford site.”
Endacott is currently finishing his doctorate in archaeology at the University of Exeter. Susan Greaney, a fellow archaeologist at Exeter who was not involved in the project, told Live Science, “This ‘arc’ of circles, measuring more than eight kilometers [five miles] across, is rather extraordinary and suggests the upland area of northern Dartmoor it encloses was particularly special to prehistoric people.”
It’s an extraordinary achievement, one that conveys how much there is still left to be discovered in the world, especially regarding prehistoric sites. I applaud Endacott’s determination and patience in pursuing what appears to be the project of a lifetime.
“The era of isolated brilliance is over.”
In each Roundup, I share a piece by a fellow Substack writer that caught my eye. This week, I’m sharing an essay from the new publication Afterthought. Catherine’s essay, “The era of isolated brilliance is over,” grapples with the nature of “genius” in an era of public performance:
In historical contexts, genius was considered innate, requiring no marketing to be recognised. Now genius is crafted in public - it is contextual, performative and exists not just in the work produced, but in the narratives crafted around it. The marketing of genius is an exercise in data sharing. Visible achievements, public persona, all within relevant cultural and social frameworks.
It’s a very thought-provoking piece, and I think that Crossroads readers will enjoy it.
Another exciting discovery: a first edition copy of The Prince.
Up until recently, experts believed there were only ten first-edition copies of Niccolò Machiavelli’s The Prince still in existence. Much to the delight of historians, the above book was found in a private collection. As Gabriel Heaton, Sotheby’s books and manuscripts specialist, told CNN: “We were not aware of any other copies in private hands, and this is the first copy that we are aware of to have come to auction, certainly in recent decades.”
Sotheby’s is offering the book at its ongoing Books & Manuscripts auction in London (November 28th-December 12th). The Prince is expected to sell for £300,000 ($375,000).
And finally, Notre-Dame de Paris prepares for its grand reopening:
Five years after a disastrous fire, Notre Dame Cathedral is set to reopen on December 8th. While the exterior’s restoration will not be completed by then, visitors will be able to go inside the much-cherished landmark.
The above video offers a behind-the-scenes look at the enormous restoration project to save the cathedral, and the talented artisans from around the world who worked to bring it back to life.
I just got back from Rome where I saw the Caravaggio painting at the Barberini Palace and it´s completely mesmerizing, especially because they isolated the painting in its own special room so all we see is this.
Thank you Nicole! Brilliant piece as always