I hope this this post finds all of our readers well and beginning a great start to 2012! If you are interested in ancient art–especially ancient African art–you should check out this news article from NewScientist. Drs. Nicole Rupp and Peter Breunig of the Goethe University Frankfurt have uncovered startling “terracotta heads” in Central Nigeria. Over 2.000 years old, these sculptures demonstrate the artistic creativity and sophistication of the Nok people. It is now widely believed that the Nok were the first Africans to smelt iron. Please read more about this unique discovery by clicking here.

For those of you that find yourselves in La Belle France this holiday season, be sure not to miss “Pompei: Un Art de Vivre,” a special exhibition at the Musée Maillol, in Paris, until February 12, 2012. This exhibition features beautiful artifacts from the luxurious homes– the celebrated “domus pompeiana”–of Pompeii’s elite. Furnished with over two hundred items from Pompeii as well as some from the neighboring towns and villages around of Naples, this is a comprehensive and illuminating look at the urban lives of Roman patricians. For more information, please click here to read Jorg von Uthmann’s review of the exhibition for Bloomberg.

As we approach the holiday season, we wanted to take the time to inform our readers and contributors in the United States of an exciting exhibition in Chicago, IL. The Field Museum is the current venue for “Natural Wonders: Roman Mosaic from Lod, Israel.” Uncovered only in 1996, this Roman floor mosaic is arguably the world’s best preserved and largest. It will stay on-location in Chicago until April 22, 2012. We also wanted to direct you to this book review written by Dan Hofstadter for the Wall Street Journal. An expert on all things Italian and a contemporary novelist, Hofstadter shares his three favorite books about that most celebrated metropolis: Rome. Please click here to read this article.

To our readers in the United States–specifically those of you in the Midwest–please be aware that a new museum is scheduled to open in Chicago, Illinois. The National Hellenic Museum is opening to the public on December 10, 2011, in Chicago’s Greektown district. The new, four-story complex of 40,000 square feet will include several museum exhibitions on ancient and modern Greece. It also host seasonal and special exhibitions, concerts, and art shows. To learn more, please click here. We also wanted to alert our readers that Italy’s financial troubles continue to hamper the preservation and conservation of ancient treasures. The Voice of America has this timely article and video report, which we thought would interest a good many of you. Please click here to watch the video and read the accompanying article.

We wanted to let our readers and contributors in Canada know that a new Mayan exhibition has just opened at the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto. Maya: Secrets of their Ancient World will run until April 9, 2012 and travel thereafter to the Canadian Museum of Civilization, in Ottawa, from May 18, 2012 until October 28, 2012. This exhibition showcases recent archaeological discoveries by Canadian research teams in Mexico. Beautiful sculptures, ornate masks, and ceramic masks are just a sampling of the many items which can be observed. For more information on this exhibition, please read this article from the CBC by clicking here.

Recently discovered Roman coins, found near the Wailing Wall in Old Jerusalem, cast doubt on the exact date of the completion of the second Jewish Temple. Did the infamous King Herod oversee the reconstruction of the Jewish Temple on the Temple Mount? Could it have been someone else? Please read this interesting piece from the Washington Post by clicking here.

For our readers in the United States–specifically those of you located along the Mid-Atlantic–we wanted to inform you of an exciting, new exhibition, which just opened at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond, Virginia. Mummy: Secrets of the Tomb features over a hundred objects, on lease, from the permanent collection of the British Museum. The exhibition showcases various items related to the ancient Egyptian rituals of death and burial, as well as other splendid artifacts, rarely seen outside of Great Britain. You can read more about the exhibition as well as view objects by clicking here.

For our readers in Germany, please note that beginning on November 17, 2011, Frankfurt am Main will be hosting “A Festival of Egyptian Culture.” In addition to various cultural lectures, concerts, and readings, there will be a life-size and detailed replica of the tomb of Pharaoh Tutankhamun on display. This traveling replica has already been seen by over two million visitors in Switzerland, South Korea, and Belgium, proving to be quite popular. Events will last until the end of April 2012 and will encompass 5.000 years of Egyptian history. Please read an article about the festival, from The Daily News of Egypt, by clicking here. Also be sure to visit the festival’s homepage by accessing a link here [auf Deutsch and in English].

Every weekday, the latest archaeological news is posted by the Archaeological Institute of America. Although the range of articles and new stories is vast–everything from ancient Libya to sunken warships from the Second World War–many of them are sure to delight and interest you. Please click here to access the site and be sure to check often as it is continuously updated.

At long last, a scholarly book in English has been published exclusively on Sasanians of ancient Persia. Dr. Touraj Daryaee, the Howard C. Baskerville Professor in the History of Iran and the Persianate World and the Associate Director of the Dr. Samuel M. Jordan Center for Persian Studies and Culture at the University of California, Irvine, discusses his book in an interview. Please click here to read it.