Painted or engraved bulls on the walls of paleolithic caverns suggest that from prehistoric times, the bull was associated with cosmic energy and the forces of life and death. In Anatolia, the bull was worshiped as the son of the mother-goddess, and its horns, which supported the world, were seen as the pillars of the universe.

This concept was probably the origin of horns as a mark of divinity. In Mesopotamia, for instance, gods occasionally had bulls ears and, with almost no exception, wore a diadem with bulls horns. Another example, included in the exhibition, is the Hellenistic head of Zeus-Amon, a new Egyptian deity that emerged with the cultural fusion that followed Egypts conquest by Alexander the Great. The bulls horns that sprout from the head is again an attribute of divinity.

The Roman deity Jupiter was portrayed, like other celestial gods of Syria and Palestine, with one or two bulls. In one of the exhibitions more unusual objects, a Roman emperor is portrayed with a bulls head, a sign of the emperors divine nature.

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Scotland hopes to attract visitors to Antonine Wall sites       ( 11:19 AM ) Libitina  

Ancient Fragrances Return to Pompeii       ( 11:08 AM ) Libitina  

An 84-mile footpath along Hadrians Wall, from Segedunum fort at Wallsend in the east to Bowness-on-Solway, west of Carlisle, is now open for visitors.

David McGlade, the official from the countryside agency who has overseen the project since it began in 1995, said: "Our task is to make it an interpretation that is the greatest expression of Roman civilisation in England. At present, it is not punching its weight. It is as important as Stonehenge, but it has never been thought of in that way. It isnt just a wall, but a complex of forts, temples, turrets, museums and reconstructions that bring the frontier to life."

To this end, Fourteen new steel bridges have been erected, many in the "weathered" variety of steel which characterises the Angel of the North sculpture, thirty miles of new rights of way have been created, and miles of new turf have been laid, to protect sites which may be excavated in later years.

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Modern engineers study water turbulence control mechanisms in Roman aqueducts       ( 12:30 PM ) Libitina  

Thieves steal frescos from House of the Chaste Lovers in Pompeii       ( 9:18 AM ) Libitina  

A 2,500-year-old bronze statue of a dancing satyr went on public display inside Italys parliament in Rome five years after its recovery by Sicilian fishermen. Reuters reports: "The satyr is missing both arms and one leg, but the head and torso are remarkably well-preserved despite centuries spent at the bottom of the sea. With its head tilted at a jaunty angle, curly hair flying and remaining leg suggesting it is in mid-leap, the two-meter tall satyr cuts a striking figure."

"I am confident that this work is by Praxiteles. It has the artistry and technical excellence that were his trademark," said Paolo Moreno, a professor of ancient Greek art and history. Shunning the formal, majestic style of earlier Greek sculptors, Praxiteles favored sensuous forms and graceful movements and left a profound mark on later classical art.

Praxiteles was a famous Greek sculptor of the 4th century B.C.E. Praxiteles depicted satyrs (later called fauns by the Romans) without most of the animal characteristics seen in earlier works. The satyr above left is an example of Praxiteles work in marble.

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