A limestone sphinx from the early Roman Imperial era has been unearthed near the Temple of Hathor in Dendera, 300 miles south of Cairo. The small sphinx was discovered inside a Roman-era shrine. A limestone stele with an inscription written in both hieroglyphics and demotic was found next to the sphinx.

Located just east of the Temple of Dendera, the shrine was a two-level platform carved in limestone with stairs leading down to the foundation layer. At the bottom is a Byzantine-era water storage basin made of mudbrick. The sphinx and stela were inside the basin.

The human face on the lion body of the sphinx wears a placid archaic smile with dimples on each side of his lips. He dons the nemes headdress — the striped cloth headdress worn by Egypt’s pharaohs — with the uraeus — the upright cobra that symbolized royal authority — on his forehead. Traces of yellow and red paint have survived on his face.

The facial features are similar to those on statues of the Emperor Claudius (r. 41-54 A.D.), pharaonic name Tiberios Klaudios Kaisaros Sebastos Germanikos Autokrator, who was titled in a hieroglyphic inscription on the exterior wall of the Temple of Isis at Shanhur 30 miles south of Dendera as “Son of Ra, Lord of the Crowns, King of Upper and Lower Egypt, Lord of the Two Lands.” Archaeologists hope the stele’s inscription may identify the pharaoh being depicted on the sphinx.

With the death of Cleopatra VII, the dynasties of Egyptian pharaohs came to an end. Augustus absorbed Egypt into the Roman Empire but the emperors retained the traditional accoutrements of pharaohs to lend cultural legitimacy to their rules. Roman emperors continued to be styled as Egyptian pharaohs into the 4th century. These iconographic associations were all the more important because most emperors, including Claudius, never visited Egypt in person.

New analyses of the Colchester Vase, a 2nd century clay vessel decorated with scenes of gladiatorial contests, has confirmed that it was locally made, decorated and inscribed. It was not an import or an object modified with later inscriptions. It was a high-quality piece commemorating a specific gladiatorial event that took place in Colchester.

The vase was discovered in a Roman-era grave in West Lodge, Colchester, in 1853. Its format suggests it was more likely a drinking vessel rather than a pitcher or vase, but whatever its original usage, its final use was a cinerary urn. The vessel is nine inches high and is decorated on the outside with three scenes. There are two armed men facing off against each other, two men, one wielding a whip, the other a club, baiting a bear and lastly a hunting dog chasing two stags and a hare. These scenes represent the three types of encounters staged at the arena: men fighting other men, men fighting animals and animals fighting other animals. It is one of the most intricately decorated Roman-era pots ever found in Britain.

The armed men fighting each other can be identified as gladiators by their armature. The one with a short sword (gladius), large rectangular shield (scutus), greaves and a large helmet covering his entire face was a secutor. His opponent, wearing the tall shoulder guard (galerus), arm guard (manica) and loin cloth, is a retiarius or “net fighter.” His trident is on the ground under the secutor’s feet and his finger is raised in the “ad digitum” gesture to acknowledge defeat and request that the munerarius (game director) grant him “missio” (reprieve).

Four names are incised on the vase: Memnon over the secutor, Valentinus over the retiarius, Secundus and Mario above the bear baiter with the whip. Next to Memnon’s name are the initials SAC and the numeral VIIII, recording that he fought nine times and lived. Next to Valentinus’ name is inscribed LEGIONIS XXX, indicating the retiarius was a soldier in the 30th Legion. This legion was never stationed in Britain.

The uniqueness of the decoration and the reference to a legion that never stepped foot in Britain has spurred debate as to its origin. The clay it was made from was local, but the inscription seemed to point to a foreign hand.

New tests prove the Colchester Vase was made of local clay around AD 160-200 and that an inscription bearing the names of two featured gladiators was cut into the clay before firing, rather than afterwards, as previously assumed. It was therefore an intrinsic part of the vessel’s original design rather than a later addition to a generic arena representation.

That means the vase was the ultimate in sports memorabilia, perhaps commissioned by a gladiator trainer or owner, or someone else involved with such contests.

Frank Hargrave, director of Colchester and Ipswich Museums (CIMS), which owns the vase, told the Observer the research has led to “startling new conclusions”, showing its true significance in recording a real spectacle in Colchester, known to the Romans as Camulodunum.

“It’s the only evidence of a Roman arena gladiator combat actually being staged in Britain,” he said. “There are no written descriptions. The vase is such high quality that there’s been a bit of snobbery, an assumption that it couldn’t possibly have come from Britain, whereas all the analysis has now put that to bed.” […]

Although no amphitheatre – the usual arena for gladiatorial combat – has yet been discovered, Colchester has two Roman theatres where such an event could have been staged. Pearce said: “With our re-analysis of the Colchester Vase, we can be confident that this was an event that took place here.”

The multidisciplinary research team also studied the cinerary remains found in the urn. Stable isotope analysis revealed the deceased was a non-local male possibly of European origin who was more than 40 years old when he died.

A fragment of an Iron Age comb discovered during highway construction has been identified as a rare example of a bone comb carved from a human skull, one of only three known. The comb was unearthed at Bar Hill near Cambridge, the site of an Iron Age settlement where the unprecedented mass burial of 8,000 frog bones was discovered in the same archaeological excavation. In three years of excavation at Bar Hill, archaeologists recovered 280,000 remains and artifacts. Since the dig ended in 2018, Museum of London Archaeology (MOLA) researchers have been going through the immense backlog of Bar Hill objects, which is why it has taken this long to analyze the comb and identify it as a carved piece of human skull.

It is an end piece of a rectangular comb with rounded edges and short, thick teeth roughly cut that they are separated from each other at the tips. There is no wear on the teeth on the comb, which there would have been had it been utilized as a tool, either for combing hair or in the manufacture of textiles. It did have a hole drilled in the middle (a semi-circular edge of the perforation is visible on the top left of the fragment), which suggests it may have been worn as an amulet instead of employed for practical purposes.

The  other two skull bone combs were discovered very close by: one in Earith, nine miles north of Bar Hill, the other at Harston Mill, 10 miles to the south. For the only three skull combs ever discovered to be located in such close proximity to each other suggests this have been a regional or local practice exclusive to the area.

Conversations between Michael Marshall and MOLA Osteologist (human bone expert), Michael Henderson, also sparked a new theory. It is possible the teeth of the comb could represent the natural sutures that join sections of the human skull.

Michael Marshall explains further:

“These carved teeth and lines would have highlighted the Bar Hill Comb’s origin, especially for local Iron Age communities who were familiar with skeletal remains. It’s symbolism and significance would have been obvious to anyone who encountered it.”

Instead of being just a practical tool, the Bar Hill comb may have been a powerful object for members of the local Iron Age community. Perhaps the skull belonged to an important person, who continued to play a role in the community even after their death.

The latest entry in the ancient phallus sweepstakes brings something new to the table: a hinge at the base of the penis that gives it articulating erection action. G.I. Joe is chartreuse with envy right now. The bronze figurine of a male with a disproportionately prodigious hinged phallus was discovered in Haconby, Lincolnshire. It dates to the 1st century A.D. It is the only Iron Age posable phallus ever discovered.

The bronze figure is a petite 5.5 cm (2.2 inches) high and 1.2 cm (.5 inches) wide. It is the stylized figure a man with an oval face, flat nose and slit mouth. His left arm is bent and holding a small bag against his chest. His right arm extends down his torso to clutch what is by far the largest part of him. So large, in fact, that when it is in its flaccid posture it is significantly longer than his short conjoined legs. A loop behind his head suggests it was meant to be worn as a pendant.

That this is the first hinged phallus figure we know of from antiquity is really saying something when you consider the sheer scale of phallus production in the Greco-Roman world. Obviously Roman metal smiths and wood carvers had the know-how for this kind of articulation. The exceptional doll found in the sarcophagus of a young Roman woman of the 2nd century named Crepereia Tryphaena has fully movable hip, knee and elbow joints. They just don’t seem to have employed the technique in their phallocrafting.

The figurine was discovered by Paul Shepheard who was participating in a metal detecting rally alongside his wife Joanne. She found a medieval penny. He found a Celtic bronze nude with an articulating penis. He didn’t immediately recognize it as such, perhaps unsurprisingly. As a former farm equipment restorer, Paul thought it looked like a split pin, a part used to fix wheels on carts. Then he saw it had a face and realized it was a figure, not a pin.

The Haconby Celtic fertility figurine will be going under the hammer at Noonan’s Ancient Coins and Antiquities auction on March 9th. The pre-sale estimate is £800 to 1,200 ($965-1,447).

In other recent phallus news, The Guardian published a letter proposing that the wooden one from Vindolanda is a lot closer to a darning tool than a phallus after all. Linsey Duncan-Pitt of Telford, Shropshire, makes a persuasive (and highly entertaining) argument that it was a drop spindle.

The tip looks a little glans-like, but it is also like the notch at the pointed end of the dealgan, used to secure the spun fibre with a half-hitch. The spindle is then rotated to add twist to the drafted fibres, and the spun fibre is wound around the shaft. The base of the artefact is wider than the tapering shaft; that would help stop the fibre slipping off. Some dealgans have a notch on the base, but not all.

Given that it was found among other crafting materials, this would seem to be a much more feasible explanation for this object than a dildo. It’s a bit understated as a dildo, and would no doubt make for a more satisfying spin than anything else.

Modern spinners like me love a decorative and unusual spindle, and so it seems more logical that this was a cheeky Roman design.