The Walters Museum, in Baltimore, MD USA, is the current venue of a fantastic exhibition not to be missed: Exploring Art of the Ancient Americas: The John Bourne Collection will be on view until May 20, 2012. Featuring over 135 exquisite objects from South and Central America, this exhibition covers nearly 3,000 years of art history. Among the highlights are intricate pieces of jewelry, bejeweled masks, and painted pottery from the Maya, Incan, Aztec, Mixtec, Moche, and Olmec civilizations. Special objects from as far as Bolivia, Costa Rica, Colombia, and Panama are exhibited as are rare pieces from Teotihuacan. This exhibition explores upon the interplay between religion and politics in Pre-Columbian civilizations and is organized by geography. Please click here to read a review of this exciting show from The Baltimore City Paper.

Last week, we mentioned the opening of an exciting new exhibit of ancient Egyptian objects and artifacts in Edinburgh, Scotland. The BBC has just covered the opening of this exhibition with a news report that can be viewed by clicking here.

In the weekend edition of the Wall Street Journal, Dr. James Romm of Bard University has written an excellent review for “A Culture of Freedom,” by Christian Meier. Just published, this work focuses on Hellenism and its impact in the Near East as well as in Europe and North Africa. Please click here to read this review.

Fascinating Mummies opens today at the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh. On show until May 27, 2012, this exhibition presents a special collection of objects and treasures from the Rijksmuseum van Oudheden, based in Leiden, Netherlands. Highlights include detailed cat scans of various mummies, from all over Egypt, as well as rare sarcophagi. Please click here to learn more about this exhibit.

In this fun and engaging article, freelance writer Elisabeth Eaves journeys into the Yucatan peninsula’s remotest region in order to visit the mysterious Mayan city of Calakmul. Flourishing around the year c. 600 CE, Calakmul was a wealthy and influential city, rivaling the fêted city of Tikal for power and prestige. Three times as large as the better-known Chichen Itza, Calakmul is the remotest of all Mayan cities and was only discovered in 1931. Please click here to read this article from GO Magazine (the inflight magazine of AirTran).

While our readers and visitors from Europe have been suffering through frigid weather for the past week or so, winter’s wrath has proven itself as a blessing in at least one part of the old continent. An ancient building from Roman times, as well as pottery shards and the foundation of an ancient sewer system, has been revealed in the port city of Bourgas, Bulgaria. Click here to read about this unexpected discovery from Novinite.com.

Two archeologists from Belgium, Fabienne Pigière and Denis Henrotay, make a very interesting argument in the latest edition of the Journal of Archaeological Science: the bedrock of Roman power depended upon the camel. They posit that camels connected the various parts of the empire and were the favored animals for long distance trade. Furthermore, they also were favored by the Roman army and its ranks. Please click here to read this news article from USA TODAY.

2012 is likely to be a year of great political importance for the United States and for the European Union, if not for the entire world. Recently on NPR (National Public Radio), Professor Philip Freeman of Luther University spoke about his new book, “How to Win an Election: An Ancient Guide for Modern Politicians.” Freeman’s work is a translation of a text written during the last days of the Roman Republic, by a brother of Marcus Cicero, in 64 BCE. Please click here to listen to the interview or read the interview transcript.

Last week, we noted the opening of “Roads of Arabia” at the Pergamon Museum in Berlin, Germany. Now, you can access several pictures and a brief review of the exhibition from Der Spiegel, by clicking here. This is the first time that such rare and exquisite artifacts have been displayed in Germany. The exhibition has already won rave reviews from museum-goers in Barcelona, Paris, and St. Petersburg. Don’t pass on an opportunity to see this show!

Although it is only February, museums and galleries across the world are preparing to showcase ancient treasures and objects to the delight of museum-goers. Be sure to check out some of these exhibitions this coming spring season! Byzantium and ancient Egypt seem to be en vogue this season: Roads of Arabia: Archaeological Treasures From the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has traversed across Europe and is now at the Pergamon Museum, in Berlin, Germany, from January 26 through April 29, 2012. The exhibition is themed as a journey through Pre-Islamic Arabia along famed trade routes and sites of veneration. With more than 300 objects on display–everything from ancient Roman frescoes to spectacular Arabian jewelry–it is no surprise that this exhibit has proven extremely popular with the casual visitor and the astute scholar alike. Considerable attention is also given to findings from recent excavations. Picturing the Past: Imaging and Imagining the Ancient Middle East is the current exhibition at the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago, in Chicago, Illinois USA, from February 6 through September 2, …