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An ancient, two-sided amulet uncovered in Cyprus contains a 59-letter inscription that reads the same backwards as it does forwards. Archaeologists discovered the amulet, which is roughly 1,500 years old, at the ancient city of Nea Paphos in southwest Cyprus. One side of the amulet has several images, including a bandaged mummy (likely representing the Egyptian god Osiris) lying on a boat and an image of Harpocrates, the god of silence, who is shown sitting on a stool while holding his right hand up to his lips. Strangely, the amulet also displays a mythical dog-headed creature called a cynocephalus, which...

The theatre of ancient Nea Paphos is one of the most significant Hellenistic-Roman structures in Cyprus; it was in use for more than six centuries between its construction in c. 300 BC and its final destruction by earthquake around 365 AD. It was initially used for dramatic performances, but in its final Roman phases the theatre was converted to an arena and could be flooded for water spectacles... the Hellenistic-Roman theatre, located in the north-east corner of the ancient capital of Cyprus. A number of trenches were opened by the Australian team with the intention of exposing the continuation of...