NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2021 * VOLUME 74, NUMBER 6 CONTENTS 38 An artificial pool dating to 1450 b.c. in Noceto, Italy, contained offerings including vases, wooden tools, and deer antlers FEATURES 24 WHEN ISIS WAS QUEEN At the ancient Egyptian temples of Philae, Nubians gave new life to a vanishing religious tradition BY ISMA'IL KUSHKUSH 32 PIECING TOGETHER MAYA CREATION STORIES Thousands of mural fragments from the city of San Bartolo illustrate how the Maya envisioned their place in the universe BY ZACH ZORICH 38 ITALIAN MASTER BUILDERS A 3,500-year-old ritual pool reflects a little-known culture's agrarian prowess BY DANIEL WEISS 42 GHOST TRACKS OF WHITE SANDS Scientists are uncovering fossilized footprints in the New Mexico desert that show how humans and Ice Age animals shared the landscape BY KAREN COATES 48 GAUL'S UNIVERSITY TOWN New excavations have revealed the wealth and prestige of an ancient center of learning BY JARRETT A. LOBELL Cover: A sanctuary known as Trajan's Kiosk at the temple complex of Philae, Egypt PHOTO: Unai HUizi PHOTOgraPHy/SHUTTerSTOck archaeology.org 1http://www.archaeology.org