Paul Collins is the Jaleh Hearn Curator for Ancient Near East at the Ashmolean Museum, and a Fellow of Jesus College and Wolfson College, Oxford University

Reviews
Reclining cow, Jemdet Nasr period, 3300–3000 BC, Uruk, Iraq. Vorderasiatisches Museum, Berlin, Photo: Olaf M. Tessmer; © Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Vorderasiatisches Museen

The Mesopotamian city that can claim to be the cradle of civilisation

Uruk may not be as well known as Babylon or Ninevah, but layers of complex, urban life have been uncovered there over the course of the 20th century

7 Feb 2020
Features
’Ram caught in thicket’, from the Royal Cemetery of Ur, (c. 2500–2400 BC), Sumerian, University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, Philadelphia.

Mythical beasts in Mesopotamia

What do sculpted animals in Mesopotamian art tell us about the relationship between gods and men?

3 Jun 2017
Previews

First Look: ‘Discovering Tutankhamun’ at the Ashmolean Museum

The Ashmolean Museum will offer a new perspective on a famous archaeological find this summer

20 Jul 2014

Current Issue

September 2021

In the news

The artist who wants to save the Tunisian revolution

Frustrated that memories of more hopeful times are fading, the artist Intissar Belaid is determined to preserve what she can

Visitors showing their ‘green pass’ at the Vatican Museums in August 2021.

Admissible evidence – museum directors have their say on vaccine passports

Museum directors in France and Italy seem to agree that requiring proof of vaccination is preferable to being shut – although not everyone is on board

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Podcast

The Apollo 40 under 40 podcast: Mohamad Hafez

The Syrian-born, US-based artist talks to Gabrielle Schwarz about his sculptural dioramas of cities ravaged by war – and offers a message of hope for the future

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The week in art news – Nadine Dorries appointed UK culture secretary

The week in art news – Klaus Biesenbach appointed director of Neue Nationalgalerie

Art Basel seeks to reassure nervous exhibitors ahead of fair

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