Mediterranean Archaeology

Theoretical Archaeology Seminar at Athens

2010-04-09T12:37:00.000+03:00

The next Theoretical Archaeology Seminar at Athens is entitled "Mortuary Practices and Society".

The Seminar is taking place at 6.30pm, 15th of April 2010 at the Irish
Institute of Hellenic Studies at Athens (51a Notara Street, Exarcheia).

If interested in participating, please email the IIHSA (iihsa@hol.gr) to
request the suggested and recommended reading list.

'Diazoma' Association

2009-11-20T14:47:00.001+02:00

Source: Diazoma

‘DIAZOMA’ is a movement of active citizens from all over Greece, who are determined to put our esteem for the country’s monuments and cultural heritage into practice.

Ancient theatres are the focus of our interest and our aim is to enhance them, to find funding and, wherever feasible, to include these monuments in the daily life of Greece.
‘DIAZOMA’ introduces to Greece a new pro-active approach to achieving its aims, which relies on citizens and their actions.

Open to all citizens of Greece, ‘DIAZOMA’ seeks to take ancient theatres, this culminating achievement of ancient Greek architecture, under its wing.

Έξωση στο Κέντρο Νεολιθικών Μελετών Διρού

2009-11-17T12:43:00.002+02:00

Source: Αρχαιολογία και Τέχνες Online

Υπό έξωση βρίσκεται το Κέντρο Νεολιθικών Μελετών Διρού, το οποίο έχει δημιουργηθεί για τη μελέτη των ευρημάτων από τις ανασκαφές στα ονομαστά σπήλαια της περιοχής. Αιτία είναι η καθυστέρηση καταβολής ενοικίων ύψους 11.600 ευρώ στον ιδιοκτήτη του ακινήτου στο οποίο στεγάζεται το κέντρο. Η αγωγή εξώσεως εκδικάζεται στο Πρωτοδικείο Γυθείου στις 9 Δεκεμβρίου και σε περίπτωση που η πολιτεία δεν ευαισθητοποιηθεί εγκαίρως κινδυνεύει να βρεθεί στον δρόμο επιστημονικός εξοπλισμός πολλών χιλιάδων ευρώ, μια βιβλιοθήκη με 4.000 εξειδικευμένα συγγράμματα και πολύτιμα ντοκουμέντα του ανασκαφικού έργου. Το Κέντρο Νεολιθικών Μελετών Διρού στεγάστηκε σε ένα παραδοσιακό μανιάτικο πυργόσπιτο στον Πύργο Διρού Λακωνίας. Όταν όμως το 2006 ο τότε γενικός γραμματέας του ΥΠΠΟ, Χρ. Ζαχόπουλος διέκοψε τα κονδύλια για τις ανασκαφές που γίνονταν στην Αλεπότρυπα, το μέλλον του κατέστη επισφαλές.

British School at Athens: New Website Launch

2009-11-11T16:51:00.001+02:00

Source: The British School at Athens

The British School at Athens is proud to announce the launch of its new website. We have redesigned the site from the ground-up to facilitate public access to the latest information about the School from current events, to available awards, to the on-going projects and research taking place at the School. Whether you are a long-time user or a new visitor, we encourage you to explore our reconceived site in order to learn more about our research and activities and the many ways in which you can get involved. Please check back often: the new site is an active directory of our activities in all domains and will be updated regularly.

History In 3-D: Digitally Archived Works Of Art

2009-11-11T16:44:00.001+02:00

Source: ScienceDaily

ScienceDaily (Nov. 5, 2009) — If you don't have the time to travel to Florence, you can still see Michelangelo's statue of David on the Internet, revolving in true-to-life 3D around its own axis.

This is a preview of what scientists are developing in the European joint project 3D-COFORM. The project aims to digitize the heritage in museums and provide a virtual archive for works of art from all over the world. Vases, ancient spears and even complete temples will be reproduced three-dimensionally.

In a few years' time museum visitors will be able to revolve Roman amphorae through 360 degrees on screen, or take off on a virtual flight around a temple. The virtual collection will be especially useful to researchers seeking comparable works by the same artist, or related anthropological artifacts otherwise forgotten in some remote archive.

The digital archive will be intelligent, searching for and linking objects stored in its database. For instance, a search for Greek vases from the sixth century BC with at least two handles will retrieve corresponding objects from collections all over the world.

3D documentation provides a major advance over the current printed catalogs containing pictures of objects, or written descriptions. A set of 3D data presents the object from all angles, providing information of value to conservators, such as the condition of the surface or a particular color. As the statue of David shows, impressive 3D animations of art objects already exist.

"But we are still a long way from being able to sensibly correlate 3D data between different objects," says Dr. André Stork, Head of Department at the Fraunhofer Institute for Computer Graphics Research IGD in Darmstadt and a partner in the 3D-COFORM consortium.

Stork and his team are generating 3D models and processing them for the digital archive.

"A 3D scan is basically a cloud of measured points. Further processing is required to map the object properly," Stork explains.

Researchers are developing calculation specifications to derive the actual object from the measured data. The software must be able to identify specific structures, such as the arms on a statue or columns on a building, as well as recognizing recurring patterns on vases. A virtual presentation also needs to include a true visual image -- a picture of a temple would not be realistic if the shadows cast by its columns were not properly depicted. The research group in Darmstadt is therefore combining various techniques to simulate light effects.

Remains of a Minoan-style painting discovered during excavations of the Canaanite palace at Tel Kabri

2009-11-09T10:49:00.001+02:00

Source: University of Haifa Communications and Media Relations

The remains of a Minoan-style wall painting, characterized by a blue background, the first of its kind to be found in Israel, was discovered in the course of the recent excavation season at Tel Kabri. This fresco joins others of Aegean style that have been uncovered during earlier seasons at the Canaanite palace in Kabri. “It was, without doubt, a conscious decision made by the city’s rulers who wished to associate with Mediterranean culture and not adopt Syrian and Mesopotamian styles of art like other cities in Canaan did. The Canaanites were living in the Levant and wanted to feel European,” explains Dr. Assaf Yasur-Landau of the University of Haifa, who directed the excavations. READ FULL STORY

Aegeus – Society of Aegean Prehistory

2009-11-09T10:42:00.002+02:00

A new society devoted to Aegean prehistory.

Description from the official website and Facebook group.

Aegeus - Society of Aegean Prehistory was officially established on 30 April 2009 as a non-profit organization with research, cultural and educational objectives.

Some of the aims of the Society are:

1. The study, research and dissemination of prehistoric archaeology of the Aegean and the neighboring regions; from the Paleolithic until the Early Iron Age, and comparatively with the subsequent eras.

2. The strengthening of multidisciplinary collaborations and specializations of archaeology, e.g. bioarchaeology, archaeobotany, zooarchaeology, etc.

3. The promotion of collaborations with other social sciences and humanities (e.g. philology, social anthropology, etc.).

Thera tsunamis once again...

2009-11-05T14:38:00.002+02:00

Source: The New York Times

In the Mediterranean, Killer Tsunamis From an Ancient Eruption

By WILLIAM J. BROAD
Published: November 2, 2009

The massive eruption of the Thera volcano in the Aegean Sea more than 3,000 years ago produced killer waves that raced across hundreds of miles of the Eastern Mediterranean to inundate the area that is now Israel and probably other coastal sites, a team of scientists has found.

The team, writing in the October issue of Geology, said the new evidence suggested that giant tsunamis from the catastrophic eruption hit “coastal sites across the Eastern Mediterranean littoral.” Tsunamis are giant waves that can crash into shore, rearrange the seabed, inundate vast areas of land and carry terrestrial material out to sea.

The region at the time was home to rising civilizations in Crete, Cyprus, Egypt, Phoenicia and Turkey.

For decades, scholars have suggested that the giant eruption, just 70 miles from Crete, might have brought about the mysterious collapse of Minoan civilization at the peak of its glory. The remnants of Thera’s eruption today make up a circular archipelago of volcanic Greek isles known as Santorini.

READ MORE

Theoretical Archaeology Seminar at Athens

2009-11-03T12:30:00.001+02:00

The next Theoretical Archaeology Seminar at Athens is entitled "Imitation in Archaeology".

The Seminar is taking place at 6.30pm, 6th November 2009 at the Irish
Institute of Hellenic Studies at Athens (51a Notara Street, Exarcheia).

If interested in participating, please email the IIHSA (iihsa@hol.gr) to
request the suggested and recommended reading list.

The Museum of Nauplion Reopens

2009-03-17T14:09:00.002+02:00

After five years of renovation works and a 880,000 Euro bill, the Nauplion Museum opens today its doors to the public.

The 2,000 exhibits, amongst them the famous 'Dendra Cuirass', are displayed on the two floors of the building which used to be a Venetian armoury.

For more information, take a look here.

Theoretical Archaeology Seminar at Athens

2009-02-04T12:40:00.004+02:00

I would like to draw your attention to the blog of the Theoretical Archaeology Seminar at Athens (TASA) (formerly known as the British-Irish Theory Seminars).

TASA was founded by a group of young scholars based at Athens, Greece. Its aim is to promote debate and discussion of issues in theoretical archaeology. Each seminar is dedicated to a specific theme and participants are encouraged to do some background reading prior to each meeting.

TASA is managed by an organising committee consisting of international scholars and students residing in Athens under the auspices of the British School at Athens and the Irish Institute of Hellenic Studies at Athens.

An interview with Stephen G Miller

2009-01-30T12:35:00.002+02:00

Source: Athens News

A foreign archaeologist in Athens

Stephen G Miller, ex-director of excavations at Ancient Nemea, talks to theAthens News about his craft on the occasion of his newly-published children'sbook 'Plato at Olympia'

By Heinrich Hall

"I CAN'T tell you how gratifying it is to sit in my office, look down at Ancient Nemea and see the busloads coming in, knowing I excavated the site, planted the trees, built the museum..."

It is with unconcealed pleasure that Stephen G Miller looks back on his career, 40 years spent between the US and Greece. Former professor of archaeology at Berkeley (1973-2004) and ex-director of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens (1982-1987), Miller is among the most distinguished foreign archaeologists in Greece. During three decades of excavations, he transformed the site of Ancient Nemea from a rarely visited, poorly understood backwater into a major attraction featuring a partially re-erected temple, well-preserved stadium and excellent museum. In 1996, he revived the Nemean Games. The Modern Games, which trace the footprints of antiquity (in costume), took place for the fourth time last summer.

Although Miller has authored dozens of academic publications, his new book Plato at Olympia (Bragiotti Editions, 13 euros) is not one of them. It is a children's book about the famous philosopher Plato as a child striving to become an Olympic athlete. Illustrated with lovely watercolours by the Greek artist Athena Stamatis and told in an accessible, erudite but light-hearted manner, it introduces the reader to ancient Greece and the site of Olympia.

What made you choose Greek archaeology as a career?

As an undergraduate, I studied Ancient Greek because I wanted to read Plato in his own language. Plato turned out to be my nemesis; his philosophical language was beyond me. When George Mylonas, excavator of Mycenae, visited, he mesmerised me. By the time he left, I wanted to be an archaeologist. It seemed a great combination of outdoor and indoor work. I chose it not really knowing what I was in for. It worked out very well.

What was your first experience of Greece?

A cheap dinner of lobster in Palaiokastrita, on Corfu, in 1967. I thought it was paradise.

Has Greek archaeology changed since then?

Then, the basis of classical archaeology was ancient Greek. My Greek has been a tremendous advantage to me: as finds come out of the ground, I can read inscriptions, or graffiti on the stadium tunnel and ancient texts about Nemea. Nowadays, prehistory is a major field, where Ancient Greek is less important.

What should change in Greek archaeology?

I wish there were more funds available so that the time we spend raising money could be used in outreach to the public.

You directed excavations at Nemea for three decades. What were your most important discoveries?

The most important physical discovery was the stadium tunnel. It proved that by the 4th century, the Greeks knew to build arches and vaults. The graffiti in the tunnel add a sense of what Greek athletes did while waiting to compete.

Even more important is the history. We now know that the Nemean Games took place at Nemea, otherwise uninhabited, during two separate periods - from the early 6th to the late 5th and from the late 4th to the early 3rd century BC - and that the site was destroyed at the end of the 5th century, probably during the Peloponnesian War.

What further discoveries at Nemea do you expect?

The hippodrome. No ancient hippodrome has been uncovered. We know roughly where it is. The early stadium also needs work. Unlike any other known stadium, it goes back to the 6th century BC.

How has Nemea changed since you started working there?

In 1973, Ancient Nemea had 400 people, one television set, one automobile, many donkeys and the ubiquitous fresa tilling machine. Now there are 220 people, tractors, cars, telephones and televisions everywhere. In 1973, we had one visitor all summer. The site was three columns, weeds and thistles. Last year, there were over 40,000 visitors.

Why did you launch the Modern Nemean Games?

For me, the Games are educational, a way for people to feel and touch antiquity. A transformation takes place in the stadium tunnel. People enter the locker room, put on a tunic, walk barefoot through the tunnel and come out in the 4th century BC. For the villagers, they promote Nemea. That's OK with me.

In the 1980s, you were director of the ASCSA. Has American archaeology in Greece changed since then?

When I was a student, the ASCSA was quite isolated from the other foreign schools and the Greeks. As director, I tried to change that, inviting Greeks to come and use the library. I see with pleasure and pride that the school is more integrated today.

Today you are launching Plato at Olympia, a children's book. What's it about?

It's about the young Plato, who decides he wants to become an Olympic victor. It follows his development towards that goal and his experience. The basic purpose of the book is to provide an easy way for readers (and not just young readers) to understand Olympia and the Olympic Games, but to do that through the eyes of Plato (at least the Plato I recreated). So, the book's basic purpose is pedagogic. I provide the written sources for all that happens in the book and also pictorial sources. The watercolour drawings that illustrate the book are based, with some exceptions, upon ancient artefacts, vase paintings, statues and reliefs.

You divided your time between Greece and the US for 4 decades. Is it still exciting?

I have a very good life. Travelling is tiring, but I've never been bored.

* Plato at Olympia is available at Eleftheroudakis bookstore in both English and Greek versions

From the land of the Golden Fleece : Treasures of Ancient Colchis

2009-01-21T12:06:00.001+02:00

From the Benaki Museum website

This travelling exhibition is being presented to the Greek public for the first time, and introduces, in an impressive manner, the civilisation that developed on the Eastern shores of the Black Sea from the 5th to the 2nd century B.C. The 140 works in the exhibition - which include 100 pieces of jewellery - were found in excavations that took place at Vani, the religious centre of Ancient Colchis (in the west of present day Republic of Georgia).

The purpose of the exhibition is both to highlight the strong cultural ties that linked Ancient Greece with Colchis, and to acquaint the Greek public with the brilliant world of the East.

The objects in the exhibition belong to the National Museum of Georgia, in Tbilisi.

The exhibition has already been shown in major museums in Europe and the United States, including the Staatlichen Museen zu Berlin; the Musée des Arts Asiatiques, Nice; the Smithsonian Institution, Washington D.C.; the New York University Institute for the Study of the Ancient World; the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; and is currently hosted by the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, until January 4th, 2009.

University of Pennsylvania Museum Researchers Petition

2009-01-21T11:22:00.003+02:00

There is an online petition concerning the recent firing of the University of Pennsylvania Museum's 18 Research Specialists in Archaeology.

Please DO sign and support the cause and feel free to distribute as widely as possible in the archaeological community.

Virtual tour of Dion

2008-12-17T12:56:00.002+02:00

A must-see website offering an online tour of Dion, the religious centre of Macedonia since the 5th century BC.

Virtual tour of Dion

Early Bronze Age hoard of metal tools found in Northern Greece

2008-12-16T12:34:00.002+02:00

Source: Markoulakis Publications

In November 2008, a team of the Ephorate of Underwater and Coastal Antiquities, consisted by the archaeologist George Koutsoyflaki and the divers Athanasios Kouvela and Elias Kouvela, conducted preliminary research in an underwater marine area of Glyfada – Meses, N. Rodopi, for the documentation and allocation of an archaeological area as indicated to the Hellenic Archaeological Service by the resident Athanasios Lykos from Kosmos, Komotini.

The submerged area of interest, had been identified during the resident’s free diving who uncovered and collected two samples of small copper tools which has been delivered to the Museum of Komotini.

In the indicated position, at a depth of 3.5 meters and at a distance of 450 meters from the shore, has been discovered a high concentration of copper tools exposed to the underwater conditions. The bulk of the collection consisted of aggregated slag and tools of oxide copper at an area of not more than ten square meters. Additionally, at a short distance from the main material concentration, the team also collected bronze tools which have been moved away from it due to intervention of secondary effects.

The first typological analysis of the tools showed that all of these tools dated back at the mid-third millennium BCE. The artifacts have been counted of a total 110 bronze tools and there is an unknown number still trapped within the underwater aggregation. This is the greatest treasure of tools of Early Bronze Age that has so far discovered in Greece and neighboring Balkan countries and it is expected that a thorough study will light the history of metallurgy of that period.

Although research in area has not been completed, initial estimates show that the treasure was not related to a wreck, or a village that has been submerged. The small dispersion of tools in place, the way their packaged, the presence of a basket bases and of pots as well as the Stratigraphic measurement that has been made during the survey, showed that the findings probably have been hidden as a treasure gear in a position which during the Early Age Bronze was a rocky coastal area of land.

Also the official press release (in Greek) from the Hellenic Ministry of Culture.

1,800-Year-Old Chariot Unearthed

2008-11-22T19:39:00.002+02:00

Source: AP via AOL News

SOFIA, Bulgaria (Nov. 21) - Archaeologists have unearthed an elaborately decorated 1,800-year-old chariot sheathed in bronze at an ancient Thracian tomb in southeastern Bulgaria, the head of the excavation said Friday.

"The lavishly ornamented four-wheel chariot dates back to the end of the second century A.D.," Veselin Ignatov told The Associated Press in a telephone interview from the site, near the southeastern village of Karanovo.

Read the rest of the story here.

More cool excavation websites

2008-11-08T19:49:00.002+02:00

Ancient Messene

Magoula Zerelia

Petrota: Surveying Palaeolithic & Neolithic Stone Sources in Greece

New Egyptology Journal

2008-11-07T11:07:00.002+02:00

Egypte Nilotique et Méditérranéenne

From the journal's website.

ENiM is the first French electronic Journal of Egyptology. ENiM publish works from the research team « Égypte nilotique et méditerranéenne », UMR 5140 « Archéologie des Sociétés méditerannéennes » of Cnrs, but the Journal also accepts papers submission from any membership of the International Community of Egyptology.

ENiM aims to publish works dealing with all aspects of Ancient Egypt, from the prehistoric times to the Coptic period.

ENiM is a totally free Journal; the available papers are easily downloaded online as pdf file format.

ENiM is an annual Journal, which collects all the papers published along the year; the final volume is edited at the end of the civil year.

Νεολιθικό σπίτι «αποδεικνύει» επεξεργασία σιτηρών πριν από 6.000 χρόνια

2008-10-24T11:53:00.001+03:00

Source: TA NEA

By Παρασκευή Κατημερτζή

Ένα αγροτικό σπίτι, ηλικίας 6.000 ετών, με όλο τον οικιακό εξοπλισμό του σε άριστη κατάσταση στη θέση όπου τον άφησαν οι ένοικοι λίγο προτού καταστραφεί από τη φωτιά, ήρθε στο φως στη Σωσάνδρα της Αριδαίας, κοντά στην Πέλλα της Δυτικής Μακεδονίας, προσφέροντας πολύτιμες και μοναδικές πληροφορίες για την αρχιτεκτονική και την οργάνωση ενός σπιτιού στο τέλος της νεολιθικής εποχής.

Αφορμή για την ανακάλυψη των οικοδομικών λειψάνων ήταν ένα έργο υποδομής, η διάνοιξη της αύλακας του κεντρικού αγωγού μεταφοράς νερού από τη Σωσάνδρα στην Αριδαία. Η ανασκαφή άρχισε τον Μάρτιο και σύντομα αποκαλύφθηκε ένα σχεδόν πλήρες πλέγμα από πασσαλότρυπες που έδωσαν τη μορφή, τη διαρρύθμιση και την οργάνωση της οικοδομής. Είναι ένα ορθογώνιο, πασσαλόπηκτο κτίριο, επιφάνειας 58 τ.μ., με σκελετό από πασσάλους και τοίχους από πλέγμα κλαδιών και καλαμιών που είχαν επαλειφθεί με πηλό. Έχει τριμερή διάρθρωση, με δύο φούρνους ανάμεσα στους οποίους υπάρχει χώρος συγκέντρωσης και επεξεργασίας αγροτικών προϊόντων, είσοδο προς τον Νότο και δάπεδα καλυμμένα με ψαθιά. Οι μυλόπετρες, οι τριπτήρες και οι αποθηκευτικοί λάκκοι που βρέθηκαν μαζί με το πλήθος των πήλινων αγγείων και λίθινων εργαλείων υποδηλώνουν εμμέσως την καλλιέργεια και επεξεργασία των σιτηρών στο τέλος της νεολιθικής εποχής. Το σπάνιο είναι ότι τα ευρήματα έμειναν ανέπαφα μέχρι σήμερα όπως τα άφησαν οι μακρινοί τους ένοικοι.

Μυκηναίος με ξίφος made in Italy

2008-10-02T13:25:00.000+03:00

Source: enet.gr

Της Ν. ΚΟΝΤΡΑΡΟΥ-ΡΑΣΣΙΑ

Με ξίφος εισηγμένο από την Ιταλία πολεμούσε ο Μυκηναίος πολεμιστής της Αμφιλοχίας. Στη διαπίστωση αυτή κατέληξαν χημικοί έπειτα από αναλύσεις δειγμάτων του χάλκινου ξίφους (μήκους 0,94 μ.) που βρέθηκε πέρσι με έναν χρυσό κύληκα και όλη την αρματωσιά του νεκρού σε κιβωτιόσχημο τάφο στη θέση Κουβαρά Φυτειών (ανάμεσα στη λίμνη Αμβρακία και την Αμφιλοχία).

Η ανασκαφή έγινε με αφορμή τα έργα για την ευρεία παράκαμψη Αγρινίου, που αποτελεί τμήμα της Ιονίας οδού. Οι αναλύσεις έγιναν σε εξειδικευμένο κέντρο της Αυστρίας, που δημιουργεί ηλεκτρονική βάση δεδομένων για τα μυκηναϊκά ευρήματα. Τα πορίσματα της έρευνας παρουσίασε η προϊσταμένη της ΛΣΤ' Εφορείας Αιτωλοακαρνανίας, Μαρία Γάτση-Σταυροπούλου, στο συνέδριο που οργανώθηκε από τη Νομαρχία Αιτωλοακαρνανίας την περασμένη Παρασκευή στο Μεσολόγγι με θέμα «Η πολιτιστική κληρονομιά της Αιτωλοακαρνανίας. Προστασία και ανάδειξη μέσα από τις τελευταίες έρευνες».

Η προέλευση του ξίφους επιβεβαιώνει την επικοινωνία και τις εμπορικές ανταλλαγές που είχαν οι Μυκηναίοι με άλλες χώρες της Μεσογείου. «Τα μέχρι στιγμής στοιχεία χρονολογούν τα ευρήματα αυτού του τάφου στο τέλος του 12ου αι. π.Χ.» μας είπε η αρχαιολόγος, προσθέτοντας όμως ότι το υλικό ακόμη μελετάται και δεν αποκλείεται να διαφοροποιηθεί η χρονολόγηση.

Παράλληλα, συντηρούνται τα υπόλοιπα κτερίσματα, όπως ένα μικρότερο χάλκινο ξίφος (μήκους 0,42 μ.) με οστέινη λαβή και ένα μαχαίρι που όμως δεν σώζεται σε καλή κατάσταση. Στον ίδιο τάφο βρέθηκαν μία αιχμή βέλους και μία αιχμή δόρατος, ένας τριποδικός λέβητας που σπανίζει σε μυκηναϊκούς τάφους, αλλά σημαντικότερο θεωρείται ένα ζεύγος χάλκινων περικνημίδων που συναντάται πολύ σπάνια σε ταφές αυτής της εποχής και ιδιαίτερα στη δυτική Ελλάδα.

«Ολος ο τάφος αποτέλεσε για μας μεγάλη έκπληξη», τονίζει η έφορος. Σύντομα θα μπουν στον μικροσκόπιο της έρευνας και τα οστά του νεκρού, σε μεγάλο βαθμό αποσαθρωμένα. Δείγμα τους θα δοθεί για μελέτη στην αρχαιολόγο-ανθρωπολόγο Ιωάννα Μουτάφη. Θα περιληφθούν στο μελλοντικό σχεδιασμό παρουσίασης όλων των ευρημάτων του νομού.

Τα ευρήματα των τελευταίων χρόνων, σύμφωνα με τον νομάρχη Αιτωλοακαρνανίας Θύμιο Σώκο, που έχει αγκαλιάσει την προσπάθεια της νεοσύστατης ΛΣΤ' ΕΠΚΑ, «μας υποχρεώνουν να ξαναγράψουμε την ιστορία της Αιτωλοακαρνανίας». Και πράγματι αλλάζουν τα δεδομένα αλλά και η εικόνα των ορατών μνημείων, όπως φάνηκε στο συνέδριο.

Ο επ. έφορος Αρχαιοτήτων Λάζαρος Κολώνας ανέφερε ότι στο τέλος του έτους ολοκληρώνεται το πρόγραμμα ανάδειξης τριών μεγάλων αρχαιολογικών χώρων: των Οινιάδων, της αρχαίας πόλης της Παλαίρου και του Πλευρώνα. Πλούσια επίσης είναι τα ευρήματα από την ανασκαφική έρευνα των τελευταίων χρόνων: σε ιερό στη θέση Ελληνικό Βελβίνας, στο Σπήλαιο Παλιάμπελα της Βόνιτσας, στο Ακτιο Βόνιτσας και στα Παλιομάνινα. Τέλος, έρχεται στο φως και η βυζαντινή Ναύπακτος.

SAVE THE ATHENS NEWS!

2008-09-30T10:08:00.002+03:00

For those of you who are familiar with this newspaper...Please, do support their cause.

Dear Friends and Colleagues,

After nearly 57 years in circulation, the Athens News is under threat of closure. On September 25 it was announced to us by the Lambrakis Press, which has managed this newspaper since it entered the Lambrakis Foundation in 1993, that it will wind up the operation, possibly as early as Friday 3 October.

We are currently engaged in an effort to extend that deadline in order to find new investors to take over the title, archive and books. But it is impossible for any serious investor to carry out due diligence and responsibly and formally register their interest to our current owners within a week. We need an extension of at least a month, in which to make contact with the various potential investors currently reviewing our balance sheet and business plan.

We feel that a move to pull out the rug from under an independent newspaper which has served the thinking public since 1952 should not stand. We are therefore appealing to you, the community we exist to serve, to write an open letter to our publisher, Christos Lambrakis, under copy to us, appealing for an extension and presenting the case, as you see it, for our continued existence under a new owner.

Please send your letters to this email address for publication and forwarding.

Thank you.

John Psaropoulos

Editor

LINKS

http://saveathensnews.wordpress.com/

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http://www.petitiononline.com/mod_perl/signed.cgi?AN001&1 (online petition)

Greece unearths treasures at Alexander's birthplace

2008-09-12T09:47:00.000+03:00

Source: Reuters

ATHENS (Reuters) - Archaeologists have unearthed gold jewellery, weapons and pottery at an ancient burial site near Pella in northern Greece, the birthplace of Alexander the Great, the culture ministry said on Thursday.

The excavations at the vast cemetery uncovered 43 graves dating from 650-279 BC which shed light on the early development of the Macedonian kingdom, which had an empire that stretched as far as India under Alexander's conquests.

Among the most interesting discoveries were the graves of 20 warriors dating to the late Archaic period, between 580 and 460 BC, the ministry said in a statement.

Some were buried in bronze helmets alongside iron swords and knives. Their eyes, mouths and chests were covered in gold foil richly decorated with drawings of lions and other animals symbolizing royal power.

"The discovery is rich in historical importance, shedding light on Macedonian culture during the Archaic period," Pavlos Chrysostomou, who headed the eight-year project that investigated a total of 900 graves, told Reuters.

Pavlas said the graves confirmed evidence of an ancient Macedonian society organized along militaristic lines and with overseas trade as early as the second half of the seventh century BC.

Among the excavated graves, the team also found 11 women from the Archaic period, with gold and bronze necklaces, earrings and broaches.

Nine of the graves dated to the late classical or early Hellenistic period, around the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC.

Alexander, whose father Philip II unified the city states of mainland Greece, conquered most of the world known to the ancient Greeks before dying at the age of 32 in Babylon. Educated by the ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle, Alexander was never defeated in battle.

(Reporting by Daniel Flynn and Renee Maltezou; editing by Elizabeth Piper)

Επιστρέφουν στην Ελλάδα 22 αρχαία αντικείμενα που εξήχθησαν παράνομα στην Ουγγαρία

2008-09-12T09:39:00.000+03:00

Source: in.gr

Συνολικά 22 αρχαία ελληνικά αντικείμενα που εξήχθησαν παράνομα από τη χώρα μας και που μέχρι σήμερα φιλοξενούνταν στο Μουσείο Καλών Τεχνών της Βουδαπέστης βρίσκουν το δρόμο της επιστροφής στην Ελλάδα, με την ουγγρική κυβέρνηση να αναλαμβάνει όλες τις απαραίτητες διαπραγματεύσεις.

Η υπουργός Εξωτερικών, Ντόρα Μπακογιάννη σε συνάντηση που είχε με την Ουγγαρέζα ομόλογό της, Κίνγκα Γκεντζ, μίλησε για την επιστροφή των 22 αρχαίων ελληνικών αντικειμένων από το Μουσείο της Βουδαπέστης, τονίζοντας πως αναπτύσσονται διμερείς σχέσεις μεταξύ των χωρών σε τουριστικό, εμπορικό και πολιτιστικό τομέα.

Τα κομμάτια αυτά, όπως εξήγησε η κ. Γκέντζ, αγοράστηκαν από το Μουσείο πριν μερικά χρόνια, αλλά στην πορεία αποκαλύφθηκε ότι αποτελούν προϊόν παράνομης διακίνησης και σύμφωνα με τη συνθήκη της Ουνέσκο «οφείλουμε», όπως είπε, «να τα επιστρέψουμε στην Ελλάδα».

Ο υπουργός Πολιτισμού, Μιχάλης Λιάπης, κατά τη διάρκεια των εγκαινίων της έκθεσης φωτογραφίας «Έλληνες στην Ουγγαρία» στην Τεχνόπολη στο Γκάζι, αναφέρθηκε στη συνεργασία Ελλήνων και Ούγγρων, η οποία, όπως δήλωσε, επεκτείνεται περαιτέρω «αφού η κυβέρνηση της Ουγγαρίας προσέρχεται ως συμπαραστάτης μας στον αγώνα για την πάταξη της αρχαιοκαπηλίας και την επιστροφή των αρχαιοτήτων εξετάζοντας το ενδεχόμενο να μας επιστρέψει 22 αρχαία αντικείμενα που σήμερα εκτίθενται στο Μουσείο Καλών Τεχνών της Βουδαπέστης και που εξήχθησαν παράνομα από τη χώρα μας».

Χείρα βοηθείας από το Πρίνστον στο αίνιγμα των τοιχογραφιών της Θήρας

2008-09-05T13:18:00.000+03:00

Source: TA NEA

Τις εικόνες που σχηματίζουν χιλιάδες θρυμματισμένα κομμάτια τοιχογραφιών από το Ακρωτήρι της Θήρας αναζητούν εδώ και δεκαετίες οι αρχαιολόγοι με μοναδικά τους όπλα την παρατηρητικότητα και την υπομονή. Ένας νέος σύμμαχος έρχεται να προστεθεί στο επίπονο έργο τους, που αποτελείται από σκάνερ και ηλεκτρονικούς υπολογιστές- πρόγραμμα που αναπτύσσεται από το Πανεπιστήμιο του Πρίνστον σε συνεργασία με τους Έλληνες αρχαιολόγους, Χρίστο Ντούμα και Ανδρέα Βλαχόπουλο.

«Η νέα τεχνολογία παρέχει τη δυνατότητα να αλλάξει ο τρόπος της αρχαιολογικής έρευνας», λέει στο «Science Daily» ο καθηγητής Πληροφορικής στο Πρίνστον, Ντέιβιντ Ντόμπκιν. «Η νέα προσέγγιση πραγματικά κάνει τον υπολογιστή ερευνητικό συνεργάτη των αρχαιολόγων», προσθέτει ο καθηγητής που δουλεύει στο πρόγραμμα εδώ και δύο χρόνια και πρόσφατα παρουσιάστηκε, πρώτη φορά, σε συνέδριο.

Η αρχή έγινε πειραματικά από την τοιχογραφία με τις «Πολύχρωμες Σπείρες», ειδικότερα με τα μονόχρωμα τμήματα της τοιχογραφίας που είναι δυσκολότερο να τοποθετηθούν στην αρχική θέση τους.

Τα πρώτα αποτελέσματα κρίνονται ενθαρρυντικά, ενώ κατά τη διάρκεια του Σεπτεμβρίου το σύστημα πρόκειται να εγκατασταθεί μονίμως στο Ακρωτήρι.

Αρχικά τα θραύσματα τοποθετούνται σε έναν σαρωτή και σαρώνονται από διάφορες γωνίες. Στη συνέχεια οι επιφάνειές τους σαρώνονται με λέιζερ, ενώ βρίσκονται πάνω σε μια περιστρεφόμενη πλατφόρμα. Το λογισμικό του συστήματος αναλαμβάνει να συνδυάσει τα δεδομένα του σαρωτή και του λέιζερ και να δημιουργήσει ένα τρισδιάστατο μοντέλο του θραύσματος.

Το νέο σύστημα είναι φθηνότερο, πιο εύχρηστο και σχεδιασμένο εξαρχής να χρησιμοποιείται από τους ίδιους τους αρχαιολόγους και τους συντηρητές. Χρησιμοποιεί έναν συνδυασμό ισχυρών αλγόριθμων και μιας μεθόδου επεξεργασίας ανάλογης με την παραδοσιακή των αρχαιολόγων.

«Όταν το έργο ολοκληρωθεί, ο χρόνος ανακατασκευής ενός τοίχου θα μειωθεί από χρόνια σε μήνες. Θα απελευθερώσει τους αρχαιολόγους για άλλες πολύτιμες εργασίες», επισημαίνει ο καθηγητής Πληροφορικής στο Πρίνστον, Σίμον Ρουσίνκιεβιτς. «Δεν βρήκαμε τη λύση, αλλά ένα εργαλείο για να βρούμε τη λύση», προσθέτουν οι Έλληνες αρχαιολόγοι.

Reclaimed antiquities exhibited

2008-09-04T16:22:00.001+03:00

Source: iol

Athens - Two ancient artifacts illegally removed from Greece decades ago went on display in Athens on Wednesday after a US-based collector was persuaded to repatriate them, the Greek culture ministry said.

The upper part of a marble funerary stele and a bronze krater, or large cup, dated to the 5th and 4th century BCE, were returned by collector Shelby White in August under a deal in which Greece pledged not to legally pursue the matter, it said.

"The culture ministry recognises that the antiquities were acquired by Ms White in good faith, and for this reason...no demands will be raised against (her)," a ministry statement said.

But Greece reserves its legal rights over other potential claims regarding items in White's collection, it added.

White and her late husband, New York financier and philanthropist Leon Levy, accumulated one of the finest US collections of Roman and Greek antiquities.

The funerary stele depicting a youth and a warrior was found in the early 1960s in Porto Rafti, a coastal resort east of Athens.

Three decades later, a Greek archaeologist identified its missing upper fragment in the White-Levy collection from a New York Metropolitan Museum exhibit catalogue. The Greek state filed a claim for the item last year.

The two fragments will now be reunited at the local Museum of Vravrona for the first time in decades, the ministry said.

The bronze krater, a vessel in which the ancient Greeks mixed wine and water, was likely looted from a royal tomb in the northern region of Pieria, Greek archaeologists believe.

Both items will be temporarily displayed at the National Archaeological Museum in Athens.

A country rich in antiquities targeted by looters for nearly 200 years, Greece has lately stepped up efforts to reclaim items illegally exported abroad, many of which are in private collections or major museums.

"The pillage of antiquities has been particularly traumatic for small countries with rich history such as ours," Greek Culture Minister Michalis Liapis said on Wednesday.

"Hence their repatriation is of great importance to the Greek people."

Symbolic past of early Aegeans revealed at Dhaskalio Kavos site

2008-09-04T10:43:00.001+03:00

Source: Times Online

Normand Hammond, Archaeology Correspondent

A rocky islet and a nearby hillside have yielded evidence of one of Greece’s oldest and most enigmatic ritual sites. Imported stones and fragmented marble statuettes show that Dhaskalio and Kavos were “a symbolic central place for the Early Bronze Age” in the Aegean, according to Professor Colin Renfrew.

Kavos is a stony, scrub-covered slope on the Cycladic island of Keros. Forty-five years ago Professor Renfrew, then a PhD student at Cambridge, found extensive looting there, with fragments of marble bowls and the famous Cycladic folded-arm figurines scattered across the surface.

The date of the Dhaskalio Kavos site, based on pottery fragments and since confirmed by radiocarbon, lies in the middle of the third millennium BC, probably around 2800-2300BC — roughly the same age as the Pyramids. Later developments in the Aegean, centred on Crete and the Greek mainland, include the Minoan and Mycenaean civilisations represented by sites such as Knossos and perhaps reflected in the world of Homer’s Iliad.

Investigations by Professor Christos Doumas, of the Greek archaeological service, followed by a new project headed by Professor Renfrew and Dr Olga Philaniotou, have shown that the mainland site of Kavos was used for ritual deposition of hundreds of broken marble figurines, none complete and with hardly any joining fragments (The Times, August 21, 2006), as well as fragmentary marble bowls.

Although the island of Keros has long been noted for two complete marble figures in the National Museum in Athens, the raw materials for the marble artefacts at Kavos seem to have originated elsewhere in the Cyclades. The pottery includes fragments of vessels probably made on the islands of Syros and Amorgos, and some may have come from the Greek mainland, from the Argolid and Corinthia in the northeastern Peloponnese.

The artefacts were discovered in two “special deposits” about 150 metres apart on the hillside: the northern had been looted before 1963, but the southern remained undetected until the recent excavations. These were completed this summer. Although everything found in the two special deposits at Kavos was broken, and excavations show that breakages occurred elsewhere — so that what was brought in was already fragmentary — the “missing” pieces have not been encountered on sites elsewhere in the Cyclades.

The Kavos fragments “must have been deposited in the course of ceremonies which were clearly of pan-Cycladic significance. Dhaskalio Kavos can now be regarded as a symbolic central place, the first such regional centre to have been discovered from the Aegean Early Bronze Age,” Professor Renfrew reports. On the Dhaskalio islet, “it is striking that no marble figurines of the standard folded-arm form were found, despite their frequency in the special deposit.”

Buildings uncovered this summer were well constructed, using not local stone but schist and marble imported from the large island of Naxos. On Dhaskalio the remains of a structure about 16 metres (52 ft) long were found, which had been abandoned around 2000BC and which Professor Renfrew notes is “the largest building yet known from the Cycladic Early Bronze Age”. A hoard of three bronze or copper axes found within it has more than a kilogram of valuable metal, but a lack of clay sealings from merchandise suggest that it was not a trading centre.

Another summit building was small and circular, and contained almost 350 beach pebbles. “The context suggests ritual deposition, presumably in the context of religious observance,” said Professor Renfrew. “Clearly there were ritual practices special to the settlement on Dhaskalio.”

Το Μετρό βρίσκει αρχαία, αλλά τα αφήνουν άστεγα

2008-09-04T10:38:00.001+03:00

Source: TA NEA

Κόντρα ανάμεσα στο υπουργείο Πολιτισμού και το Μετρό Θεσσαλονίκης έχει ξεσπάσει με αφορμή τους αρχαιολογικούς θησαυρούς που έρχονται στο φως. Κι αυτό διότι η μεν αρμόδια Εφορεία Αρχαιοτήτων μπορεί να έχει κλειδώσει σε θησαυροφυλάκιο τα χρυσά στεφάνια που βρέθηκαν στον σταθμό Σιντριβάνι, δεν διαθέτει χώρο φύλαξης όμως για τους τέσσερις ογκώδεις τάφους που θα αποσπαστούν ολόκληροι, αλλά ούτε και για τα χιλιάδες ευρήματα που ήρθαν στο φως μαζί με τους 1.414 ανεσκαμμένους μέχρι σήμερα τάφους λόγω έργων. Και το δε Μετρό δεν πληρώνει για να εξασφαλίσει τη φύλαξη των αρχαίων έως ότου ολοκληρωθούν τα έργα και οι αρχαιότητες τοποθετηθούν στους σταθμούς ως εκθέματα κατά το πρότυπο της Αθήνας.

Το κόστος για την ανακατασκευή κτιρίου για τη φύλαξη των αρχαιοτήτων στο Στρατόπεδο Κόδρα κρίθηκε υπερβολικό από το Μετρό Θεσσαλονίκης και αντιπροτείνει την τοποθέτηση λυόμενων σε οικόπεδο χαμηλού κόστους, 40 χλμ. έξω από την πόλη, απόσταση που δυσκολεύει τον έλεγχο των αποθηκών από την ΙΣΤ΄ Εφορεία Αρχαιοτήτων. Η κόντρα έχει οξυνθεί τόσο που η αρμόδια έφορος επεσήμανε ενώπιον του Κεντρικού Αρχαιολογικού Συμβουλίου πως δέχεται απειλές για μετάθεση (!) αν συνεχίσει να επιμένει.

Ωστόσο, ακόμη κι αν το Μετρό βρει λύση (όπως οφείλει), οι αρχαιότητες αυξάνονται και πληθύνονται, ενώ σύντομα θα αρχίσουν και οι ανασκαφές στο κέντρο της πόλης.

Το αντισεισμικό μυστικό του Παρθενώνα θα αναζητήσουν (και) Ιάπωνες ειδικοί

2008-08-25T20:40:00.000+03:00

Source: in.gr

Μία ακόμα ομάδα επιστημόνων προτίθεται να αναζητήσει το μυστικό που θέλει τον Παρθενώνα να στέκει στο ύψος του, παρά τα πολλαπλά Ρίχτερ που τον ταρακουνούν εδώ και αιώνες.

Πρόκειται για ερευνητική ομάδα από το πανεπιστήμιο Μίε της Ιαπωνίας σε συνεργασία με το ΕΜΠ και το υπουργείο Πολιτισμού.

Όπως αναφέρεται στο σύνολο του Τύπου της Παρασκευής, επικεφαλής της ομάδας είναι ο Τοσικάζου Χαναζάτο, κορυφαίος εκπρόσωπος της ιαπωνικής σεισμολογικής σχολής.

Ο ίδιος έχει διάφορες σκέψεις στο μυαλό του: «Στο επίκεντρο των ερευνών μας βρίσκεται η εύκαμπτη δομή των κιόνων. Εδώ και πολλά χρόνια έχει διατυπωθεί η άποψη ότι οι κολόνες είναι το κλειδί της αντοχής του Παρθενώνα στις σεισμικές δονήσεις» είπε στην ιταλική Repubblica, για να συνεχίσει:

«Το καμάρι του Χρυσού Αιώνα του Περικλή είναι η τελευταία μας ελπίδα. Αν θέλουμε να νικήσουμε τον Εγκέλαδο, πρέπει να το κάνουμε με τη βοήθεια των αρχαίων Ελλήνων».

TROY WAS MUCH BIGGER THAN PREVIOUSLY BELIEVED

2008-08-25T20:36:00.002+03:00

Source: ANSAmed

BERLIN, AUGUST 21 - Troy was much bigger than what was believed until now, Ernst Pernicka, professor of Archeometry at the University of Tuebingen and in charge of the excavations under way in Turkey, affirms. While the scholars believed for long time that the legendary city spans on a surface of at most 27 hectares, in fact Troy was located on a surface of 35 hectares, Pernicka told the German media. The continuation of a defensive trench from the Bronze Age was recently discovered by the archaeologists and it allowed evaluating unequivocally the real expansion of Troy.

We're back!

2008-08-25T20:27:00.002+03:00

After a long summer hiatus we're back.

Stay tuned for more archaeology and ancient history news!

Phaistos Disc declared as fake by scholar

2008-07-12T21:05:00.001+03:00

Source:Times Online

Dalya Alberge, Arts Correspondent

Some say that its 45 mysterious symbols are the words of a 4,000-year-old poem, or perhaps a sacred text. Others contest that they are a magical inscription, a piece of ancient music or the world's oldest example of punctuation.

But now an American scholar believes that the markings on the Phaistos Disc, one of archaeology's most famous unsolved mysteries, mean nothing at all — because the disc is a hoax.

Jerome Eisenberg, a specialist in faked ancient art, is claiming that the disc and its indecipherable text is not a relic dating from 1,700BC, but a forgery that has duped scholars since Luigi Pernier, an Italian archaeologist, “discovered” it in 1908 in the Minoan palace of Phaistos on Crete.

Pernier was desperate to impress his colleagues with a find of his own, according to Dr Eisenberg, and needed to unearth something that could outdo the discoveries made by Sir Arthur Evans, the renowned English archaeologist, and Federico Halbherr, a fellow Italian.

He believes that Pernier's solution was to create a “relic” with an untranslatable pictographic text. If it was a ruse, it worked. Evans was so excited that he published an analysis of Pernier's findings. For the past century innumerable attempts have been made to decipher the disc. Archaeologists have tried linking them to ancient civilisations, from Greek to Egyptian.

Dr Eisenberg, who has conducted appraisals for the US Treasury Department and the J. Paul Getty Museum, highlighted the forger's error in creating a terracotta “pancake” with a cleanly cut edge. Nor, he added, should it have been fired so perfectly. “Minoan clay tablets were not fired purposefully, only accidentally,” he said. “Pernier may not have realised this.”

Each side of the disc bears a bar composed of four or five dots which one scholar described as “the oldest example of the use of natural punctuation”.

Dr Eisenberg believes that it was added to lead scholars astray — “another oddity to puzzle them, and a common trick among forgers”. The Greek authorities have refused to give Dr Eisenberg permission to examine the disc outside its display case, arguing that it is too delicate to be moved.

His misgivings could be laid to rest by a thermoluminescence test — a standard scientific dating test — but the authorities had refused, he said. In Rome, this test cast doubt recently on the provenance of another iconic archeological object.

Experts are now contending that the Capitoline Wolf, the famous bronze sculpture of a she-wolf suckling Romulus and Remus, founders of the city of Rome, dates from the Middle Ages, and not Etruscan times, as long has been held.

The Capitoline Museum's website says that the statue, known as Lupa, or she-wolf, is from the 5th century BC and was donated to the museum in 1471 by Pope Sixtus IV.

However, in a front-page article this week in the Rome daily a Repubblica, Adriano La Regina, who for decades headed the national archaeological office for Rome, suggested that the museum was reluctant to release test results indicating that the bronze was medieval.

“The new information about the epoch of the Capitoline bronze has been held back for about a year now,” La Regina wrote. He added that the tests had produced a “very precise indication in the 13th century”.

The 30in (75cm) bronze is the centrepiece of a museum room named after it, and postcards and T-shirts with its image are popular Rome souvenirs.

Claudio Parisi Presicce, the museum's director, insisted that his institution was not trying to hide data that could subtract centuries from the she-wolf's antiquity, saying that the data “aren't definitive yet”.

Oldest wheat found in Çatalhöyük

2008-06-21T17:07:00.000+03:00

Source: Today's Zaman

A series of DNA analyses conducted on ancient wheat samples have led scientists to conclude that the oldest known wheat was grown in Çatalhöyük, a Neolithic settlement in southern Anatolia.

Professor Mahinur Akkaya from the Middle East Technical University's (ODTÜ) department of chemistry says the world's oldest wheat found so far comes from Çatalhöyük, this according to a series of DNA analyses made on 8,500-year-old wheat samples. "Our discovery is of great importance as it gives us significant insight into the birth of the first civilization in Anatolia. With our analyses, we have shown that the oldest known wheat was grown in Çatalhöyük," she said in an interview with the Anatolia news agency.

Akkaya and a group of professors from her university worked on the analyses. "While analyzing several wheat samples, we learned that Professor Gordon Hillman, an honorary professor of archaeobotany at the Institute of Archaeology, University College London, had the world's oldest known wheat samples. We contacted him and he gave us a few kernels to analyze in comparison," she said. The analyses showed these samples to be 8,500 years old.

Akkaya, stressing that utmost care was taken with these kernels, noted that they, as Turkish scientists, were happy to have undertaken such an important discovery about Anatolia. "A previous analysis carried out on 6,000-year-old wheat samples had shown that wheat was grown in southeastern Diyarbakır's Karacadağ area. Our discovery has gone beyond this finding," she remarked.

"Generally, Turkish scientists go abroad to conduct such research and analyses or send samples to other countries to have them analyzed. But we carried out the analyses ourselves at our university. We will soon publish our findings in an international scientific journal," she added.

DNA reveals sister power in Ancient Greece

2008-06-03T01:01:00.000+03:00

Source: The University of Manchester

University of Manchester researchers have revealed how women, as well as men, held positions of power in ancient Greece by right of birth.

Women were thought to have had little power in ancient Greece, unless they married a powerful man and were able to influence him. But a team of researchers testing ancient DNA from a high status, male-dominated cemetery at Mycenae in Greece believe they have identified a brother and sister buried together in a richly endowed grave, suggesting that she had as much power as him.

The team, led by Professor Terry Brown and Ms Keri Brown at the Faculty of Life Sciences and Professor John Prag at the Manchester Museum, have been studying Grave Circle B at Mycenae for 10 years. Their paper Kinship between burials from Grave Circle B at Mycenae revealed by ancient DNA typing appears in the Journal of Archeological Science.

The Bronze Age citadel at Mycenae is one of the most evocative prehistoric sites in all of Europe. The legendary home of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra, Mycenae held a natural attraction for early antiquarians in the years before its first systematic study by Heinrich Schliemann in the 1870s. Schliemann s famous telegram, sent during his excavation of Grave Circle A in 1876, stating that he had gazed upon the face of Agamemnon , turned out to be erroneous for the burials that he had uncovered predated the Trojan War by some four centuries, but his excavations were nonetheless significant as they established Mycenae as one of the richest and, by implication, most powerful of the Aegean states during the 17th to 12th centuries BC.

Grave Circle B spans c. 1675-1550 BC and predates A with possibly fifty years overlap. Within Grave Circle B there is a development from simple cist burials to larger, deeper and richer Shaft Graves with weapons, pottery and gold ornaments including a face-mask made of electrum (a naturally-occurring gold-silver amalgam). Generally they were less well endowed than the remarkable gold-laden burials in Circle A, but the richness of both Grave Circles leaves little doubt that their occupants were elite members of early Mycenaean society.

The team, funded by the Leverhulme Trust, wanted to ascertain the relationships within this elite group, in particular whether the individuals were members of a single family or small number of families who had established themselves as the ruling dynasty in early Mycenae.

John Prag and Richard Neave of the University of Manchester had previously applied modern techniques of facial reconstruction to the seven best preserved skulls. These faces are on display in the Making Faces gallery in the Manchester Museum, and visitors can see how the results suggest that these seven individuals fall into three groups, the heart-shaped faces (which includes the brother and sister), the long faces and one beaky face . Dr Abigail Bouwman in Professor Brown s group then tested mitochondrial DNA from the bones and was able to confirm the relationships.

Professor Brown recalled: We were surprised to discover what appears to be a sister buried beside her brother in the high status, male-dominated grave circle. The implication is that she was buried in Grave Circle B not because of a marital connection but because she held a position of authority by right of birth.

DNA analysis has therefore enabled us to glimpse the factors contributing to the organisation of the higher echelons of society at the beginning of the Mycenaean age.

Keri Brown added: Homer s stories are thought to be memories : tales of the Bronze Age retold some 400 years later, as the early archaeologists who went in search of the places he described found them, not just Mycenae rich in gold but also wall-girt of Tiryns and other sites.

We certainly haven t unearthed the real Electra and Orestes. They were the brother and sister who in the Greek epic tradition avenged their father Agamemnon s death at the hands of their mother Clytemnestra, but if they were real people then they lived centuries after our pair. We will never know who our lady was but it is tempting to think that she might have been a little like the Electra of legend, who seems to have been such a powerful woman that the later stories tell how she was forced to marry a peasant to dilute her influence.

Professor Brown said: On a purely scientific note, our results also show that while it is difficult apply this type of analysis to archaeological remains ancient DNA is generally poorly preserved and the problems caused by contamination with modern DNA are more acute ancient DNA can greatly advance understanding of kinship when used to test hypotheses constructed from other evidence.

It is fascinating work and we have learned a lot. In future we hope to do similar research at other sites in Greece if we can find any at which ancient DNA is preserved.

Harrison Ford Elected to AIA Board

2008-05-17T19:02:00.001+03:00

Source: Archaeological Institute of America

"Indiana Jones" shows his commitment to real archaeology.

After years of being identified on screen as the legendary archaeologist "Indiana Jones," actor Harrison Ford has won election to the Board of Directors of the Archaeological Institute of America. With his Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull set to hit U.S. movie theaters on May 22, the film star commented on his real world dedication to archaeology, "Knowledge is power, and understanding the past can only help us in dealing with the present and the future."

The Archaeological Institute of America is North America's oldest and largest non-profit organization devoted to archaeology. With more nearly a quarter of a million members and subscribers and 105 local chapters, it promotes archaeological excavation, research, education, and preservation on a global basis. At the core of its mission is the belief that an understanding of the past enhances our shared sense of humanity and enriches our existence. As archaeological finds are a non-renewable resource, the AIA's work benefits not only the current generation, but also those yet to come in the future.

"Harrison Ford has played a significant role in stimulating the public's interest in archaeological exploration," said Brian Rose, President of the AIA. "We are all delighted that he has agreed to join the AIA's Governing Board."

In addition, the current May/June issue of ARCHAEOLOGY magazine, published by the AIA, features a cover story devoted to the mysteries surrounding the alleged crystal skull archaeological finds that inspired the new "Indiana Jones" film. For the complete article, go to www.archaeology.org.

Harrison Ford is already helping to raise public awareness of the AIA and its mission as the news of his election to the Board has spread. Many media outlets have covered the story.

Israel Museum puts Dead Sea scroll on rare display

2008-05-14T19:52:00.001+03:00

Source: AP via Yahoo! News

By MATTI FRIEDMAN, Associated Press Writer Tue May 13, 7:57 PM ET

JERUSALEM - One of the most important Dead Sea scrolls is going on display in Jerusalem this week — more than four decades after it was last seen by the public. The 24-foot scroll with the text of the Bible's Book of Isaiah had been in a dark, temperature-controlled room at the Israel Museum since 1967. It went on display two years earlier, but curators replaced it with a facsimile after noticing new cracks in the calfskin parchment.

The museum decided to put the scroll back on show for three months as part of Israel's 60th anniversary celebrations.

The priceless manuscript, written by a Judean scribe around 120 B.C., was in a long glass case Tuesday, its neat rows of Hebrew letters distinct and legible. President Bush, visiting Israel this week for the anniversary celebration, will be one of the first to view it.

The Isaiah manuscript was the only complete biblical book discovered among the Dead Sea scrolls, one of the great archaeological finds of the 20th century. The ancient documents, which include fragments of the books of the Old Testament and treatises on communal living and apocalyptic war, have shed important light on Judaism and the origins of Christianity.

The Book of Isaiah is traditionally attributed to a prophet who lived in the 8th century B.C.

In the book, he calls for repentance, warns of impending doom, and — in one of the most famous passages ever written — offers an idyllic vision of the future: "They shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning-hooks. Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more."

Curator Adolfo Roitman called the Isaiah manuscript the "gem of the Dead Sea scrolls." It is "one of the most important treasures of the Jewish nation, if not the most important," he added.

A far smaller fragment of another Dead Sea scroll will be on display at the Jerusalem convention center where Bush will be speaking along with other dignitaries.

The segment, also rarely shown, contains the text of Psalm 133, which reads: "Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity."

Divers Find Ancient Bust of Caesar

2008-05-14T19:46:00.001+03:00

Source: AP via AOL News

PARIS (May 13) - Divers trained in archaeology discovered a marble bust of an aging Caesar in the Rhone River that France's Culture Ministry said Tuesday could be the oldest known.

The life-size bust showing the Roman ruler with wrinkles and hollows in his face is tentatively dated to 46 B.C. Divers uncovered the Caesar bust and a collection of other finds in the Rhone near the town of Arles -- founded by Caesar.

Among other items in the treasure trove of ancient objects is a 5.9-foot marble statue of Neptune, dated to the first decade of the third century after Christ.

Two smaller statues, both in bronze and measuring 27.5 inches each also were found, one of them, a satyr with his hands tied behind his back, "doubtless" originated in Hellenic Greece, the ministry said.

"Some (of the discoveries) are unique in Europe," Culture Minister Christine Albanel said. "The bust of Caesar is in a class by itself.

"This marble bust of the founder of the Roman city of Arles constitutes the most ancient representation known today of Caesar," the ministry statement said, adding that it "undoubtedly" dates to the creation of Arles in 46 B.C.

Among other things, researchers are trying to uncover "in what context these statues were thrown into the river," said Michel L'Hour, who heads the Department of Subaquatic Archaeological Research, whose divers made the discovery between September and October 2007.

The site "has barely been skimmed," L'Hour told The Associated Press, adding that a new search operation will begin this summer.

He said the Arles region, in the Provence region of southern France, with its Roman beginnings, and the Rhone are "propitious" for discoveries.

Albanel called the find "exceptional" and said that the Caesar bust is "the oldest representation known today" of the emperor.

AGON- International Meeting of Archaeological Film of the Mediterranean Area

2008-04-30T14:50:00.004+03:00

AGON
7th International Meeting of Archaeological Film of the Mediterranean Area

Athens, 6-11 May 2008
APOLLON Cinemax Class

AGON, the International Meeting of Archaeological Film of the Mediterranean area, is being held every two years and it is organised by the non-profit association AGON, in collaboration with the Greek magazine Archaeology and Arts. During the festival, archaeological, ethnological and folkloric films are screened, films which reveal and record a lost world, mainly from the Mediterranean area. The viewers will have the chance to ascertain that today’s archaeology all over the world, is not just holding on the past, but it is tracing through time, the essential sparks of knowledge.

During these last 12 years, AGON has developed in an institution with national and international recognition. In a time when Europe is full of archaeological film festivals (Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Switzerland…), AGON is the only archaeological film festival in Greece, the country which is globally linked with the concept of Archaeology.

AGON, once more held in APOLLON cinema, where it all first started back in May 1996, is inviting you to an exciting journey of knowledge through 31 hours of film projection…

More cool excavation websites

2008-04-29T17:57:00.002+03:00

Excavations at Lefkandi

The Kalaureia Research Program

The Priniatikos Pyrgos Project

Και επισήμως στην Ελλάδα από την Ελβετία η μαρμάρινη λήκυθος του 4ου π.Χ. αιώνα

2008-04-24T22:31:00.002+03:00

Source: in.gr

Τη μαρμάρινη λήκυθο του 4ου αιώνα π.Χ. που επαναπατρίσθηκε από την Ελβετία στη χώρα μας παρουσίασε τη Μεγάλη Δευτέρα στους δημοσιογράφους ο υπουργός Πολιτισμού Μιχάλης Λιάπης, σε ειδική εκδήλωση στο Εθνικό Αρχαιολογικό Μουσείο.

Η διαδικασία επαναπατρισμού της αττικής μαρμάρινης ληκύθου ολοκληρώθηκε την περασμένη Πέμπτη και σε λίγες μέρες θα «φιλοξενηθεί» στα εργαστήρια συντήρησης του Εθνικού Αρχαιολογικού Μουσείου, όπου και θα παραμείνει για περίπου δύο μήνες.

Η λήκυθος με ανάγλυφη παράσταση δύο γυναικείων μορφών που εικονίζονται σε σκηνή δεξίωσης αποχαιρετισμού σε νεκρό, κλασική σκηνή αποχαιρετισμού. Είχε παρουσιασθεί το 2007 σε διεθνή έκθεση αρχαιοπωλών στο Μάαστριχτ, όπου δημοπρατείτο από Ελβετό αρχαιοπώλη.

Μετά από σειρά διαβουλεύσεων, ο Ελβετός αρχαιοπώλης αποφάσισε να παραδώσει τη λήκυθο στο ελληνικό Δημόσιο, εξωδίκως, ανεπιφύλακτα και άνευ όρων. Το έργο παραδόθηκε σε εκπρόσωπο της ελληνικής πρεσβείας στη Βέρνη και στη συνέχεια συσκευάστηκε στην ελεύθερη τελωνειακή ζώνη της Βασιλείας και μεταφέρθηκε στην Ελλάδα.

Όπως δήλωσε ο κ. Λιάπης, εξετάζεται η δυνατότητα να παρουσιασθούν σε έκθεση στο νέο Μουσείο της Ακρόπολης το προσεχές φθινόπωρο όλα τα επαναπατρισθέντα στην Ιταλία αντικείμενα και η έκθεση να συμπληρωθεί με τα αντίστοιχα ελληνικά.

Ο κ. Λιάπης ξεναγήθηκε από τον διευθυντή του Εθνικού Αρχαιολογικού Μουσείου Νίκο Καλτσά στην αιγυπτιακή συλλογή, περίπου 1.200 αντικειμένων, που θα εγκαινιασθεί επισήμως στις 14 Μαΐου.

Artifact with Hellenistic influence discovered at Sassanid city

2008-04-24T22:28:00.001+03:00

Source: Mehr News Agency

TEHRAN, April 21 (MNA) -- A team of archaeologists working at the ruins of a Sassanid city in southern Iran’s Fars Province has recently discovered an artifact bearing some traces of the Hellenistic artistic style.

The artifact bears images of two faces looking in the opposite direction engraved on a flat piece of ivory, the Persian service of CHN reported on Monday.

It is only the second time such an artifact has been found at an ancient site in Iran.

“The influence of Hellenistic art is clearly observed in the appearance of the eyes of the faces,” team director Alireza Jafari-Zand said.

The artifact is estimated to date back to a period between 200 BC and 200 CE when local states, which were concurrent with the Parthian Empire, appeared to rule the region after the Seleucids, he explained.

A similar artifact had been identified by a foreign archaeologist at an ancient site in the Izeh region of Khuzestan Province about 70 years ago.

According to Jafari-Zand, the foreign archaeologist never explained how he had acquired the artifact. However, he believes the local people had given it to him.

The Sassanid city, which was identified in May 2007, will be entirely submerged if the Fars Regional Water Company completes the process of filling the Salman-e Farsi Dam.

The 360-hectare city contains ruins of structures from the post-Achaemenid period and the Sassanid and early Islamic eras.

The company had begun filling the reservoir of the dam in mid-March 2007. However, the process was halted after the Cultural Heritage, Tourism, and Handicrafts Organization (CHTHO) lodged an official complaint.

Afterwards, the archaeological team was organized and dispatched to the region to conduct rescue excavations.

Egypt: Tomb of Cleopatra and lover to be uncovered

2008-04-24T22:23:00.000+03:00

Source: AKI - Adnkronos International

Cairo, 24 April (AKI) - Archaeologists have revealed plans to uncover the 2000 year-old tomb of ancient Egypt's most famous lovers, Cleopatra and the Roman general Mark Antony later this year.

Zahi Hawass, prominent archaeologist and director of Egypt's superior council for antiquities announced a proposal to test the theory that the couple were buried together.

He discussed the project in Cairo at a media conference about the ancient pharaohs.

Hawass said that the remains of the legendary Egyptian queen and her Roman lover, Mark Antony, were inside a temple called Tabusiris Magna, 30 kilometres from the port city of Alexandria in northern Egypt.

Until recently access to the tomb has been hindered because it is under water, but archaeologists plan to drain the site so they can begin excavation in November.

Among the clues to suggest that the temple may contain Cleopatra's remains is the discovery of numerous coins with the face of the queen.

According to Hawas, Egyptologists have also uncovered a 120-metre-long underground tunnel with many rooms, some of which could contain more details about Cleopatra.

Born in Rome, Mark Antony was a military general and commander, as well as supporter of Julius Caesar. He was also Cleopatra's lover and bore him a son, called Caesarion.

After Julius Caesar's assassination in March 44 B.C., Antony formed a triumvirate with Octavian, also known as Augustus, and Marcus Lepidus.

Civil war ensued in Rome due to disagreements between Antony and Octavian, who was Julius Caesar's heir and who later became Rome's first emperor.

Antony was subsequently defeated by Octavian and he later committed suicide.

Cleopatra, who came to power at 18 years of age, was once the ruler of Egypt and considered the last of seven queens of the same name.

She was famous for her intelligence, her beauty and her political power.

Cleopatra who also bore Mark Antony twins, committed suicide after his death in August 30 B.C.

Professor John Nicolas Coldstream FBA, FSA (1927-2008)

2008-03-27T20:30:00.004+02:00

It is with great sadness that we report the death of Professor John Nicolas Coldstream on Friday 21st March 2008.

I had the honour to know Professor Coldstream personally, as he was the external examiner of my PhD thesis at Nottingham in 2003. Prof. Coldstream was always very kind to me and acted as my referee in more than one occasion.

The last time we met was in Volos last June during the conference in memory of another eminent archaeologist, William D. Coulson.

A Symposium on Greek Geometric Pottery in memory of the late Professor Nicolas Coldstream will take place at the British School at Athens on Saturday 29th March 2008.

He shall be greatly missed...

Greek team finds ancient skull that underwent surgery: reports

2008-03-12T19:34:00.001+02:00

Source: AFP via Google News

SALONIKA, Greece (AFP) — Archaeologists have unearthed the skull of a young woman in northern Greece who is believed to have undergone head surgery in the third century, Greek news media reported Wednesday.

A Greek team discovered the skeleton at an ancient cemetery in Veria, with the skull including an injury that led them to conclude the surgery had been performed.

"We think that there was a complex surgical intervention that only an experienced doctor could have performed," said Ioannis Graikos, the head of the archaeological dig.

"Medical treatment on the human body in the Roman Veria is part of a long tradition that began with Hippocrates up to Roman doctor Celsus and Galen," he said, cited in the Ta Nea newspaper.

Hippocrates is believed to have lived in the fifth century BC, Celsus between 25 BC to 50 AD, and Galen from 131 to 201.

The procedure believed to have been carried out was a trepanation, an ancient form of surgery to address head injuries or illnesses.

In 2003, Greek archaeologists discovered a man's skull in a tomb on the Aegean island of Chios from the second century BC that had also undergone a trepanation.

The patient was believed to have lived a number of years after the operation.

Another trepanation was discovered in 2006 in Thrace on a young woman from the eighth century BC believed injured by a weapon.

Ancient Tomb Discovered on Greek Island

2008-03-06T11:10:00.001+02:00

Source: AP via AOL News

ATHENS, Greece (March 5) - Road construction on the western Greek island of Lefkada has uncovered and partially destroyed an important tomb with artifacts dating back more than 3,000 years, officials said on Wednesday.

The find is a miniature version of the large, opulent tombs built by the rulers of Greece during the Mycenaean era, which ended around 1100 B.C. Although dozens have been found in the mainland and on Crete, the underground, beehive-shaped monuments are very rare in the western Ionian Sea islands, and previously unknown on Lefkada.

The discovery could fuel debate on a major prehistoric puzzle - where the homeland of Homer's legendary hero Odysseus was located.

"This is a very important find for the area, because until now we had next to no evidence on Mycenaean presence on Lefkada," excavator Maria Stavropoulou-Gatsi told The Associated Press.

Stavropoulou-Gatsi said the tomb was unearthed about a month ago by a bulldozer, during road construction work.

"Unfortunately, the driver caused significant damage," she said.

She said the tomb contained several human skeletons, as well as smashed pottery, two seal stones, beads made of semiprecious stones, copper implements and clay loom weights. It appeared to have been plundered during antiquity.

With a nine-foot diameter, the tomb is very small compared to others, such as the Tomb of Atreus in Mycenae, which was more than 46 feet across and built of stones weighing up to 120 tons.

But it could revive scholarly debate on the location of Odysseus' Ithaca mentioned in Homer's poems - which are believed to be loosely based on Mycenaean-era events. While the nearby island of Ithaki is generally identified as the hero's kingdom, other theories have proposed Lefkada or neighboring Kefallonia.

Stavropoulou-Gatsi said the discovery might cause excitement on Lefkada but it was too soon for any speculation on Odysseus.

"I think it is much too early to engage in such discussion. The location of Homer's Ithaca is a very complex issue," she said.

Recent finds at Macedonian site of Pella reveal a city beneath the city community

2008-03-06T09:36:00.001+02:00

Prehistoric cemetery yields evidence of an Early Bronze Age

By Iota Myrtsioti - Kathimerini

Exciting new finds at the archaeological site of Pella have opened a new chapter in Macedonian history. Beneath the ruins of the ancient capital of the Macedonian kingdom is a large prehistoric burial ground that has yielded the first evidence of organized life in Pella during the third millennium BC.

It was while they were engaged in conservation, repairs and other work to highlight the site that the excavation team from Aristotle University came across more than 100 Early Bronze Age burials in large jars, accompanied by marble works of art from the Cyclades, local ceramics and metalware.

The finds are so recent that experts at the Demokritos Center have not yet completed the analysis of bones that will yield precise dates. However, the initial evidence supplements what is already known about Pella in the Early Bronze Age (2100-2000 BC), when it was the most important city in Bottiaea, long before it was made capital of the Macedonian realm. What became known as “the greatest of Macedonian cities” was apparently built on top of the prehistoric graveyard when Archelaus moved his capital there from Aiges, excavation director Professor Ioannis Akamatis told Kathimerini.

It was on this site that one of the most important urban centers developed. It had what was at the time an innovative, Manhattan-style, rectangular town plan, with an extensive network of water and sewerage pipes, which helped make Macedonia’s largest city one of the most important political and cultural centers of the Hellenistic Era (4th to 1st centuries BC).

The precise boundaries of the prehistoric cemetery cannot be determined because a large part of it lies beneath the urban center of the ancient city, but the graves that have been located so far beneath the city roads provide enough information to form a picture of prehistoric Pella.

In accordance with burial customs in Pella’s prehistoric community, the dead were placed in jars, simple trenches or in stone structures. The bodies placed in jars were buried with their limbs folded and the head either close to the mouth or the bottom of the jar.

Many of the jars are between 150 and 160 centimeters tall. One of them will be exhibited in a new museum in Pella as it was found, with the remains of the body and the grave goods.

The position of the body depended on gender: Men were placed facing the right, women to the left. The arms were crossed over the chest and the hands drawn up to the face below the jaw. Some graves contained infants and children up to the age of 3, while several belong to individuals aged 14-16.

The bodies in the jars represent about 30 percent of the burials. “The Macedonian plain was fertile in antiquity too. They stored goods (agricultural products, wood and metal) in storage jars, and that practice also influenced burial customs,” said Akamatis.

The dead were accompanied by objects, many of which had long been in everyday use before they ended up in the grave. Most tombs contained at least one vessel. Some of the dead were buried with valuable jewelry such as silver rings, gold earrings, bracelets and necklaces, bronze clasps, needles and daggers. “The prosperity of Pella’s prehistoric community is apparent from the metal goods and jewelry,” commented Akamatis.

All the clay finds were vessels made by hand using techniques employed in the Early Bronze Age in Macedonia (3100-2200 BC). Expertly worked marble flasks bear traces of red paint (associated with perceptions of death and life after death), indicating that they were used in burial ceremonies.

Akamatis said that the marble vessel of Pella, which is very rare for Central Macedonia, is related to a Late Neolithic Age (4500-3100 BC) example from Alepotrypa Dirou in the Mani, while a series of small Cycladic flasks date from the Early Cycladic I period.

“The flasks, made with marble probably from Paros, found their way to the coast of prehistoric Pella by sea from the Cyclades to the Gulf of Loudia. It is one of the earliest known examples of trade and economic ties between the Cyclades and Macedonia and the broader region.”

The settlement to which the burial ground belongs must have been fairly close by, Akamatis believes.

The Bronze Age settlement may have been maintained into historical times, since a few distinctive Early Iron Age objects have been discovered at Pella.

Unique Roman Amphitheatre Slumbers Beneath Sofia Downtown

2008-02-20T18:52:00.000+02:00

Source: News.bg

Serdica - an ancient names of Sofia, was a military, economic and culture centre in the Roman Empire.

And while local culture tourism is redirected to Perperikon and other spots dispersed all over this country, a mystic town slumbers beneath Sofia downtown, told from Standart.

The excavations under the medieval St. Sofia church started in the 1940s.

There is a huge Roman necropolis under the church with dozens of tombs stretching under the building of the National Assembly.

Archaeologists and historians reckon the remnants from Roman times and the later cultural strata are unique and can be found nowhere else in the world.

There appears the problem. Round 10 million EUR are needed to take at the surface all the Roman rests.

‘The Heart of the City' project which aims to exhibit Serdica costs 7 million EUR.

The other 3 million EUR will be necessary for researches, conservation and adaptation of the unique amphitheatre, discovered 2 years ago.

The Standart reveals that last week the amphitheatre that was named ‘Sofia Coliseum'.

The walls of the ancient Roman city encircle the region between Alabin Str., Hristo Botev Blv and Iskar Str.

Italian police recover dozens of looted artifacts

2008-02-20T18:48:00.001+02:00

Source: International Herald Tribune

ROME: Police in Rome said Tuesday they recovered dozens of looted artifacts, including a fresco believed to have been stripped from an ancient Roman villa.

Police were investigating 31 people who allegedly operated in Italy and France as part of a European art trafficking ring, a police statement said. No arrests had been made.

The remains of the fresco, which was stolen in the 1970s, are believed to belong to the 1st century A.D. villa of the Emperor Nero's wife Poppea in a site near Pompeii, police said in the statement.

The villa is in the area hit by the eruption in A.D. 79 of Mount Vesuvius, which killed thousands of people and buried Pompeii and neighboring towns in 6 meters (20 feet) of volcanic ash.

Also recovered were two 4th century B.C. vases from the southern region of Apulia and other pottery of Greek origin imported millennia ago by the Etruscan civilization in central Italy.

Italian police said the items turned up in collections in Switzerland, France and Spain and were recovered with the help of local authorities.

Calls to police for details were not answered.

During a raid on a house in Milan, police also seized 22 forgeries of paintings by artists including Renoir, Picasso, Modigliani, Monet and Degas, the statement said.

Tooth scan reveals Neanderthal mobility

2008-02-11T21:06:00.000+02:00

Source: AP via Yahoo! News

By ELENA BECATOROS, Associated Press Writer Sat Feb 9, 2:21 AM ET

ATHENS, Greece - Analysis of a 40,000-year-old tooth found in southern Greece suggests Neanderthals were more mobile than once thought, paleontologists said Friday.

Analysis of the tooth — part of the first and only Neanderthal remains found in Greece — showed the ancient human had spent at least part of its life away from the area where it died.

"Neanderthal mobility is highly controversial," said paleoanthropologist Katerina Harvati at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany.

Some experts believe Neanderthals roamed over very limited areas, but others say they must have been more mobile, particularly when hunting, Harvati said.

Until now, experts only had indirect evidence, including stone used in tools, Harvati said. "Our analysis is the first that brings evidence from a Neanderthal fossil itself," she said.

The findings by the Max Planck Institute team were published in the Journal of Archaeological Science.

The tooth was found in a seaside excavation in Greece's southern Peloponnese region in 2002.

The team analyzed tooth enamel for ratios of a strontium isotope, a naturally occurring metal found in food and water. Levels of the metal vary in different areas.

Eleni Panagopoulou of the Paleoanthropology-Speleology Department of Southern Greece said the tooth's levels of strontium showed that the Neanderthal grew up at least 12.5 miles from the discovery site.

"Our findings prove that ... their settlement networks were broader and more organized than we believed," Panagopoulou said.

Clive Finlayson, an expert on Neanderthals and director of the Gibraltar Museum, disagreed with the finding's significance.

"I would have been surprised if Neanderthals didn't move at least 20 kilometers (12.5 miles) in their lifetime, or even in a year ... We're talking about humans, not trees," Finlayson said.

Greece Returns Two Stolen Marble Statues to Albanian Museum

2008-02-11T20:59:00.000+02:00

Source: Bloomberg.com

By Maria Petrakis

Feb. 7 (Bloomberg) -- Greece's government returned two ancient statues stolen from Albania almost two decades ago.

The headless marble statues, one dating back to the 2nd century B.C. and the other to the 2nd century A.D., were handed to Albanian Culture Minister Ylli Pango in Athens today. They were recovered by the Greek authorities in 1997 and identified as having been stolen from the Butrint archaeological site in 1991.

``Greece is implementing a coordinated policy on returning illegally gained antiquities,'' Culture Minister Mihalis Liapis said at a news conference in Athens today. The handover puts this ``policy in practice, in the hope that we will find imitators in other countries.''

Greece and countries including Italy and Egypt are increasingly demanding, and obtaining, the return of artifacts which they say were illegally acquired. Over the past two years, the J. Paul Getty Museum, the world's richest art institution, has agreed to return to Greece the four items claimed by the country, settling a decade-long dispute.

The two statues were identified in 2003 as having been stolen from the museum at Butrint in southern Albania, which borders Greece. The site of a Greek colony and a Roman city, Butrint is a UNESCO World Heritage site.

The handover was held at the New Acropolis Museum, which Greece is building to house antiquities from the 2,500-year-old Parthenon, including marbles in the British Museum which it hopes to get back.

To contact the reporter on this story: Maria Petrakis in Athens at mpetrakis@bloomberg.net

Oldest lighthouse at ancient Roman port

2008-02-08T01:57:00.000+02:00

Source: The New Anatolian

Turkish archaeologists unearthed a 2000-year-old lighthouse at the ancient Roman port of Patara, near southern town of Kas, Antalya, discovering probably the oldest such structure that managed to remain intact.

The 12-meter-high lighthouse was built under the reign of Emperor Nero who ruled from 54 to 68, Professor Havva Iskan Isik, head of the excavation team reported.

"The oldest known lighthouse is the one in Alexandria but there is nothing left of it. So, the lighthouse at the Patara port is the oldest one that has remained intact," she said.

Isik said there might be a second lighthouse at the other edge of the port under a huge debris of soil, which she said was to be excavated at a later time.

Archeologist revises read of ancient seal inscription

2008-02-06T19:13:00.000+02:00

Source: The Jerusalem Post

By ETGAR LEFKOVITS

A prominent Israeli archeologist said Monday that she has revised her reading of an inscription on an ancient seal uncovered in an archeological excavation in Jerusalem's City of David after various scholars around the world critiqued her original interpretation of the name on the seal.

The 2,500 year-old black stone seal was found last month amid stratified layers of debris in the excavation under way just outside the Old City walls near the Dung Gate, said archeologist Dr. Eilat Mazar, who is leading the dig.

Mazar had originally read the name on the seal as "Temech," and suggested that it belonged to the family of that name mentioned in the Book of Nehemiah.

But after the find was first reported in The Jerusalem Post, various epigraphers around the world said Mazar had erred by reading the inscription on the seal straight on (from right to left) rather than backwards (from left to right), as a result of the fact that a seal creates a mirror image when used to inscribe a piece of clay.

The critics, including the European scholar Peter van der Veen, as well as the epigrapher Ryan Byrne, co-director of the Tel Dan excavations, suggested in Internet blogs that the correct reading of the seal is actually "Shlomit," also a biblical name.

Mazar said Monday that she accepted the reading of "Shlomit" on the ancient seal, and added that she appreciated the scholarly research on the issue.

"We are involved in research, not in proving our own opinions," Mazar said.

She noted that the name Shlomit was known in the period from which the seal dated, and that other contemporary seals had been found that bore names of women who held official status in the administration.

It was not clear whether the name on the seal had any connection to the daughter of Zerubbabel, mentioned in 1 Chronicles 3:19, since the name was apparently common in the period.

The grandson of Judean King Jehoachin, Zerubbabel, led the first band of Jews who returned from the Babylonian captivity, and laid the foundation of the Second Temple in Jerusalem.

"What we can say for sure is that this woman was an important woman in the society," Mazar said.

The seal, which portrays a common and popular cultic scene, was bought in Babylon and dates to 538-445 BCE, Mazar said.

In contrast, Byrne suggested that a date in the late seventh or early sixth century was more probable, noting that scene was typical of the Iron Age Levant and that there was no reason to surmise the seal had been made in Babylon.

The 2.1 X 1.8 cm elliptical seal is engraved with two bearded priests standing on either side of an incense alter with their hands raised in a position of worship.

A crescent moon, the symbol of the chief Babylonian god Sin, appears on the top of the altar, Mazar said.

The fact that this cultic scene relates to a Babylonian god seemed not to have disturbed the Jews that used the seal, she added.

Mazar gained international prominence for her recent excavation that may have uncovered the biblical palace of King David.

The three-year-old east Jerusalem dig is being sponsored by the Shalem Center, a Jerusalem research institute, where Mazar serves as a senior fellow, and the City of David Foundation, which promotes Jewish settlement throughout east Jerusalem.

Wine-carrying ship dates back 2,300 years

2008-01-25T20:32:00.000+02:00

Source: AP via msnbc

Vessel discovered on seabed off Cyprus is one of only a few such ships

NICOSIA, Cyprus - Marine archaeologists will begin work in June to uncover the sand-buried hull of a 2,300 year-old cargo ship thought to have been ferrying wine from the Aegean island of Chios before it sank off Cyprus' southern coast, researchers said Thursday.

The vessel, dating from the late Classical period (mid-fourth century B.C.) is one of only a few such ships to have been found so well-preserved, said University of Cyprus visiting marine archaeologist Stella Demesticha.

"The shipwreck looks very promising about shedding light on the nautical and economic history of the period in the east Mediterranean," Demesticha told the Associated Press on Thursday.

The wreck rests on the seabed at a depth of 144 feet some 1 1/2 miles off the island's southern coast.

Demesticha said the wreck was also unique because it lies at a depth that divers can easily reach, unlike similar discoveries found in deeper waters.

Unreleased underwater photographs that researchers took of the vessel on initial surveying dives in November show a jumble of dozens of amphorae — clay urns used in antiquity to carry liquids and solid foodstuffs — lying on the seabed in the shape of the ship.

Demesticha said researchers believe the ship's hull to be buried under tons of sand. The amphorae closely resemble others found to contain Chios wine, but may have been used to transport other goods in ancient sea trade.

The discovery could also provide more clues into Cyprus's role in maritime trade during the last phases of the Cypriot city-kingdoms, researchers said.

Worship Site Predates Zeus

2008-01-25T20:27:00.000+02:00

Source: LiveScience

By Tuan C. Nguyen, LiveScience Staff Writer

Ancient pottery found at an altar used by ancient Greeks to worship Zeus was actually in use at least a millennium earlier, new archeological data suggest.

The pottery shards were discovered during an excavation last summer near the top of Mt. Lykaion in southern Greece.

The finding, which dates back to 3000 B.C., indicates that the tradition of divinity worship on the site is very ancient and may even pre-date the introduction of Zeus into the Greek world, said David Gilman Romano, a researcher at the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology and co-director of the excavation project.

"We don’t yet know how the altar was first used, and whether it was used in connection with natural phenomena such as wind, rain, light or earthquakes, possibly to worship some kind of divinity male or female or a personification representing forces of nature,” Romano said.

A rock crystal seal bearing an image of a bull, of probable Late Minoan times (1500 - 1400 B.C.), also was found on the altar, suggesting an early connection between the Minoan isle of Crete and Arcadia.

Early analysis on various bones recovered from the site has shown they belonged to animals, not humans. Ancient texts had mentioned human sacrifice being practiced at the altar of Zeus, but so far, no evidence of this has been found.

The mountaintop altar is known as one of the mythological birthplaces of Zeus. A meadow below the mountain featured a racetrack, stadium and buildings once used to host an athletic festival that rivaled the original Olympic games, held at nearby Olympia.

Euphronios krater returning

2008-01-12T20:14:00.000+02:00

Source: ekathimerini

Famous Greek vase spending its last days at NYC’s Metropolitan Museum

NEW YORK (AP) – An ancient Greek vase that has long been a highlight of New York City’s Metropolitan Museum of Art’s collection will be displayed there for the last time tomorrow before being returned to Italy, which maintains it was stolen from a site near Rome.

The museum and Italian authorities agreed nearly two years ago that the Euphronios krater would be back in Italy by January 15, 2008. In exchange, the Italian government is lending the Met other ancient treasures, including three ceramic pieces that are to go on view Wednesday.

“We expected one object, but got three very beautiful objects,” Met director Philippe de Montebello told The New York Times in an interview Thursday, as the museum announced the Euphronios krater’s final day on exhibit. It shows on what a firm footing our future collaborations with Italy will be.”

Dating to the 6th century BC, the Euphronios krater is a bowl for mixing wine and water, according to the museum. Painted with scenes related to Homer’s epic poems “The Iliad” and “The Odyssey,” it is regarded as one of the finest examples of its kind.

The museum bought the vessel for $1 million in 1972 from American art dealer Robert Hecht, on trial in Italy on charges of knowingly acquiring allegedly looted ancient artifacts. He denies wrongdoing. The Euphronios krater is to join an exhibition of masterpieces recovered through Italy’s campaign against illegal trafficking in antiquities. The show opened last month at Rome’s Quirinal Palace.

2007-12-23T16:14:00.000+02:00

The Dig Cook

2007-12-21T01:24:00.000+02:00

If you are looking for a cook for your next dig or survey, take a look at the website of Mrs Annie Evans The Dig Cook.

Annie has been cooking for fieldwork projects in the Mediterranean and the UK since 1998...and she even comes with references.

Συνέδριο της UNESCO για τις επιστροφές αρχαιοτήτων τον Μάρτιο στην Ελλάδα

2007-12-20T14:55:00.000+02:00

Source: in.gr

Διεθνές συνέδριο της UNESCO για τις επιστροφές αρχαιοτήτων θα διοργανωθεί το Μάρτιο στο Νέο Μουσείο της Ακρόπολης, ανακοίνωσε ο υπουργός Πολιτισμού Μιχάλης Λιάπης από τη Βουλή, λέγοντας ότι εντείνονται οι προσπάθειες για επιστροφή των κλεμμένων αρχαιοτήτων στην Ελλάδα. Ο κ. Λιάπης αναφέρθηκε επίσης στα σχέδια του υπουργείου Πολιτισμού για τη νέα χρονιά.

Το 2008 «είναι η χρονιά του Νέου Μουσείου της Ακρόπολης» δήλωσε ο Μιχάλης Λιάπης από τη Βουλή, όπου διεξάγεται η συζήτηση για τον προϋπολογισμό.

Όσον αφορά το υπόλοιπο έργο του υπουργείου Πολιτισμού ο κ. Λιάπης δήλωσε ότι ξεκινά ο σχεδιασμός της υπόγειας έκτασης του Αρχαιολογικού Μουσείου, ότι διοργανώνονται νέες εκθέσεις και ότι θα ολοκληρωθούν οι εργασίες στο Μέγαρο Τσίλερ του Εθνικού Θεάτρου, ώστε «η επόμενη χειμερινή θεατρική σεζόν να βρει τους ηθοποιούς του Εθνικού ξανά στην ιστορική τους βάση».

Δήλωσε επίσης ότι νέα κτήρια αποκτούν η Εθνική Βιβλιοθήκη και η Εθνική Λυρική Σκηνή, καθώς και ότι μέσα στις επόμενες ημέρες συστήνεται επιτροπή για τον εκσυγχρονισμό του νομοθετικού πλαισίου για τον κινηματογράφο, η οποία θα αποτελείται από σημαντικές, διεθνούς εμβέλειας προσωπικότητες του χώρου.

Ως πρώτη προτεραιότητα του υπουργείου Πολιτισμού ανέφερε ότι είναι η αποκατάσταση του φυσικού περιβάλλοντος στην Ολυμπία, με την αντιπλυμμηρική θωράκιση να έχει ολοκληρωθεί έως τις 15 Ιανουαρίου.

Υπενθυμίζεται ότι τη Δευτέρα ο πρωθυπουργός Κώστας Καραμανλής επισκεπτόμενος το Νέο Μουσείο της Ακρόπολης επανέλαβε το αίτημα για επιστροφή των Γλυπτών του Παρθενώνα στην Ελλάδα και πρόσθεσε ότι οι συνθήκες έχουν ωριμάσει και όλα τα επιχειρήματα κατά του ελληνικού αιτήματος έχουν καταρριφθεί.

Το Βρετανικό Μουσείο αρνήθηκε για ακόμα μια φορά να επιστρέψει τα Γλυπτά στην Ελλάδα, λέγοντας ότι αν και το Μουσείο είναι μεγάλο επίτευγμα δεν αλλάζει τη στάση του Μουσείου.

Early peak at Acropolis Museum

2007-12-18T14:36:00.000+02:00

Source: ekathimerini

A section of the New Acropolis Museum will open to the public from Friday until Easter time to give people a first glimpse of the artifacts that will go on permanent display in the building, it was revealed yesterday.

The ground floor of the museum will be open for two hours every day over the next few months to allow visitors to see the antiquities that were discovered during the construction of the impressive building.

The news was made public during a visit by Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis, who renewed Greece’s call for the Parthenon Marbles to be returned from the British Museum in London.

“The construction and operation of the New Acropolis Museum destroys the final argument of those who refuse to satisfy a just demand,” said the premier.

“The conditions are now ripe to demand the return of the Parthenon Marbles to their rightful home. This can and must become a reality for this generation.”

Karamanlis’s call, however, was immediately rebuffed by the British Museum.

“The Acropolis Museum, although it is a great achievement, does not change the [British] museum’s position, because for us it has never been about the display of the sculptures in Athens,” spokeswoman Hannah Boulton told Agence France-Presse.

“The fundamental purpose of the British Museum is to present all world cultures, to enable all those who come here or see the collections on loan around the world to experience and compare the civilizations.”

Funding for the establishment of the "Alexandria Center for Hellenistic Studies"

2007-12-18T04:01:00.000+02:00

Source: Alexander S. Onassis Public Benefit Foundation

The President of the Alexander S. Onassis Foundation, Mr. Anthony S. Papadimitriou, the UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador and member of the Board of Directors of the Library of Alexandria Mrs. Marianna V. Vardinoyanni, and the Director of the Library of Alexandria Dr. Ismail Serageldin, held a common press conference announcing the establishment of the Center for Hellenistic Studies in the Library of Alexandria.

The initiative for the establishment of the Center belongs to the Alexander S. Onassis Public Benefit Foundation, the Vardinoyannis Foundation and the Library of Alexandria. The Onassis Foundation and the Vardinoyannis Foundation, have commonly decided to fund the Center, in the framework of their activities for the promotion of Greek culture abroad and for the promotion of the history of the Hellenistic era, during which the ancient library was created.

The center for Hellenistic Studies in the Library of Alexandria will be named "Alexandria Center for Helllenistic Studies" and will comprise academic departments for the study of History, Philosophy, Literature and the Arts. The Center will be housed in the Library of Alexandria, which is academically affiliated with the University of Alexandria and will grant diplomas and degrees at the Master and Ph. D. levels. The Library of Alexandria will provide the Center with the classrooms, lecture rooms and meeting rooms required for the needs of the Center and students will have free access to the Library premises for their research. All lessons will be conducted in the English language.

The Center will be managed by a Board of Directors comprising seven persons and chaired by the Director of the Library of Alexandria, and an Academic Council made up of eminent academic personalities specialized in the fields of the Center. The Council will be responsible to advise the Board with regard to the operation of the center, the designing of the academic curriculum, the setting of criteria for the selection of students, the selection of academic staff, the review and approval of the operational plans of the different departments, as well as the monitoring of the progress of students.

Ώριμο αίτημα η επιστροφή των Μαρμάρων, είπε ο πρωθυπουργός από το Μουσείο Ακρόπολης

2007-12-18T03:59:00.000+02:00

Source: in.gr

Επίσκεψη στο Νέο Μουσείο της Ακρόπολης πραγματοποίησε το πρωί της Δευτέρας ο πρωθυπουργός. Ο κ. Καραμανλής συνοδευόμενος από τον υπουργό Πολιτισμού Μ.Λιάπη ενημερώθηκε για την πορεία της μεταφοράς των αρχαιοτήτων από τον Ιερό Βράχο και ξεναγήθηκε στους χώρους του μουσείου από τον πρόεδρο του ΟΑΝΜΑ, Δημήτρη Παντερμαλή και τον έφορο Ακροπόλεως Αλ.Μάντη.

Σε δηλώσεις του, αφού συνεχάρη όλους όσοι δούλεψαν για το δύσκολο εγχείρημα της μεταφοράς, ανέφερε πως μέχρι το τέλος Ιανουαρίου αναμένεται να έχει ολοκληρωθεί η φάση αυτή των εργασιών.

Ακολούθως έκανε αναφορά στο αίτημα επιστροφής των Μαρμάρων του Παρθενώνα, τονίζοντας ότι πλέον οι συνθήκες έχουν ωριμάσει και όλα τα επιχειρήματα κατά του ελληνικού αιτήματος έχουν καταρριφθεί.

«Το νέο Μουσείο της Ακρόπολης υπενθυμίζει κατ' εξοχήν, και μάλιστα με ηχηρό τρόπο, το χρέος της επανένωσης των Γλυπτών του Παρθενώνα, του κορυφαίου αυτού μνημείου της παγκόσμιας πολιτιστικής κληρονομιάς. Με την κατασκευή και λειτουργία του νέου Μουσείου Ακρόπολης καταρρίπτεται και το τελευταίο επιχείρημα εκείνων που αρνούνται την ικανοποίηση ενός δίκαιου αιτήματος» είπε.

Πρόσθεσε πως το αίτημα της επιστροφής, «το αίτημα που ο Κωνσταντίνος Καραμανλής όρισε μεταπολιτευτικά ως εθνικό στόχο και η αείμνηστη Μελίνα Μερκούρη, ως υπουργός Πολιτισμού, έκανε σκοπό ζωής και συνέβαλε καθοριστικά, ώστε να γίνει απαίτηση οικουμενική, μπορεί και πρέπει να γίνει πράξη στη γενιά μας».

Από την πλευρά του, το Βρετανικό Μουσείο, με αφορμή τις δηλώσεις του Έλληνα πρωθυπουργού, επανέλαβε την Δευτέρα την άρνησή του να επιστρέψει στην Ελλάδα τα Μάρμαρα του Παρθενώνα.

«Το Μουσείο της Ακρόπολης, αν και αποτελεί μια μεγάλη επιτυχία, δεν αλλάζει στο παραμικρό τη θέση του Βρετανικού Μουσείου» δήλωσε στο Γαλλικό Πρακτορείο η εκπρόσωπος του Μουσείου Χάνα Μπούλτον.

«Για μας το θέμα ουδέποτε αφορούσε τον τρόπο έκθεσης των Γλυπτών στην Αθήνα, αλλά αφορούσε πάντα το ιδεολογικό επιχείρημα που συνίσταται στο ότι το Βρετανικό Μουσείο εκθέτει έργα από όλους τους πολιτισμούς του κόσμου και ότι τα Γλυπτά του Παρθενώνα αποτελούν ένα πολύ σημαντικό τμήμα της συλλογής» πρόσθεσε.

* Από την Παρασκευή 21 Δεκεμβρίου και μέχρι το Πάσχα το ισόγειο του νέου Μουσείου Ακροπόλεως θα είναι ανοιχτό καθημερινά για ένα δίωρο. Την Παρασκευή θα ανοίξει τις πόρτες του για τους μικρούς και μεγάλους επισκέπτες του, που θα θαυμάσουν την έκθεση με παιδικά αντικείμενα της αρχαιότητας και ευρήματα από την ανασκαφή κάτω από το Μουσείο της Ακρόπολης.

Excavations in the East Jordan Land

2007-12-14T17:05:00.000+02:00

Source: AlphaGalileo

This year Thomas Pola, professor for theology at TU Dortmund, and his team have continued the excavations in the East Jordan Land. With their findings on the mountain Tall adh-Dhahab (West) in the Jabbok Valley the archeologists could substantiate one assumption: everything points to the fact that the building remains from the Hellenistic and Roman era, found in 2006, were part of a yet unknown monumental building of Herod the Great (73-4 BC).

This assumption is based on the floors of one of the discovered peristyle yards (yards enclosed by continuous columns) which the archeologists were able to excavate. Prof. Pola sees the parallels with the architecture of Herod’s West Jordan Alexandreion as prove that there also was a monumental building of Herod the Great on the plateau of the mountain Tall adh-Dhahab. That would mean that in addition to his reign over the West Jordan Land, the Jewish king had a security system with which he could have controlled the ancient long-distance traffic in the middle Jordan Valley and the access ways to the plateau of the East Jordan Land.

Above that, the team of Prof. Pola for the first time discovered a layer from the late Bronze Age or the Early Iron Age on a natural terrace directly underneath the plateau. The ruins of a tower from the city wall at least show three building phases. “On the level of the oldest building phase we took samples from a burnt layer. A C14-analysis carried out by Prof. Manfred Bayer (Physics at TU Dortmund) showed that the charcoal originates from the time 1300 to 1000 BC. At this location we will continue to work in 2008.”

Finally Prof. Pola’s team discovered the purpose of the monumental military facility half way up the mountain: it is a casemate wall. It is supposed to have been finished in Roman times. This is yet another argument for the identification of the mountain with the stronghold Amathous mentioned in the ancient world. The historian Josephus (37 to 100 AD) described Amathous as the biggest stronghold in the East Jordan Land.

Even reworking the campaign 2006 revealed a sensation: the carve-drawings which had been discovered by Dr. Batereau-Neumann, a sponsor of the project, at that time, were dated to the ninth or tenth century by the internationally renowned specialist for Middle East iconography, Prof. Othmar Keel (Universität Freiburg). According to him the two pictures, the head of a lioness and the fragment of a cultural scene, belong together. The sensation: they point to the existence of a temple on the mountain plateau in the New-Assyrian time.

The project is sponsored by Technische Universität Dortmund and the Gesellschaft der Freunde der TU Dortmund. For the time from the end of July until the end of August Prof. Pola is again looking for sponsors of the project as fellow travelers. “They can join the team or just enjoy the beautiful landscape”, says Prof. Pola. The requested 3,000€ include flight, transport, food and simple accommodation.

Στο Νέο Μουσείο της Ακρόπολης μεταφέρθηκε η πρώτη από τις πέντε Καρυάτιδες

2007-12-11T17:06:00.000+02:00

Source: in.gr

Πραγματοποιήθηκε το Σάββατο η εναέρια μεταφορά της πρώτης από τις πέντε Καρυάτιδες στο νέο Μουσείο της Ακρόπολης. Η όμορφη κόρη τοποθετήθηκε στο πρώτο επίπεδο του Μουσείου σε εσωτερικό «μπαλκόνι».

Η επιχείρηση έγινε με το σύστημα των τριών γερανών, από το παλιό Μουσείο της Ακρόπολης στον Ιερό Βράχο, στο θέατρο του Διονύσου και από εκεί στο Νέο Μουσείο.

Η όμορφη κόρη αποχαιρέτησε τον Ιερό Βράχο μετά από 2.500 χρόνια. Το ίδιο θα γίνει τις επόμενες ημέρες και με τις υπόλοιπες Καρυάτιδες, εκτός από μία -όπως υπενθύμισε και ο υπουργός Πολιτισμού Μ.Λιάπης-, αυτή που βρίσκεται στο Βρετανικό Μουσείο του Λονδίνου.

Υπενθυμίζεται ότι η μεταφορά των γλυπτών από το παλαίο στο Νέο Μουσείο ξεκίνησε τον Οκτώβριο. Τα κιβώτια μεταφοράς είναι μεταλλικά με ξύλινους σκελετούς στο εσωτερικό και αφρώδες υλικό, προκειμένου να μην υπάρξουν ζημιές.

Για πιο ευαίσθητα αντικείμενα χρησιμοποιούνται άλλα κιβώτια με ενισχυμένη προστασία. Συνολικά θα χρησιμοποιηθούν έξι ειδών κιβώτια για τα 154 γλυπτά που θα μεταφερθούν με τους γερανούς.

Το συνολικό βάρος των 246 γλυπτών που θα μεταφερθούν στο νέο Μουσείο φτάνει τους 113 τόνους ενώ άλλους 184 τόνους ζυγίζουν χιλιάδες άλλα αντικείμενα, πολλά από τα οποία βρίσκονται στις αποθήκες του παλιού Μουσείου.

Inner sanctum of first Roman emperor to go on show

2007-12-11T17:03:00.000+02:00

Source: Reuters

ROME, Dec 10 (Reuters Life!) - Four frescoed rooms in the eastern wing of the house of Augustus, where he lived before becoming Rome's first emperor, will open to the public for the first time next year after three decades of restorations.

Italian archaeologists said on Monday the rooms dated from around 30 B.C. and had been buried -- which may explain why some of the paintings are so well preserved -- after Augustus moved to another residence on a higher level of the Palatine Hill.

The tiny rooms, first discovered in the late 1970s, are mostly painted in vivid red, blue and ochre. They include a cubicle on an upper floor known as the "studiolo", or small studio, where Augustus was thought to withdraw for privacy.

The decorations on the walls and vaulted ceilings were found almost intact in some parts of the building, while in others they had to be pieced back together from a myriad of fragments.

"The level of preservation of the frescoes and the colors is extraordinary," said Rome's Mayor Walter Veltroni during a presentation of the rooms to journalists.

"It bears witness to the wonders of a city which is like a box of hidden treasures," he said.

The rooms will open to the public on March 2 together with the house of Livia, Augustus' wife, but visitors will only be allowed to enter in small groups to avoid damaging the delicate frescoes.

Excavations on the Palatine in recent decades have turned up a steady stream of precious archaeological finds, but preserving the ruins of ancient Rome is costly.

Culture Minister Francesco Rutelli said some 12 million euros ($17.59 million) would be devoted to the conservation of the site, an amount that some experts say is a third of what is needed every year.

(Reporting by Silvia Aloisi, editing by Paul Casciato)

Glue used by the Romans has stuck around for 2,000 years

2007-12-07T15:32:00.000+02:00

Source: The Independent

By Tony Paterson in Berlin
Published: 06 December 2007

German archaeologists claim to have found traces of a glue they say was made by the Romans more than 2,000 years ago and used to mount silver laurel leaves on legionnaires' battle helmets.

Researchers at the Rhineland historical museum in Bonn said they had found remnants of the glue on a legionnaire's iron helmet unearthed near the town of Xanten. It had lain on what was once the bed of the Rhine for at least 1,500 years.

Frank Willer, the museum's chief restorer, said researchers came across the glue by surprise while removing a tiny sample of metal from the helmet with a fine saw. The heat from the tool caused silver laurel leaves decorating the helmet to peel off leaving thread-like traces of the glue behind.

"It is a sensational find and a complete stroke of luck that we were still able to find traces of the substance on the helmet after 2,000 years," Mr Willer said.

The museum's team of archaeologists maintains that, as the helmet lay on the river-bed for so long, its glue was not exposed to the destructive effects of the atmosphere and therefore did not lose its adhesive power.

Mr Willer said that other Roman remains, including ancient battle masks, kept by the museum bore traces of silver decorations and had probably been glued in the same way. Their condition has deteriorated too far to find evidence of glue.

Analysis shows that the Roman glue was made of bitumen, beef tallow and pitch. But researchers said they had failed so far to recreate the adhesive and that sawdust, soot or sand might have to be added to complete the process.

"When we finally manage to remake the superglue, it will easily compete with its modern equivalents," Mr Willer said. "After all, which of today's glues stick for 2,000 years?"

Archaeologists find 2,000 year-old palace in east Jerusalem

2007-12-06T14:49:00.000+02:00

Source: Yahoo! News

JERUSALEM (AFP) - Israeli archaeologists said on Wednesday they have unearthed a palace complex dating back to the first century AD in an Arab neighbourhood just outside the walls of Jerusalem's Old City.

Archaeologists discovered a structure that is "relatively big in size and subdivided into main halls," said Doron Ben-Ami, the project director, adding that coins on site dated the structure to the time of the Jews' Second Temple.

Ben-Ami said more work was necessary but that there was a "high probability" that the structure was a palace built by Queen Helena, a wealthy Iraqi aristocrat who converted to Judaism and moved to Jerusalem around 40 AD.

The structure was destroyed 30 years later, when Roman troops violently suppressing a Jewish revolt razed much of Jerusalem to the ground, including the Second Temple of which only the Western Wall remains today, he said.

The excavation is being carried out in a car park just opposite the City of David, the site of Jerusalem in ancient times and now an outdoor archaeological museum in the densely populated Palestinian suburb of Silwan.

The suburb is part of Arab east Jerusalem, which Israel occupied in the 1967 Middle East war and annexed soon thereafter, a move not recognised by the international community.

Palestinians, who see east Jerusalem as the capital of their future state, have long accused Israel of confiscating land in the Arab suburbs and of using archaeological projects to bolster Jewish claims to the area.

The site includes remains from the Islamic and Byzantine eras as well, including a large Byzantine structure built atop the ruins of the palace that incorporated some of the debris left behind from its destruction.

Remains of 4,000-year-old dam found in Upper Egypt

2007-12-04T15:47:00.000+02:00

Source: Xinhua News Agency

CAIRO, Dec. 2 (Xinhua) -- Remains of an ancient dam dating back some 4,000 years have been discovered in Upper Egypt, local English daily The Egyptian Gazette reported Sunday.

Secretary-General of the Egyptian Supreme Council of Antiquities Zahi Hawass said Saturday that the ancient dam was found a few meters away from the Karnak Temple in Luxor, some 500 km south of Cairo.

The finding was made by an Egyptian-French archaeological team, which has been working in Luxor since March, Hawass was quoted as saying at a press conference.

"The 230-meter long dam was built during the age of the Middle Kingdom (of ancient Egypt) to protect the temple from the Nile flood," said Hawass.

The Egyptian archaeology supremo stressed the importance of the finding, saying it proved that the ancient Egyptians were good at building dams.

The discover will also revive interest in the ancient Egyptian city, which was believed by some archaeologists that nothing of great importance would be found again, said the report.

The team had also unearthed the relics of a Roman bath built in the first century AD and a clay jar containing 316 coins from different historical periods, said Hawass.

Elusive biblical Jerusalem wall finally found, Israeli archaeologist says

2007-11-30T15:58:00.000+02:00

Source: International Herald Tribune

JERUSALEM: A biblical wall that has eluded archaeologists for years has finally been found, according to an Israeli scholar.

A team of archaeologists in Jerusalem has uncovered what they believe to be part of a wall mentioned in the Bible's Book of Nehemiah.

The discovery, made in Jerusalem's ancient City of David, came as a result of a rescue attempt on a tower which was in danger of collapse, said Eilat Mazar, head of the Institute of Archaeology at the Shalem Center, a Jerusalem-based research and educational institute, and leader of the dig.

Artifacts including pottery shards and arrowheads found under the tower suggested that both the tower and the nearby wall are from the 5th century B.C., the time of Nehemiah, according to Mazar. Scholars previously thought the wall dated to the Hasmonean period (142-37 B.C.).

The findings suggest that the wall is actually part of the same city wall the Bible says Nehemiah rebuilt, Mazar said. The Book of Nehemiah (chapters 3-6) gives a detailed description of construction of the walls, destroyed earlier by the Babylonians.

"We were amazed," she said, noting that the discovery was made at a time when many scholars argued that the wall did not exist.

"This was a great surprise. It was something we didn't plan," Mazar said.

However, another scholar doubted whether the wall was biblical.

The first phase of the dig, completed in 2005, uncovered what Mazar believes to be the remains of King David's palace, built by King Hiram of Tyre and also mentioned in the Bible.

Ephraim Stern, professor emeritus of archaeology at Hebrew University and chairman of the state of Israel archaeological council, corroborated Mazar's claim. "The material she showed me is from the Persian period," the period of Nehemiah, he said. "I can sign on the date of the material she found."

Another scholar disputed the significance of the discovery.

Israel Finkelstein, professor of archaeology at Tel Aviv University, called the discovery "an interesting find," but said the pottery and other remains do not indicate that the wall was built in the time of Nehemiah. Because the debris was not connected to a floor or other structural part of the wall, the wall could have been built later, Finkelstein said.

"The wall could have been built, theoretically, in the Ottoman period," he said. "It's not later than the pottery — that's all we know."

Bill aims to protect artifacts

2007-11-30T15:53:00.000+02:00

Source: ekathimerini

Culture Minister Michalis Liapis yesterday unveiled a draft law which aims to curb a growing illegal trade in antiquities by intensifying patrols of archaeological sites and appointing a special prosecutor to handle certain cases.

The bill, to be submitted in Parliament next month, foresees the creation of a database of antiquities and the application of Greek law in cases of alleged trafficking of domestic artifacts abroad.

Liapis said the proposed crackdown «is a top priority,» noting that the illegal antiquities trade had grown «enormously» in recent years and is now the third most lucrative illicit trade after arms and drug trafficking.

The legislation had been prepared by Liapis's predecessor Giorgos Voulgarakis but its tabling in Parliament had been delayed due to September's general elections.

Liapis's announcement yesterday came two days after an Athens court acquitted a former curator of the Los Angeles J. Paul Getty Museum of illegally acquiring an ancient Greek golden wreath, which has since been returned.

Η ανέγερση νέου μουσείου στην Βεργίνα στις προθέσεις του Μ.Λιάπη

2007-11-26T20:52:00.000+02:00

Source: in.gr

Το πρόγραμμα ανάπτυξης για την ενοποίηση του αρχαιολογικού χώρου και τη σύνδεση του με το σύγχρονο οικισμό βρίσκεται σε πλήρη εξέλιξη τόνισε ο υπουργός Πολιτισμού Μιχάλης Λιάπης κατά την επίσκεψή του στους αρχαιολογικούς χώρους της Πέλλας και της Βεργίνας το πρωί του Σαββάτου.

Παράλληλα, ο κ. Λιάπης συμπλήρωσε ότι η ανέγερση του νέου μουσείου στην περιοχή θα ολοκληρωθεί μέσα στο ερχόμενο έτος και το μουσείο θα είναι έτοιμο να υποδεχθεί τους πρώτους επισκέπτες του στα μέσα του 2009.

Τον ίδιο χρόνο θα έχουν ολοκληρωθεί και τα υπόλοιπα έργα στην περιοχή όπως και ο δρόμος που συνδέει τον αρχαιολογικό χώρο με τον σύγχρονο οικισμό.

Επιπρόσθετα, ως έναν από τους πέντε δημοφιλέστερους αρχαιολογικούς χώρους ολόκληρης της χώρας χαρακτήρισε ο υπουργός Πολιτισμού τη Βεργίνα, επικαλούμενος την επισκεψιμότητα και του ενδιαφέροντος των πολιτών.

«Υπάρχει ένα τεράστιο αρχαιολογικό έργο στην ευρύτερη περιοχή της Μακεδονίας (Δίον, Πέλλα, Βεργίνα, αρχαία Μίεζα κα) . Ο ευρύτερος αρχαιολογικός χώρος των Αιγών αποτελεί σημείο αναφοράς για ολόκληρο τον Μακεδονικό χώρο υπερτόνισε ο κ. Λιάπης ο οποίος δεν παρέλειψε να αναφέρει πως πρόκειται για μία αρχαιολογική περιοχή «τεράστιας αξίας».

Χρέος αποτελεί η ανάδειξη της Μακεδονία της πολιτιστικής κληρονομιά δήλωσε ο κ. Λιάπης συμπληρώνοντας πως ως το τέλος του 2008 θα έχει ολοκληρωθεί η ανάπλαση ανακτόρου των Αιγών, ενώ επίκειται η κατασκευή του μουσείου της ευρύτερης περιοχής Βεργίνας .
Ο κ. Λιάπης ο οποίος πραγματοποιεί από την Παρασκευή, επίσκεψη στη Θεσσαλονίκη και την ευρύτερη περιοχή της Μακεδονίας θα συναντηθεί το απόγευμα του Σαββάτου με εκπροσώπους φορέων από το χώρο του κινηματογράφου και το βράδυ θα παραστεί στην τιμητική εκδήλωση που πραγματοποιεί το 48ο Φεστιβάλ Κινηματογράφου Θεσσαλονίκης.

Ancient Olympia...

2007-11-26T20:46:00.000+02:00

Source: ekathimerini

PETROS GIANNAKOURIS/AP

A newly planted olive tree stands in front of a group of Greek and international scientists at Ancient Olympia on Saturday. The scientists visited the site to deliver funds for the reconstruction of the area, which was hit by a wildfire in August. Meanwhile, hundreds of volunteers took part in a replanting drive in Kalyvia, east of Athens, yesterday. The aim of the project, supported by SKAI TV and Radio, was to plant some 15,000 trees to replace the ones that were burned this summer. About 400 volunteers also took part in a replanting scheme in Thessaloniki’s Seikh-Sou Forest.

Στο Αρχαιολογικό Μουσείο Θεσσαλονίκης επέστρεψε το χρυσό μακεδονίτικο στεφάνι

2007-11-24T16:08:00.000+02:00

Source: in.gr

Στο Αρχαιολογικό Μουσείο της Θεσσαλονίκης εκτίθεται από την Παρασκευή το χρυσό μακεδονίτικο στεφάνι, το οποίο επεστράφη στην Ελλάδα από το Μουσείο Γκετί. Ο υπουργός Πολιτισμού Μ.Λιάπης λέει ότι το ΥΠΠΟ θα συνεχίσει να διεκδικεί από ξένα Μουσεία. Αντιδρά ο νομάρχης Σερρών για την παραχώρηση του στεφανιού στο Μουσείο Θεσσαλονίκης.

«Το μήνυμα που στέλνουμε σήμερα από εδώ είναι σαφές. Όταν τα αρχαία αντικείμενα αποκόπτονται από το ιστορικό και φυσικό τους περιβάλλον καθίστανται αντικείμενα διακοσμητικά, αποστειρωμένα» δήλωσε ο Μιχάλης Λιάπης κατά τη διάρκεια ομιλίας του.

«Στόχος είναι να εκτίθενται εκεί που ανήκουν ιστορικά, έτσι ώστε να δηλώνεται ξεκάθαρα η προέλευση, η ταυτότητα και η διαχρονική τους αξία.

» Η διεκδίκηση από ξένα Μουσεία και συλλέκτες κάθε ελληνικού αρχαίου αντικείμενου, για το οποίο διαθέτουμε στοιχεία ότι αποτελεί προϊόν αρχαιοκαπηλίας, λαθρανασκαφής ή παράνομης διακίνησης, βρίσκεται στην πρώτη γραμμή της πολιτικής μας στο Υπουργείο Πολιτισμού» εξήγησε ο υπουργός.

Ο υπουργός τόνισε ότι τις επόμενες ημέρες κατατίθεται στη Βουλή το νομοσχέδιο για την προστασία των πολιτιστικών θησαυρών.

Επιστολή διαμαρτυρίας έστειλε στον υπουργό Πολιτισμού ο νομάρχης Σερρών Στέφανος Φωτιάδης, όπου εξέφρασε τη δυσαρέσκεια των Σερραίων πολιτών για την παραχώρηση του στεφανιού στο Μουσείο Θεσσαλονίκης και όχι σε εκείνο της Αμφίπολης, παρ' ότι δεν έχει αποσαφηνιστεί που ακριβώς βρέθηκε το χρυσό στεφάνι -πιθανό θεωρείται να βρέθηκε στην ευρύτερη περιοχή των Σερρών.

Σε συνέντευξη Τύπου που παραχώρησε, ο νομάρχης Θεσσαλονίκης δήλωσε ότι η Νομαρχιακή Αυτοδιοίκηση Σερρών κατανοεί τον ρόλο του Αρχαιολογικού Μουσείου Θεσσαλονίκης στην ανάδειξη των ευρημάτων της κλασικής εποχής.

«Δεν μπορούμε, όμως, να κατανοήσουμε τη διεθνή διεκδίκηση για την επιστροφή των αρχαιολογικών ευρημάτων στον τόπο τους και ταυτόχρονα τη χωροθέτησή τους στο εσωτερικό της χώρας, με αυθαίρετο τρόπο» πρόσθεσε.

Ο νομάρχης δήλωσε ότι οι Σερραίοι θα επιδιώξουν την υποστήριξη του Προέδρου της Δημοκρατίας Κάρολου Παπούλια και του πρωθυπουργού Κώστα Καραμανλή.

*Επίσης ο υπουργός Πολιτισμού Μιχάλης Λιάπης συναντήθηκε με το ΔΣ του Κρατικού Θεάτρου Βορείου Ελλάδος. Ο κ. Λιάπης τη χορήγηση έκτακτης οικονομικής ενίσχυσης 700 χιλιάδων ευρώ στο ΚΘΒΕ και 300 χιλιάδων ευρώ στην Όπερα, προκειμένου να αντιμετωπιστούν τα τρέχοντα προβλήματα.

Ex-Getty Curator Is Now on Trial in Greece

2007-11-24T15:23:00.000+02:00

Source: New York Times

A former antiquities curator for the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles went on trial yesterday in Athens on charges of conspiring to acquire an ancient gold funerary wreath that Greek officials say was illegally removed from Greek soil about 15 years ago.

The former curator, Marion True, did not attend the hearing. Her lawyer, Yannis Yannides, submitted a motion for dismissal, citing a California state law that sets a three-year statute of limitations for prosecution once a stolen artifact’s whereabouts have been made known. (The Getty acquired the wreath in 1993 and agreed to return it nearly a year ago, citing concerns about its provenance.) Greek investigators assert that the gold wreath was illegally excavated from an archaeological site in the northern province of Macedonia. Ms. True is also on trial in Italy on charges of trafficking in stolen antiquities acquired for the Getty. She has denied wrongdoing in both cases.

In a related development The Associated Press reported that a judge in Pesaro, Italy, yesterday dismissed a local prosecutor’s legal claim to a bronze statue of a youth that is in the Getty’s collection. (The statue has also been claimed by Italy’s national government.) After long negotiations, the museum agreed in August to return 40 other artifacts to Italy. Italy said it would consider whether to press its case on the bronze after the case in Pesaro was resolved. ANTHEE CARASSAVA

Digging biblical history, or the end of the world

2007-11-21T15:24:00.000+02:00

Source: EurekAlert!

Some come to dig the Tel Aviv University-directed archeological site at Tel Megiddo because they are enchanted by ancient stories of King Solomon. Others come because they believe in a New Testament prophecy that the mound of dirt will be the location of a future Judgment Day apocalyptic battle. Hence the second, rather more chilling name for the site: "Armageddon."

Tel Megiddo has been the subject of a number of decisive battles in ancient times (among the Egyptian, Hebrew and Assyrian peoples) and today it holds a venerated place in archaeology, explains site co-director and world-renowned archeologist Prof. Israel Finkelstein.

Says Prof. Finkelstein, from the Department of Archaeology and Ancient Near Eastern Cultures at Tel Aviv University, "Megiddo is one of the most interesting sites in the world for the excavation of biblical remains. Now volunteers and students from around the world can participate in the dig which lets them uncover 3,000 years worth of history -- from the late 4th millennium B.C.E. to the middle of the first millennium C.E."

Prof. Finkelstein, who belongs to the Sonia and Marco Nadler Institute of Archaeology at Tel Aviv University, has been co-directing the site with Prof. David Ussishkin, also of Tel Aviv University, since 1994.

Prof. Finkelstein has co-authored a best-selling book on archaeology and biblical history (The Bible Unearthed, 2001). Earlier this month he released a book (written with A. Mazar) that contains surprising commentary on biblical archaeology and history, The Quest for Biblical Archeology, published by the Society of Biblical Literature in the United States. He is also the recipient of the prestigious international Dan David Prize in the category of Past Dimension (2005).

Likened to a "lightening rod" by the journal Science (2007), Prof. Finkelstein is famous for his unconventional way of interpreting biblical history: he puts emphasis on the days of the biblical authors in the 7th century B.C.E. and theorizes that ancient rulers such as David and Solomon, who lived centuries earlier, were "tribal chieftains ruling from a small hill town, with a modest palace and royal shrine."

Yet, "new archaeological discoveries should not erode one's sense of tradition and identity," he states.

Prof. Ze’ev Herzog, who heads the archaeology institute at Tel Aviv University, says, "There has been an important revolution in biblical history in the last decades. We are now uncovering the difference between myth and history, and between reality and ideology of the ancient authors. This is the role of our generation of archaeologists -- to unearth the real historical reality to find out why and how the biblical records were written."

The archeologists aren't the only ones looking for answers. More than one hundred volunteers come from all corners of the world to dig Megiddo alongside Prof. Finkelstein every year. They are teachers, journalists, actors, construction workers, professors and housewives, as well as archaeology, history and divinity students who dig for credit.

The Megiddo dig is offered as a three-week, four-week or seven-week program. As part of the experience, volunteers live in a nearby kibbutz and are exposed to lectures and debates about their findings. The dig is partnered with the George Washington University, represented by Prof. Eric Cline, the American associate director of the dig. This makes it an ideal stomping ground for Americans who want a hands-on education in archaeology.

"Team and staff members come from all around the world for many reasons: the adventure of foreign travel in a safe yet educational environment, intellectual stimulation, and -- yes -- even a love of digging in the dirt,” notes Prof. Finkelstein.

And those with no prior knowledge or degrees are welcome, he stresses. "We cater to all of the volunteers' backgrounds and teach them field methods, archeological techniques as well as the history of biblical archeology. It is truly a wonderful experience."

Turkish archaeologists harshly criticised Israeli excavation: report

2007-11-19T15:39:00.000+02:00

Source: AFP via Yahoo! News

ANKARA (AFP) - A team of Turkish experts harshly criticised a controversial archaeological dig in Jerusalem undertaken by Israel, according to a report published Friday in the Turkish daily Today's Zaman.

Turkish experts visited the site because the Ayyubid, Mameluke and Ottoman dynasties ruled in the area successively between the 12th century and the beginning of the 20th century.

According to the Turkish team, "the ongoing activities give the impression that they are a planned and systematically implemented effort which aims to destroy the values associated with cultural assets and the sources of information of these cultures," the English-language daily said, citing the actual report.

In February, Israel began excavation work on a pathway leading from the Western (Wailing) Wall to the compound of the Al-Aqsa mosque, Islam's third holiest site, eliciting outrage in the Muslim world and prompting UNESCO to call for an immediate halt to the work.

Published in July but kept secret by Turkish authorities in order not to irritate Israel, according to Today's Zaman, the document was written by the team of architects and archaeologists who visited the site last March.

"It is clearly seen that if appropriate measures are not taken in the excavations performed by the Israeli authorities, no data or remains (from the Ayyubid, Mameluke and Ottoman periods) will survive," according to the report.

The Jerusalem mayor's office decided to suspend work on the project on February 12, but failed to appease Muslim authorities, which asserted that the dig, while not under the Al-Aqsa mosque itself, could harm its foundation.

Israel put off resumption of the dig again last month.

The site of Al-Aqsa mosque is also revered by Jews as the location of their ancient temple, destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD.

Από τις αποθήκες... στις αίθουσες του ΕΑΜ σπουδαίες αιγυπτιακές αρχαιότητες

2007-11-19T15:37:00.000+02:00

Source: in.gr

Οι μούμιες που βρίσκονται στο Εθνικό Αρχαιολογικό Μουσείο βρίσκουν επιτέλους τη θέση που τους αξίζει. Μέσα σε ένα χρόνο θα έχει ολοκληρωθεί η ανακαίνιση αιθουσών του μουσείου, οι οποίες θα φιλοξενήσουν μόνιμη έκθεση αιγυπτιακών και ανατολικών αρχαιοτήτων.

Σύμφωνα με την εφημερίδα Το Βήμα, η Ελλάδα διαθέτει μία από τις εντυπωσιακότερες συλλογές αιγυπτιακών και ανατολικών αρχαιοτήτων, μιας και τα έργα τέχνης που την αποτελούν προέρχονται από δύο ιδιωτικές συλλογές που δωρίθηκαν στο Μουσείο.

Πρόκειται για τις συλλογές δύο ομογενών, του Ιωάννη Δημητρίου, ο οποίος διέμενε στην Αλεξάνδρεια, και του Αλέξανδρου Ρόστοβιτς που διέμενε στο Κάιρο και το 1904 δώρησε στο ΕΑΜ 2.237 αντικείμενα.

Η ελληνική συλλογή από αιγυπτιακές αρχαιότητες αποτελεί την τέταρτη στην Ευρώπη, αυτή τη στιγμή όμως βρίσκεται σχεδόν στο σύνολό της στις αποθήκες του Μουσείου.

Σύντομα όμως έργα που απεικονίζουν τη μικρή πριγκίπισσα Τακουσίτ, τον θεό Όσιρι και τη θεά Ίσι, καθώς και τον φαραώ Ψαμμήτιχος Α' θα βρεθούν στις αίθουσες του ΕΑΜ, μιας και οι αίθουσες του μουσείου ανακαινίζονται.

Προς το παρόν η Τακουσίτ βρίσκεται στο Μητροπολιτικό Μουσείο της Νέας Υόρκης για τις ανάγκες της έκθεσης «Δώρα για τους θεούς. Εικόνες από τους αιγυπτιακούς ναούς», η οποία θα διαρκέσει μέχρι τον Φεβρουάριο του 2008.

Rome adds a 'final jewel' to its archaeological crown

2007-11-15T13:48:00.000+02:00

Source: earthtimes.org

London - In Rome, you never know what you find underneath your home once you start digging. For Enrico Gasbarra, President of the Provincial Administration of Rome, his curiosity to find what Roman treasures might be hiding in underground spaces below his office headquarters, the Valentini Palace, has resulted in one of the most exciting finds of recent years in the ancient city.

Presenting the result of two years of excavations at the World Travel Market (WTM) fair in London Wednesday, Gasbarra described the discovery of a splendid and affluent Roman home (domus) directly underneath his offices as the "final jewel" in the array of historical treasures his administration has to offer.

More than 187 lorry loads of waste and rubble, including office debris and old photocopying machines, had to be removed from the "trash dump" in the courtyard of the Valentini Palace to reveal a new archaeological site consisting of splendid rooms, marbled baths and exquisite mosaics.

"Of course, in a city like Rome it is not unusual to make such discoveries, but this find is of extreme historical significance," Gasbarra said in London.

"It shows that, at the time of the Roman Republic, this area was the political centre, as it is today, where senators and judges lived who worked nearby," he added.

"It was a bit like the Washington of its day," Gasbarra said about the find, which is 300 metres away from the Roman Forum.

With the expert assistance of Piero Angela, Italy's foremost writer and commentator on archaeology, and the help of engineers, historians, archaeologists and computer experts, a museum space of 1,200 square metres has been created underground, linked by a pathway to the Roman Forum into which visitors will be discharged at the end of their tour.

"It is the magic of the cave, of darkness and light that makes this site a special experience," Angela said in London.

With the help of graphical reconstruction and advanced computer technology the visitor will be taken on a virtual reality tour, marvelling at the ancient finds below through a glass floor while reconstructions of the original rooms are being projected onto the walls of the museum.

Film projectors and cameras have been "hidden" throughout the structure to reflect images of what the villa would have looked like in Roman times.

"Visitors will walk over the recovered remains as the ancient domus comes back to life before their eyes," Angela said.

"You enter a virtual reality atmosphere where the smells and sounds of the time, and the virtual structures, will be recreated to give you an extremely exact idea of what it was like," he added.

Only small groups of visitors will be allowed into the museum at any given time after it opens on December 20.

For Gasbarra, the new finds and their reunification with the ancient urban spaces simply are a "new reason to visit Rome at Christmas."

Archaeologists discover ancient cemetery in Syria

2007-11-14T14:45:00.000+02:00

Source: Pravda

2,000-year-old cemetery was discovered in the ancient city of Palmyra that used to be the center of Middle East trade routes.

The National Archaeological Expedition discovered an underground cemetery that dates back to the 2nd century, al-Baath newspaper said, quoting Khalil al-Hariri, the head of the expedition.

He said archaeologists found a stone door and two engraved statues of a family. The limestone sculptures depict them as wearing clerical hats, the ancient traditional clothes in Palmyra, al-Hariri said.

Palmyra, which is located in central Syria and is said to have been founded by King Solomon, was a trade center that boomed with the decline of ancient Petra in modern-day Jordan.

The city, 240 kilometers (150 miles) northeast of Damascus, emerged to become a powerful state after the Romans took control of it, serving as a link between the ancient Orient and Mediterranean countries.

Mummy's curse unwrapped

2007-11-13T14:10:00.000+02:00

Source: The Scotsman

NICK PISA

ON 26 November 1922, archaeologist Howard Carter broke through the sealed wall of a miraculously undisturbed pharaonic tomb in Egypt's Valley of the Kings and was struck dumb for several minutes by the riches within.

"Can you see anything?" Carter's sponsor, the fifth Earl of Carnarvon, eventually blurted, unable to bear the suspense. "Yes," Carter whispered. "Wonderful things."

In fact, the gilded couches and animal sculptures glinting in the antechamber represented a mere fraction of the riches buried with the boy king Tutankhamun, whose mummified body, complete with the dazzling gold and lapis-lazuli death mask, was finally revealed two years later. By then Lord Carnarvon, two of his relatives, and several others involved in the dig were dead, giving rise to rumours of a mummy's curse on the families of those who had opened the tomb.

As archaeologists in Luxor this weekend revealed the face behind the golden death mask and London prepares for new exhibition of Tutankhamun artefacts, I have come the library of the Carnarvon family seat, Highclere Castle in Berkshire, to talk to the eighth earl, Geordie Herbert, about his ancestor's discovery. READ FULL STORY

Νέο εύρημα «βλέπει το φως» 30 χρόνια μετά την ανακάλυψη των τάφων της Βεργίνας

2007-11-13T13:23:00.000+02:00

Source: in.gr

Νέα στοιχεία για τον βασιλιά Φίλιππο φέρνει στο φως η αποκάλυψη ήδη γνωστού ψηφιδωτού δαπέδου στο ανάκτορο των Αιγών, η οποία ανακοινώθηκε κατά τη διάρκεια εκδήλωσης για τα 30 χρόνια από την ανακάλυψη των βασιλικών τάφων στη Βεργίνα από τον καθηγητή Μανόλη Ανδρόνικο.

Σύμφωνα με την αρχαιολόγο της ΙΖ' Εφορείας Κλασσικών και Προϊστορικών Αρχαιοτήτων Αγγελική Κοτταρίδου, το ψηφιδωτό δάπεδο βρίσκεται σε συμποσιακό δωμάτιο στο ανάκτορο των Αιγών και αναπαριστά την αρπαγή της Ευρώπης.

Το φόντο του απεικονίζει θάλασσα, στις τέσσερις γωνίες του υπάρχουν θαλάσσια τέρατα και μικροί έρωτες ενώ στο κέντρο του απεικονίζονται ίχνη ψηφίδων στα πόδια του ταύρου που αρπάζει την Ευρώπη.

Σύμφωνα με την κ. Κοτταρίδου η αποκάλυψη του ψηφιδωτού σε συνδυασμό με άλλες ιστορικές και μυθολογικές πηγές οδηγεί στο συμπέρασμα ότι ο βασιλιάς των Μακεδόνων Φίλιππος ο Β' θεωρούσε τον εαυτό του ως «εν δυνάμει Ευρωπαίο ηγέτη».

Η εκδήλωση για τα 30 χρόνια από την ανακάλυψη των βασιλικών τάφων της Βεργίνας έγινε στην αίθουσα δοκιμών της Κρατικής Ορχήστρας Θεσσαλονίκης, παρουσία του γενικού γραμματέα του υπουργείου Πολιτισμού Χρήστου Ζαχόπουλου, με ομιλητές καθηγήτριες που συνεργάζονταν με τον Μανόλη Ανδρόνικο και αρχαιολόγους.

Την Παρασκευή θα δοθεί συναυλία στο Μέγαρο Μουσικής Θεσσαλονίκης, αφιερωμένη στην επέτειο της ανακάλυψης του βασιλικού τάφου, με έργα Ντβόρακ και Τσαϊκόφσκι που θα ερμηνεύσει η Ρωσίδα βιολοντσελίστρια Νατάλια Γκούτμαν. Διευθυντής της ορχήστρας θα είναι ο Ρούντολφ Μπαρσάι.

The Combat Archaeology Research Project

2007-11-12T15:10:00.000+02:00

The Combat Archaeology Research Project (CARP)

The primary objectives of this project are to elucidate ancient and medieval martial arts (and their social functions), the technological evolution of weaponry, and the experience of the individual warrior or soldier from the perspective of the human body and mind in a combat environment.

Bad Science II

2007-11-08T15:38:00.001+02:00

In an earlier post (Bad Science!!!!), I mentioned the "new" decipherment of the middle section (i.e. the one written in Demotic) of the Rosetta Stone. The study, which was undertaken by Professors Boshevski and Tentov from the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM), has tried to prove that the text was actually written in "Macedonian", the language of the then rulers of Egypt (i.e. the Ptolemies).

Although I don't wish to go into detail about the numerous shortcomings and flaws of the methods and techniques used in the so-called decipherment, I would like to make a simple point which immediately debunks their argument. The two aforementioned scholars seem to not know that the Demotic script was in use from ca. 650 BCE down to the third century AD, something that clearly shows that it wasn't used exclusively by the Ptolemies.

Of course, no mainstream archaeologists or ancient historians have taken the new decipherment seriously. The whole endeavour is just another attempt by FYROM scholars and politicians to construct a new national identity, an identity connected to Alexander the Great and his legacy.

In a similar tone, another study has recently claimed that mythical Orpheus was also "Macedonian"! For more info on that, take a look at Focus-Fen.

I wonder what's next...

Excavations to continue in Bitlis

2007-11-08T15:26:00.000+02:00

Source: Turkish Daily News

Significant archaeological findings have been unearthed during this year's excavations in the eastern Anatolian province of Bitlis.

Head of excavations, Kadir Pektaş, from Denizli-based Pamukkale University said a number of coins, ceramic pieces and tobacco ringlets were found during excavations which focused on the bath, city walls in the East of the city and İç Kale (palace) region, speaking to the Anatolia news agency.

This year we conducted the digs at three points in the region. We unearthed the rectangular shaped structures belonging to the 18th and 19th century in the bath area. The tandoor, a cylindrical clay oven, as well as some other findings here indicate that these structures used to be houses, he said.

Noting that during excavations near the city walls in the eastern part of the city an irregular structure was uncovered, and the millstones and kitchen pots found there also showed that the structures served as houses in ancient times.

He said they came across similar structures in the İç Kale region. However, lower parts of the walls feature a different technique. We assume that these particular structures were built in the 15th century, he said.

Ceramic pieces and tobacco ringlets and coins belonging to the Roman, Byzantium and Ottoman period were also among the findings excavated in the area, according to him. All findings were handed over to the Bitlis Ethnography Museum after they are cleaned, restored and listed.

Pektaş said they planned to excavate in the same areas next year. We will try to obtain more evidence about the structures and settlement with further excavations to be held in 2008, he said.

The Culture and Tourism Ministry, Bitlis Governorship and the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBİTAK) jointly financed the excavations.

Rice University professor debunks National Geographic translation of Gospel of Judas

2007-11-05T14:38:00.000+02:00

Source: EurekAlert!

A new book by Rice University professor April DeConick debunks a stunning claim by National Geographic's translation of the Gospel of Judas. According to that translation, Judas was a hero, not a villain, who acted on Jesus' request to betray him. DeConick disagrees.

Before releasing her book "The Thirteenth Apostle: What the Gospel of Judas Really Says," DeConick was intrigued by the original release of the Coptic Gospel of Judas and as a scholar wanted to read it for herself. While researching and translating it, she discovered that National Geographic's translators had made some serious errors.

"Once I started translating the Gospel of Judas and began to see the types of translation choices that the National Geographic team had made I was startled and concerned," DeConick said. "The text very clearly called Judas a 'demon.'"

DeConick contends that the Gospel of Judas is not about a "good" Judas or even a "poor old" Judas. It is a gospel parody about a "demon" Judas written by a particular group of Gnostic Christians who lived in the second century.

"The finding of this gospel has been called one of the most important archaeological discoveries in the past 60 years," DeConick said. "It's important that we get this right."

DeConick said many scholars and writers have been inspired by the National Geographic version.

"It appears to have something to do with our collective guilt about anti-Semitism and our need to reform the relationship between Jews and Christians following World War II," she said. "Judas is a frightening character. For Christians, he is the one who had it all, and yet betrayed God to his death for a few dollars. For Jews, he is terrifying, the man whom Christians associated the Jewish people, whose story was used against them for centuries."

###

DeConick is the Isla Carroll and Percy E. Turner Professor of Biblical Studies at Rice University in Houston. To read more about her teachings, visit http://reli.rice.edu/rice_reli.cfm?a=cms,c,38,1

"The Thirteenth Apostle" (Continuum International Publishing Group) is available to purchase on www.amazon.com.

April DeConick is available nationwide for media interviews. To book an interview, contact David Ruth at 713-348-6327 or druth@rice.edu.

Exhibition on antiquities theft by Hellenic Culture Foundation in Trieste

2007-11-05T14:36:00.000+02:00

Source: ekathimerini

‘History Lost’ currently on display at the Castello San Giusto in Trieste, Italy.

The Hellenic Foundation for Culture recently unveiled a major exhibition in Trieste, titled «History Lost: The Illicit Antiquities Trade and its Impact on Civilization,» held at the city's historical Castello San Giusto.

Jointly organized with the City of Trieste, the exhibition presents the effects of the illicit trade of antiquities on our culture and civilization. It features copies of archaeological finds that have been returned to Greece over the past few years, after ongoing claims. These include a golden wreath from Macedonia and a marble head of the god Dionysus from Corinth, among others.

The display takes travelers on a journey from the looting of Baghdad's archaeological museum and the destruction of statues in Cambodian temples to the sale of ancient artifacts from various Mediterranean countries to auction houses in the United States.

Its aim is to demonstrate that ancient finds are absolutely useless as knowledge of the past when they are cut off from the information on their homeland. The foundation's president, Professor Georgios Babiniotis, noted that the display is a contribution to the international society of culture, as illicit trade is worldwide and the loss of historical knowledge affects all of humanity.

The Hellenic Foundation for Culture has undertaken the initiative to present the exhibition in different cities abroad, namely in Lisbon, Paris, London and Berlin, among others.

The volcano that buried a library

2007-11-03T16:45:00.000+02:00

Source: Athens News

RICHARD OWEN

Archaeologists have resumed their search for a library of Greek and Latin masterpieces that is thought to lie under volcanic rock at the ancient Roman site of Herculaneum.

The scrolls, which have been called the Holy Grail of classical literature, are thought to have been lost when Mount Vesuvius erupted in AD79, burying the wealthy Roman city of Herculaneum and neighbouring Pompeii.

Previous digs have unearthed classical works at a building now known as the Villa of the Papyri, thought to have belonged to Julius Caesar's father-in-law, Lucius Calpurnius Piso, who was known to be a lover of poetry.

The villa was found by chance in the 18th century by engineers digging a well shaft. Tunnels bored into the rock brought to light stunning ancient sculptures - now in the National Archaeological Museum of Naples - and 1,800 carbonised papyrus scrolls. The writings were mainly works by the Epicurean Greek philosopher Philodemus, who was part of Piso's entourage.

Ten years ago two floors of the villa were discovered, as well as the remains of nearby gardens, ornamental ponds, a bathhouse and a collapsed seaside pavilion. The excavation was halted in 1998 as funds ran out and archaeologists protested at the use of mechanical diggers by a private builder to smash through the rock.

The site was opened to the public four years ago, but has now been closed again so that archaeologists using picks and trowels can dig out the frescoed corridor or cryptoportico on the lower ground floor. They are also conserving mosaics and frescoes already found on the top floor to protect them from damp and erosion.

"Work can resume because we are combining archaeology with responsible conservation, which was not the case in the 1990s," said Andrew Wallace-Hadrill, the director of the British School at Rome and head of the Herculaneum Conservation Project, which is funded by the Packard Humanities Institute to the tune of 3 million dollars a year.

Maria Paola Guidobaldi, the director of excavations at Herculaneum, said that the new Villa of the Papyri dig was backed by a further 3 million euros from the EU and the Campania region, and would last a year and a half. "We will proceed cautiously - and if we find more papyri or statues, we will be delighted," she said.

Some historians believe that the papyri, which may have included lost masterpieces by Aristotle, Euripides or Sophocles, were being packed to be taken to safety when the eruption occurred. The scrolls would have been scattered throughout the 2,800sqm of the villa by the violent force of the 160kmh "pyroclastic flow" of ash, gas and mud.

Professor Wallace-Hadrill said that next year work would also begin on excavating the basilica, the great hall housing Herculaneum's legal and administrative centre. It lies beneath a rubbish-strewn wasteland that was covered until recently by dilapidated modern housing, some of it built illegally with the connivance of the Camorra - the Naples Mafia. The local authorities have bought and demolished some of the buildings.

In the past some scholars have insisted that the priority at Herculaneum should be conservation rather than excavation. But campaigners led by Robert Fowler, Professor of Greek at Bristol University, and the novelist Robert Harris have argued passionately that the search for the "lost library" must go on.

The villa captured the imagination of the American billionaire J Paul Getty, whose museum at Malibu, California, the Getty Villa, is a replica. The carbonised scrolls recovered so far were deciphered by computer-enhanced multispectral imaging.

DNA shows ancient ship carried olive oil, oregano

2007-11-03T16:42:00.000+02:00

Source: Reuters

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - DNA scraped from inside clay vessels show that a ship that sank off the coast of Greece 2,400 years ago was carrying a cargo of olive oil, oregano, and probably wine, researchers reported on Friday.

The new research may offer a way to analyze the long-gone contents of hundreds of containers, said Brendan Foley of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.

Writing in the Journal of Archeological Science, Foley and colleagues at Lund University in Sweden said they were able to get DNA sequences from the insides of two amphoras recovered in 230 feet of water in 2005.

The clay containers appeared empty, but the researchers decided to try testing for DNA anyhow. To their surprise, they got some -- and not the DNA they were expecting.

The island of Chios where the shipwreck was found was well-known in the ancient world as a major exporter of highly prized wines. But the two amphora in fact carried DNA from olives and oregano.

They also found evidence of wine and perhaps pistachios, they said.

Foley hopes to use the technique to find out more details about the ancient shipping trade.

"Imagine if you were asked to analyze the American economy just by looking at the empty shells of 40-foot (12-metre) shipping containers," he said in a statement.

"You could say something, but not much."

A New Blog: http://joliheroics.blogspot.com/

2007-11-02T15:10:00.000+02:00

Joint Library of the Hellenic & Roman Societies / Institute of Classical Studies Library

The Library is maintained jointly with the Societies for the Promotion of Hellenic and Roman Studies and in association with the Institute of Classical Studies (University of London). It contains over 100,000 volumes, 18,250 bound volumes of periodicals and has an international reputation as one of the world’s foremost Classics libraries.

http://joliheroics.blogspot.com/

Stanford acquires a ‘world-class’ Egyptology library

2007-11-01T13:59:00.000+02:00

Source: Stanford News Service

BY CYNTHIA HAVEN

Stanford has acquired the library of one of the foremost Egyptologists of the 20th century.

The collection of Wolja Erichsen (1890-1966), now at Stanford's Green Library, documents more than 1,500 years of Egyptian history, ranging from about 650 B.C. to about A.D. 1000. It includes Egypt's important transition from paganism to Christianity.

"The Erichsen library is one of the most significant and perhaps the last great Egyptology library in private hands," said Joe Manning, associate professor of classics. "It is difficult to overestimate the importance of acquiring this collection. Stanford's acquisition adds great momentum to our research and strengthens our profile as one of the very best places in the world to study ancient Mediterranean civilizations."

Manning, speaking at an Oct. 15 reception to celebrate the acquisition, emphasized that this contribution from the "heroic age" of Egyptology, which peaked between 1880 and 1920 and was centered in Berlin, is "a huge deal."

"The gift of a library is not the sexiest thing in the world—people prefer to build buildings—but this is much more important," he said, to laughter and scattered applause.

Erichsen, a professor at the University of Copenhagen, was a specialist in demotic Egyptian, the script and language of Egypt from 650 B.C. to A.D. 200, and Coptic, the last stage of the ancient Egyptian language that has particular importance for the study of early Christianity, especially since Egypt was the location of the earliest organized church.

Erichsen, for many years based in Berlin, is perhaps most famous for his important dictionary of demotic, Demotisches Glossar (1954), which is still fundamental in the field, and his Demotische Lesestücke (1937-39), a collection of demotic Egyptian texts used for teaching the language even today.

After Erichsen's death, heirs were divided about where the library should go. At one point it was considered by the universities of Würzberg and Chicago, but the collection stayed in Copenhagen until Stanford acquired it.

"The breadth of text editions and studies of demotic and Coptic text editions represented in this library is unmatched," Manning said. Many of the volumes are extremely rare text editions published in Germany before 1940. These editions often have large folio photographic plate volumes. "They are often better than working with digital photos, and simpler and easier to use," Manning added. "They are the next best thing to being there."

In many cases, they provide high-quality 16-by-20-inch photographs of texts that no longer exist because the original papyri were lost or destroyed during World War II.

The collection also contains "beautiful volumes of Egypt and Nubian temples and site plans, a lot of them now gone," Manning said. War wasn't the only enemy: The Aswan Dam flooded some historic sites, other temples were removed from original sites and reestablished in museums, and still other sites have been rifled since books about them were written in the 18th and 19th centuries.

"Arabs were not exactly keen on the ancient monuments—nor were the early Christians," Manning said. "They saw them as potential quarried stone." Hence, old stone from ancient sites was reassembled into new buildings, obliterating ancient history.

It's commonly believed that modern technology and techniques have antiquated the research of an earlier area, but the assumption does not necessarily hold in late Egyptology, a history that is very much a work-in-progress, according to Manning.

"There's a dialogue between the new and old material," he said. "Half of the known demotic texts are not even published. There are still papyri coming up out of the ground." Manning noted that, for instance, 8,000 new papyri of Greek and demotic texts were discovered in the last few seasons at a single site in Egypt. It shows that the available knowledge of the era is far from complete, and scholars are still playing catch-up. Much of the older work has not been revised or updated.

The new acquisition will be the "basis of history-building about this period. It gives great momentum to our work," Manning said. "With this gift, Stanford Libraries have gone from having an average holding of Egyptology to world class."

He said that Egyptology is "a small field, but an important field in human history." Some of its importance, however, may be lost on the uneducated eye.

For example, Coptic, a language that never truly died and is still preserved in the liturgies of the Coptic churches, is a critical language for decoding ancient Egyptian. In fact, Coptic is the last stage of ancient Egyptian, using a Greek alphabet, with an important difference: Ancient written languages don't use vowels, but Coptic does. Hence, it has provided clues to how the ancient Egyptian language was pronounced, and also indicates the dialects of ancient Egyptian, corresponding to Coptic dialect up and down Egypt.

The story behind Stanford's acquisition of Erichsen's library is an appealing one: Howard Carter discovered the tomb of Tutankhamen in 1922, the same year that young Edna Kumpe (later Upton) graduated from college. Carter's discovery inaugurated her lifelong interest in Egypt and the Bible, rooted in early Coptic translations of biblical texts.

Upton's granddaughter, Stanford alumna Chele Chiavacci, made a donation in the name of her late grandmother. Chiavacci is managing director of Mistral Capital International and also on the advisory board of the Stanford Archaeology Center.

The donation, augmented with a contribution from the Classics Department and matching funds from the Provost's Office, was used to purchase the Erichsen collection.

The Edna Kumpe Upton Memorial Erichsen Library will be housed and available for study partly in the Department of Special Collections and partly in the Green Library general collection stacks.

Επαναπατρίστηκαν 94 νεολιθικά αντικείμενα που εκλάπησαν το 1985 στη Λάρισα

2007-10-31T15:20:00.000+02:00

Source: in.gr

Στην Ελλάδα επέστρεψαν 94 αντικείμενα της νεολιθικής εποχής που είχαν κλαπεί από συλλέκτη το 1985 στη Λάρισα. Προσωρινά βρίσκονται στο Εθνικό Αρχαιολογικό Μουσείο, μέχρι να προγραμματιστεί η μεταφορά τους στο Αρχαιολογικό Μουσείο της Λάρισας όπου ανήκουν.

Οι αρχαιότητες είχαν κλαπεί πριν από 22 χρόνια σε ένοπλη ληστεία στην οικία του συλλέκτη Κωνσταντίνου Θεοδωρόπουλου και στη συνέχεια προωθήθηκαν σε μουσείο του Μονάχου.

Πρόκειται για λίθινες και πήλινες σφραγίδες, λίθινα εργαλεία και φιάλες και 63 μαρμάρινα και πήλινα νεολιθικά αγγεία, εξήγησε ο διευθυντής του Εθνικού Αρχαιολογικού Μουσείου Ν. Καλτσάς στην τελετή παράδοσης την Τρίτη.

Ο Μιχάλης Λιάπης, ικανοποιημένος από την εξέλιξη της υπόθεσης, τόνισε πως η αντιμετώπιση της κλοπής και παράνομης διακίνησης αρχαιοτήτων βρίσκεται στον πυρήνα της πολιτικής του υπουργείου Πολιτισμού.

Ικανοποίηση Λιάπη από την εξέλιξη των εργασιών στην Αρχαία Ολυμπία

2007-10-28T14:11:00.000+02:00

Source: in.gr

«Οι εργασίες αποκατάστασης στην Αρχαία Ολυμπία προχωρούν βάσει του χρονοδιαγράμματος που είχαμε σχεδιάσει και προσωπικά είμαι ιδιαίτερα ικανοποιημένος. Σε λίγο καιρό θα αποδώσουμε στη διεθνή κοινότητα την Αρχαία Ολυμπία αποκαταστημένη» δήλωσε ο υπουργός Πολιτισμού Μιχάλης Λιάπης, ο οποίος επισκέφθηκε για δεύτερη φορά την περιοχή.

Η τελετή αφής της Ολυμπιακής φλόγας θα γίνει στις 24 Μαρτίου «κατά τον καλύτερο τρόπο» είπε χαρακτηριστικά ο κ. Λιάπης.

Ο υπουργός Πολιτισμού δεν στάθηκε μόνο στην αποκατάσταση της περιοχής από την πυρκαγιά, αλλά αναφέρθηκε και στην εκτέλεση έργων για περαιτέρω ανάδειξη της Αρχαίας Ολυμπίας. Όπως σημείωσε, «θέλουμε με μακρόπνοα έργα να αναδείξουμε ακόμη περισσότερο αυτό το μνημείο - σύμβολο της πολιτιστικής μας κληρονομιάς».

Πρόσθεσε ότι «η πολιτική βούληση είναι δεδομένη, χρήματα υπάρχουν και η παρακολούθηση των έργων θα είναι άμεση και διαρκής, διότι δεν δικαιολογούνται καθυστερήσεις».

Επίσης, ο υπουργός Πολιτισμού ζήτησε από τον περιφερειάρχη Δυτικής Ελλάδας Σπύρο Σπυρίδωνα, να ολοκληρωθούν μέσα στην επόμενη εβδομάδα οι πληρωμές των εργαζομένων που απασχολούνται στα έργα αποκατάστασης.

Εν τω μεταξύ, σύμφωνα με Τα Νέα, 20 χρόνια και 30.000 δέντρα και θάμνοι, σε πρώτη φάση, θα χρειαστούν για να αποκατασταθεί το τοπίο στον αρχαιολογικό χώρο της Ολυμπίας.

Με τα 30.000 δέντρα, μόλις το 1/3 όσων κάηκαν στην πυρκαγιά του Αυγούστου, επιχειρείται να βελτιωθεί η αποκαρδιωτική εικόνα της Αρχαίας Ολυμπίας εν όψει της τελετής της Αφής της Ολυμπιακής Φλόγας στις 25 Μαρτίου για τους Αγώνες του Πεκίνου.

Οι επεμβάσεις στην αποκατάσταση της εικόνας του αρχαιολογικού χώρου θα είναι ριζικές, καθώς τη θέση των πεύκων που κυριαρχούσαν θα πάρουν κυρίως πλατύφυλλα δέντρα, που αν καούν να μπορούν να ξαναβλαστήσουν με στόχο την αποκαστάση του αρχαίου δρυοδάσους.

Για τον λόγο αυτό θα χρησιμοποιηθούν 26 διαφορετικά είδη δένδρων και θάμνων -ανάμεσά τους βελανιδιά, δρυς, ελιά, κυπαρίσσι, πουρνάρι, κουτσουπιά, κουμαριά, δάφνη, λυγαριά, μυρτιά, πικροδάφνη, αγριοτριανταφυλλιά, σφενδάμι- για να καλύψουν τις καταστροφές σε συνολικά 255 στρέμματα του αρχαιολογικού χώρου και των γύρω λόφων.

Το βάρος προγραμματίζεται να πέσει στο σήμα κατατεθέν του τοπίου της Αρχαίας Ολυμπίας, τον Κρόνιο Λόφο. Κουμαριές και σπάρτα, που δεν θα έχουν μεγάλο ύψος για να μην κρύψουν τη γραμμή του ορίζοντα, θα φυτευτούν με υδροσπορά (ειδικό σύστημα φύτευσης διά ψεκασμού) πάνω σε ειδικό (βιοδιασπώμενο μέσα σε τέσσερα χρόνια) γεωΰφασμα.

Στο μέσον του λόφου θα φυτευτούν δρυς και κουτσουπιές, ενώ στο κάτω μέρος τον ρόλο «κουρτίνας» θα παίξουν δάφνες, ελιές και κουτσουπιές με ύψος έως και 2 μ. Απαραίτητη προϋπόθεση να γίνει διασκόπηση του εδάφους καθώς ο Κρόνιος Λόφος έχει ανασκαφεί ελάχιστα.

Λυγαριές, πικροδάφνες, κυπαρίσσια και αγριελιές από την Κρήτη θα βρουν τη θέση τους σε δυο λωρίδες που θα διαμορφωθούν εκατέρωθεν του μήκους 80 μ. διαδρόμου προς το μνημείο του Πιερ Ντε Κουμπερντέν. Μικρές συστάδες δέντρων θα τοποθετηθούν κατά μήκους του οδικού δικτύου εντός του αρχαιολογικού χώρου, ενώ οι ξένοι προς την τοπική χλωρίδα ευκάλυπτοι και οι τριανταφυλλιές που βρίσκονταν έξω από το μουσείο προβλέπεται να αντικατασταθούν με αγριοτριανταφυλλιές, δάφνες και πλατάνια.

Προβληματισμός ωστόσο προέκυψε για την προέλευση των υπεραιωνόβιων ελαιοδέντρων που θα ταξιδέψουν από την Κρήτη, καθώς θεωρήθηκε «προβληματικό» το έπαθλο των Ολυμπιακών Αγώνων, το στεφάνι ελιάς, να προέρχεται από ελαιόδεντρα Κρήτης!

Ωστόσο, η μυθολογία «που θέλει την πρώτη ελιά να φτάνει στην Ολυμπία από την Κρήτη» φαίνεται να δίνει το πράσινο φως για το ταξίδι των 170 δέντρων. Τα υπόλοιπα φυτά έχουν δεσμευθεί ήδη στην πλειονότητά τους από φυτώρια της Πάτρας, ανάμεσά τους κάπου 4.200 κυπαρίσσια, το ύψος των οποίων κυμαίνεται από 50 εκατ. έως 3 μέτρα.

Job at Dartmouth College

2007-10-27T19:44:00.000+03:00

Seen at AegeaNet

DARTMOUTH COLLEGE HANOVER, NH

The Department of Classics at Dartmouth College anticipates an opening for a one-year visiting professor to teach courses in introductory archaeology, Greek archaeology and elementary Latin from September 2008 through March 2009. In addition, the candidate should be prepared to assist a Dartmouth faculty member in Greece during the Spring quarter of 2009 (late March through early June) for the department's off-campus program (extensive travel required). Ph.D. is expected at the time of appointment (July 2008).

Please send a letter of application, a curriculum vitae, transcript, and three letters of recommendation to: Robin Donovan, Department Administrator, Classics Department, 6086 Reed Hall, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH 03755.
Review of applications will begin on December 1, 2007, and continue until the position is filled. Electronic submissions are encouraged. Inquiries may be directed to Robin.T.Donovan@Dartmouth.edu or 603-646-3394. Dartmouth College is an Affirmative Action and Equal Opportunity Employer.

Next Aegean Seminar in Zagreb

2007-10-27T19:42:00.000+03:00

Seen at AegeaNet

The next Aegean Seminar in Croatia will take place on 05 November 2007 at 18.30 at the lecture hall of the Croatian Journalists’ Association, Perkovčeva Street 2, Zagreb. It will host Professor Emeritus Christos Doumas with a lecture titled "The volcanic eruption of Thera and the fiction of Atlantis".

In addition to this, prof. Doumas will give a University lecture "Aegean islands – cradle of civilisation" on 06 November 2007 at 11.15. The venue of this lecture is the Department of Archaeology, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Lecture Hall VI, Ivana Lucica Street 3, Zagreb.

For any further information, please contact Helena Tomas on htomas@ffzg.hr.

A 3,000-year-old mystery is finally solved: Tutankhamun died in a hunting accident

2007-10-23T15:36:00.000+03:00

Source: The Independent

By Steve Connor, Science Editor

The mystery behind the sudden death of Tutankhamun, the boy king who ruled Egypt more than 3,000 years ago, may have been finally solved by scientists who believe that he fell from a fast-moving chariot while out hunting in the desert.

Speculation surrounding Tutankhamun's death has been rife since his tomb was broken into in 1922 by archaeologist Howard Carter. X-rays of the mummy taken in 1968 indicated a swelling at the base of the skull, suggesting "King Tut" was killed by a blow to the head.

More recent studies using a CT medical scanner, however, revealed he suffered a badly broken leg, just above his knee just before he died. That in turn probably led to lethal blood poisoning. Now further evidence has come to light suggesting that he suffered the fracture while hunting game from a chariot.

The new findings are still circumstantial but one of Egypt's leading experts on Tutankhamun will say in a television documentary to be screened this week that he believes the case is now solved on how the boy king met his sudden and unexpected end.

"He was not murdered as many people thought. He had an accident when he was hunting in the desert. Falling from a chariot made this fracture in his left leg and this really is in my opinion how he died," said Zahi Hawass, general secretary of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities.

Until now, many historians had assumed that he was treated as a rather fragile child who was cosseted and protected from physical danger. However, Nadia Lokma of the Cairo Museum said that a recent analysis of the chariots found in the tombs of the pharaohs indicated that they were not merely ceremonial but show signs of wear and tear. Hundreds of arrows recovered from the tomb also show evidence of having been fired and recovered. "These chariots are hunting chariots, not war chariots. You can see from the wear on them that they were actually used in life," Dr Lokma said.

A cache of clothing found in Tutankhamun's tomb, which was stored in the vaults of the Cairo Museum, suggest that he was accustomed to riding these chariots himself. They include a specially-adapted corset which would have protected the wearer's abdominal organs from any damage from an accident or the heavy jostling of a chariot ride.

A final piece of evidence comes from a garland of flowers placed around the neck of Tutankhamun's mummy. Botanists found it included cornflowers and mayweed that were fresh at the time the decoration was made.

"The cornflower and mayweed on the garland around the mummy were in flower in March and April, which tells us the time of year he was buried," said Nigel Hepper of the Royal Horticultural Society at Kew Gardens.

Because the flowers could have been collected only between the middle of March and the end of April, and as the complex process of mummification lasted 70 days, this meant Tutankhamun probably died in December or January. That timing coincided with the middle of the winter hunting season.

The results of the latest research into Tutankhamun, which are to feature in a Channel Five documentary tomorrow evening, come just a few weeks before Britain hosts the first exhibition of his tomb's artefacts in 35 years at The O2 centre, formerly the Millennium Dome, in south-east London.

When the first Tutankhamun exhibition in London was held at the British Museum in 1972, some 1.5 million people made the pilgrimage to see his fabulous solid-gold facemask. This time, however, the mask will remain in Egypt because of fears it might not withstand the trip.

The present-day Lord Carnarvon, whose ancestor paid for Howard Carter's 1922 expedition, said the latest findings indicated that Tutankhamun was an active young man who took risks with his life.

"I thought he was an over-cosseted child, but I think he was really out there in the field and taking part in things towards the end of his short life," Lord Carnarvon said. "His chariots could have reached considerable speeds, up to 25mph. If a chariot turns over at that speed, you could easily break your leg very seriously."

Turkish Dam May Leave Mosques, Mosaics to Tigris Scuba Divers

2007-10-20T14:44:00.000+03:00

Source: Bloomberg.com

By Ben Holland

Oct. 19 (Bloomberg) -- Hasankeyf in southeast Turkey has been home to Assyrians, Romans, Byzantines and Ottomans over the past 3,000 years, and has the monuments to prove it. Visitors may soon need scuba gear to see them.

Turkey plans to build a $1.7 billion dam to generate power from the Tigris River, which flows through Hasankeyf en route to Iraq. Archaeologists are fighting the project so they don't have to choose between moving fragile structures like Hasankeyf's Silk Road bridge or seeing them submerged under 100 feet (30 meters) of water.

The town's history unfolds down the sandstone cliffs that line the Tigris. On the plateau above the river lie the ruins of a castle built by Byzantine emperor Constantine the Great. Caves carved into the sheer walls three millennia ago were inhabited until the 1960s. Near the river, archaeologists have uncovered a complex of medieval mosques, palaces and shops.

``It's tragic and it's outrageous'' to flood the valley, says Tom Sinclair, a history professor at the University of Cyprus. ``You can just walk in there and immediately get the idea of a medieval city.''

Archaeologists and environmentalists last year asked the European Court of Human Rights to stop the dam, known as the Ilisu project. The court in April rejected the case because European human rights laws don't protect cultural heritage, says Murat Cano, the lawyer who filed the action.

The government sidelined an earlier project six years ago after protests by environmental and human rights groups. In response, planners agreed to build a new town for Hasankeyf residents and move some of the monuments.

`Already Collapsing'

``These structures are already collapsing,'' says Yunus Bayraktar, who oversees the project for Turkish builder Nurol Holding AS. ``If there wasn't a dam project, they'd all be going to hell.''

Unfurling maps and plans across the table in his Ankara office, Bayraktar describes the future Hasankeyf: marinas, an open-air museum and a steady flow of tourists drawn to the monuments and water sports on a lake six times the size of Manhattan. The caves can be transformed into luxury apartments, and ``the world's billionaires will come and buy them,'' he says.

Present-day Hasankeyf straddles the Tigris. Above the town rise the minarets of the 15th-century El-Rizk mosque, which has a twin spiral staircase leading up the tower. Children compete to tell visitors how the architect escaped down one stairway as his angry master, sword in hand, pursued him up the other.

Three pillars survive from the stone bridge once used by travelers on the Silk Road from China to Constantinople. On the river's north bank sits an onion-domed tomb inlaid with blue tiles that was built for the son of the Turkmen King Hasan the Tall in the 14th century.

`Stone Would Crumble'

``I don't think they can be moved,'' says Abdusselam Ulucam, the Turkish archaeologist in charge of excavation at Hasankeyf. ``The stone would crumble to dust in your hands.''

There is probably more to be found. Last month, a security guard stumbled across a Roman mosaic on a wall buried behind the rubble inside a chamber at the base of the cliffs.

``It just shows you what else could be discovered,'' says Sinclair, author of a four-volume study of east Turkey's antiquities published by Pindar Press.

The dam's builders and financial backers, including Societe Generale SA and export credit agencies in Germany, Switzerland and Austria, say they'll pay for archaeologists to keep digging until the waters rise.

Turkey has made ``fundamental improvements'' in the project, with social and environmental criteria to be monitored by independent experts, Paris-based Societe Generale said in an e-mailed response to questions.

Creating Jobs

Some locals welcome the project because it will create jobs.

Sait Tekin, a local shopkeeper, says there is now work in Hasankeyf because investment dried up after the dam was first proposed half a century ago.

``It's better that it should be flooded than stay like this,'' Tekin says as he chats with friends at his general store on the city's main street. ``We just want to know what's going to happen.''

Others aren't convinced.

``This is my home. Of course I don't want to leave it,'' says Cigdem Kayalar, 16, as she milks goats in the shade by the river's edge. Kayalar admits life in Hasankeyf isn't easy: her father can only find work when archaeologists are in town, paying locals about 1 lira (81 cents) an hour to dig for them.

Ilisu is one of 13 dams planned for the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, as Turkey strives to meet the needs of its growing economy. When completed in about seven years, the project will generate 3,800 gigawatt-hours of power annually, or 2.4 percent of Turkey's current output, according to Energy Ministry figures.

Lawyer Cano recognizes that Turkey needs power and that the latest Ilisu project will relocate or compensate the 55,000 people who'll lose their homes.

Still, he says, Hasankeyf shouldn't be flooded.

``Each civilization has a duty to pass on what has survived from its predecessors,'' he says. ``Invest, for sure, but also protect.''

To contact the reporter on this story: Ben Holland in Istanbul at bholland1@bloomberg.net .

When, not if, the marbles return...

2007-10-20T14:37:00.000+03:00

Source: ekathimerini

A crane transferring a crate of antiquities from the old to the new Acropolis Museum.

HELBI

The Acropolis is “missing the Marbles,” was the headline of a story in the Christian Science Monitor by Nicole Itano, in a report on the beginning of a large-scale operation last week to move tons of antiquities from the Acropolis to the new museum at its foot. At 9 a.m. sharp last Sunday, a 2.3-ton marble sculpture was the first of 4,500 works of art that will be moved over the next three months. The new museum, however, will be better known for what is missing from it rather than for what it contains. For when it opens to the public next year, the celebrated Parthenon Marbles, also known as the “Elgin Marbles” after the British member of the nobility who made off with them in the 19th century, will still be missing. Nearly 200 years later, the British Museum still has about half of the extant Parthenon sculptures. Greece hopes that the new museum will put more pressure on London to return them. The latest battle to have the marbles returned dates back to 1982, when the then culture minister, actress Melina Mercouri, speaking at a UN conference, called for their return. The Christian Science Monitor quoted Anthony Snodgrass, a retired professor of classical archaeology at Cambridge University and chairman of the British Committee for the Reunification of the Parthenon Marbles. “One of the arguments in the past that was always used was, if only Athens had a proper exhibition space for the marbles and if only the Greeks showed themselves able to look after and exhibit the marbles satisfactorily, it would be a different matter,”... “Now everybody will be able to see for themselves what is being perpetuated by keeping the two halves of the marbles apart. And this will be graphically displayed in the new museum.” The US-based Swiss architect who designed the museum, Bernard Tschumi, said the missing marbles were “central to his design.” As for the British Museum, its spokesperson Hannah Boulton, told the newspaper that “the very purpose of the British Museum is to present a unique overview of world civilization, and the Parthenon Marbles are an integral part of that.” Germany’s Deutsche Welle press review, and Austria’s daily Die Presse both carried extensive reports on the importance of the new museum. It is clear that Greece is not alone in seeking the return of its cultural treasures. Meanwhile, Jules Dassin, the president and soul of the Melina Mercouri Foundation, which was instrumental in realizing the new museum, said nothing can stop an idea whose time has come.

Italian experts to explore parts of ancient Patliputra

2007-10-19T15:57:00.000+03:00

Source: m&c

Patna, Oct 18 (IANS) A three-member Italian archaeologist team, in a joint collaboration with the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), will explore the undiscovered parts of the ancient Patliputra, near moder-day Patna.

'Our thrust will be to study, explore and identify new sites related to ancient Patliputra,' Giovenni Veradi, an internationally acclaimed archaeologist, told IANS here Thursday.

'The team will seek financial assistance from Italian government to go ahead with its joint collaboration and to explore the sites,' he said.

Giovenni Veradi's latest excavation work at Gotinava in Nepal was lauded for its discovery of tracing the spread of Mauryan empire beyond India to Nepal and China.

The ASI is also upbeat to join hands with Italian archaeologists. 'It is going to be a big move to explore many more new facts about Patliputra,' said P.K. Mishra, superintendent archaeologist of the Patna circle.

It is widely believed by the experts that Patliputra was much bigger than what has been discovered till date.

'It is a hard fact that Patliputra remains one of the least explored of the ancient sites in India, ' Mishra said.

Mishra said that the fresh explorations assume much significance in view of the satellite images taken by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) last year.

Italian archaeologists are planning to study stone slabs and Arogya Vihar or hospital-cum-monastery at Kumrahar, six km from Patna.

Chinese scholars Hieun Tsang and Fa Hien have accounted the size and grandeur of the ancient Patiliputra. Megasthenese, the celebrated Greek ambassador in the court of Chandragupta Maurya, gave vivid accounts of Patilputra in his book 'Indica'.

Job at UCL

2007-10-18T14:25:00.000+03:00

Research Assistant
Arts and Humanities
UCL Museums and Collections

Scale 6 (£23,002 - £24,403 per annum) plus London Allowance of £2,572 per annum
Full time, 9 month contract due to funding.

E-Curator: 3D colour scans for remote object identification and assessment

This project draws on UCL's expertise both in curatorship and in e-Science. It takes advantage of the presence at UCL of world class collections across a range of disciplines and of a state of the art colour scanner, the quality of which is unequalled in the UK. The project aims to apply e-science technologies to museum work and artefact analysis, exploring the potential to capture and share in a secure and repeatable manner very large, detailed datasets about museum artefacts, thereby enhancing international scholarship and facilitating the safe movement of artefacts. The ability to share validated 3D colour data could facilitate object-tracking and condition checking, enabling curators and conservators to compare records collected at different institutions and stored remotely, or collected over a period of time under different conditions, in order to assess and monitor change. The project is jointly funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) and the Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC).

We are seeking a Research Assistant with a background in the Arts and Humanities, who will be responsible for organising formative, interim and summative evaluation of the project with curators and conservators. S/he will be trained in 3D colour scanning with Arius equipment and software in order to undertake object scanning with curators, will organise workshops, and will play a key role in publishing and disseminating the findings in appropriate professional contexts within the museum and heritage sector. S/he will work closely with a Research Assistant from a Computer Science background who is developing software tools for the project.

A full job description, person specification is available at www.ucl.ac.uk/museums/jobs.
Application forms can be downloaded from http://www.ucl.ac.uk/hr/jobs/.

Please email completed applications to Hannah Parton h.parton@ucl.ac.uk or post to Room 118, Chorley Institute, Pearson Building, UCL, Gower Street, London, WC1E 6BT.
Telephone enquiries - 020 7679 2462.
Interviews will be held on 26 November.

We regret that due to administration costs we are only able to respond to applicants whom we wish to interview. If you have not heard from us within one month after the closing date please assume you have been unsuccessful in your application for this post.

UCL Taking Action For Equality.

The closing date for applications is Friday, 9th November 2007.

Jobs at University of York

2007-10-18T14:24:00.000+03:00

Lecturers
The Archaeology of the last 2000 years
Department of Archaeology

Ref: BA07434

Applications are invited for two lectureships to complement and consolidate existing departmental strengths. You should be specialists in the archaeology of historic or protohistoric periods, of Europe or beyond. You should also be able to demonstrate academic leadership, interest and ability in undergraduate and postgraduate teaching, and possess a clear research vision.

Both posts will be appointed on the lecturer scale, with a starting salary of £32,796 pa. Informal enquiries may be made to the Head of Department, Prof. Julian Richards (tel 00 44 (0)1904 433930, e-mail jdr1@york.ac.uk).

One post is available from 1 January 2008 or as soon as possible thereafter; the other from 1 October 2008.

Closing date for applications: 12.00 noon on Thursday 15 November 2007.

For further particulars and details of how to apply, please see our website at: http://www.york.ac.uk/admin/persnl/jobs/ or write to the Personnel Office, University of York, Heslington, York YO10 5DD, quoting reference number BA07434.

The University of York is committed to diversity and has policies and developmental programmes in place to promote equality of opportunity.

Συνεχίζονται στην Ολυμπία τα γυρίσματα της ταινίας της Νία Βαρντάλος

2007-10-17T17:50:00.000+03:00

Source: in.gr

Στην Ολυμπία θα συνεχιστούν τα γυρίσματα της ταινίας My Life in ruins με πρωταγωνίστρια την Νία Βαρντάλος. Μαζί της συναντήθηκε ο υπουργός Πολιτισμού Μιχάλης Λιάπης εκφράζοντας την στήριξή του.

Τα γυρίσματα της ταινίας έγιναν τη Δευτέρα στη Ρωμαϊκή Αγορά, ενώ τα επισκέφθηκε και ο κ. Λιάπης. Ο υπουργός Πολιτισμού ενημερώθηκε για την εξέλιξη των γυρισμάτων και την παραγωγή και ευχαρίστησε την Νία Βαρντάλος για την προβολή της Ελλάδας με τις ταινίες της. Την προσκάλεσε επίσης να κάνει την πρεμιέρα της ταινίας στην Αθήνα.

Από την πλευρά της, η ηθοποιός δήλωσε ενθουσιασμένη που κάνει γυρίσματα στους αρχαιολογικούς χώρους της Ελλάδας.

Ο σκηνοθέτης Ντόναλντ Πέτρι δήλωσε, σύμφωνα με Τα Νέα, ότι «η ενέργεια, ο πολιτισμός που μεταδίδουν αρχαιολογικοί χώροι όπως η Ακρόπολη, οι Δελφοί, η Ολυμπία, σπάνια μπορούν να 'μεταδοθούν' στον θεατή μέσω μιας ταινίας, γι' αυτό εύχομαι η δική μας να καταφέρει να μεταδώσει έστω και μια αύρα της δύναμης που εκπέμπουν αυτοί οι τόποι».

Στην ταινία η Βαρντάλος υποδύεται μια ξεναγό, που «παρουσιάζει» την Ελλάδα σε ομάδα Αμερικανών τουριστών και ερωτεύεται τον Αλέξη Γεωργούλη.