Source: IOL
Athens - Ancient Greek graves holding the remains of warriors slain in the Peloponnesian War, one of antiquity's deadliest conflicts, will soon be accessible to visitors in Athens, an archaeologist said on Wednesday.
"We have the remains of Athenian warriors of the Peloponnesian War carried there from battlefield funeral pyres," supervising archaeologist Haris Stoupa told reporters.
"We're not sure of the exact battle as we were not fortunate enough to find engravings," she added.
Discovered in the Athens district of Kerameikos in 1997, the site is part of a one-kilometre-wide cemetery dedicated to Athenian warriors and prominent citizens that still lies mostly buried under modern buildings.
The cemetery was created shortly after the Battle of Marathon against the Persians in 480 BC and remained in use until the Roman Wars against Carthage, Stoupa said.
According to 2nd-century Greek chronicler Pausanias, among heroes buried there is Pericles, leader of Athens during the city-state's golden era that saw the building of the Parthenon.
Archaeologists will place a protective canopy over the site to enable visitors to see into the graves, Stoupa said.
The project will be completed in 2008.
Pitting two superpowers of the era - democratic Athens and oligarchic Sparta - against one another, the Peloponnesian War raged on and off for nearly 30 years (431-404 BC) across Greece,
with related conflicts in Asia Minor and Sicily.
It was a disaster for Athens, and established Sparta as the dominant power in ancient Greece. - Sapa-AFP
Friday, February 16, 2007
Greek archaeologists discover theater
Source: AP via Yahoo! News
By NICHOLAS PAPHITIS, Associated Press Writer Thu Feb 15, 8:27 PM ET
ATHENS, Greece - Sections of an ancient Greek theater were discovered on Thursday during construction work in an Athens suburb, archaeologists said.
Until now, only two such buildings were known in the ancient city where western theater originated more than 2,500 years ago.
Fifteen rows of concentric stone seats have been located so far in the northwestern suburb of Menidi, according to Vivi Vassilopoulou, Greece's general director of antiquities.
"Another section appears to lie under a nearby road," she told The Associated Press.
"(The remains) were discovered during excavation work, supervised by archaeologists, for a new building," Vassilopoulou said. "But it is still very early to offer any conclusions."
The structure has not yet been dated, and further details are expected to emerge following a full excavation.
Menidi is thought to be built over the ancient village of Acharnae, the largest of a string of rural settlements outside ancient Athens. Ancient writers mention a theater at Acharnae, but no traces of it had been found until now.
The village was linked with Dionysos, the ancient god of theater and wine, as the Athenians believed that ivy — his sacred plant — first grew there.
Built in semicircular tiers on hillsides, ancient theaters were monumental, open-air structures that could seat thousands of spectators.
Theater first emerged as an art form in late 6th century B.C. Athens, where ancient playwrights competed for a prize during the annual festival of Dionysos — in whose cult the art originated.
The works of Sophocles, Aeschylus, Euripides and Aristophanes were performed in the theater of Dionysos under the Acropolis.
Originally a terrace where spectators sat on the bare earth above a circular stage, it was rebuilt in stone during the 4th century B.C. and could sit up to 14,000 people.
Another smaller theater has been discovered in southern Athens.
By NICHOLAS PAPHITIS, Associated Press Writer Thu Feb 15, 8:27 PM ET
ATHENS, Greece - Sections of an ancient Greek theater were discovered on Thursday during construction work in an Athens suburb, archaeologists said.
Until now, only two such buildings were known in the ancient city where western theater originated more than 2,500 years ago.
Fifteen rows of concentric stone seats have been located so far in the northwestern suburb of Menidi, according to Vivi Vassilopoulou, Greece's general director of antiquities.
"Another section appears to lie under a nearby road," she told The Associated Press.
"(The remains) were discovered during excavation work, supervised by archaeologists, for a new building," Vassilopoulou said. "But it is still very early to offer any conclusions."
The structure has not yet been dated, and further details are expected to emerge following a full excavation.
Menidi is thought to be built over the ancient village of Acharnae, the largest of a string of rural settlements outside ancient Athens. Ancient writers mention a theater at Acharnae, but no traces of it had been found until now.
The village was linked with Dionysos, the ancient god of theater and wine, as the Athenians believed that ivy — his sacred plant — first grew there.
Built in semicircular tiers on hillsides, ancient theaters were monumental, open-air structures that could seat thousands of spectators.
Theater first emerged as an art form in late 6th century B.C. Athens, where ancient playwrights competed for a prize during the annual festival of Dionysos — in whose cult the art originated.
The works of Sophocles, Aeschylus, Euripides and Aristophanes were performed in the theater of Dionysos under the Acropolis.
Originally a terrace where spectators sat on the bare earth above a circular stage, it was rebuilt in stone during the 4th century B.C. and could sit up to 14,000 people.
Another smaller theater has been discovered in southern Athens.
Wednesday, February 07, 2007
Getty Museum signs deal to return 2 ancient treasures to Greece
Source: International Herald Tribune
ATHENS, Greece: Greece and the J. Paul Getty Museum have signed an agreement for the return of two ancient treasures that Athens claims were illegally excavated and smuggled out of the country, officials said on Wednesday.
The artifacts are among the most important ever reclaimed by antiquities-rich Greece: a fourth century B.C. gold wreath and a sixth century B.C. marble statue of a young woman. They are the last of four antiquities successfully reclaimed by Greece from the Getty.
They will be handed over to Greek officials by the end of next month. The deal was signed in Athens late Monday by Greek Culture Ministry Secretary-General Christos Zachopoulos and Michael Brand, director of the private Los Angeles museum.
"This signing confirms the climate of trust and mutual understanding (between Greece and the Getty), and creates new prospects in their relations," the Culture Ministry and the museum said in a joint statement.
The antiquities will be returned to Greece by the end of March, the statement said.
Culture Minister George Voulgarakis read the statement at a news conference attended by Brand. Neither made any further comment on the agreement.
Voulgarakis has said there will be no trade-off with the Getty in exchange for the works, which Athens has claimed for more than a decade. But he did not rule out the possibility of Greece lending artifacts to the museum or organizing exhibitions there in the future.
Wednesday's signing came after an informal agreement in December for the works' return.
In September, the museum returned two stone sculptures dating to the sixth and the fourth centuries B.C. following pressure from Athens, which has launched an aggressive campaign for the return of looted Greek antiquities held in museums and private collections abroad.
These are on display at the National Archaeological Museum in Athens.
The two works to be returned next month are among thousands of ancient artifacts lost to smugglers in recent decades.
The fourth century B.C. wreath is decorated with sprays of gold leaves and flowers inlaid with colored glass paste and — according to Greek authorities — was illegally excavated in the province of Macedonia. Designed as a burial gift, it was probably made shortly after the death of the Macedonian warrior-king Alexander the Great.
The marble statue, which lacks its head, lower arms and legs, is of a young woman and is a type widespread in southern Greece and the Aegean Sea islands from the mid-seventh to the late sixth centuries B.C.
Under Greek law all antiquities found in the country are state property.
A Greek prosecutor has brought criminal charges against a former Getty curator, Marion True, over the sale of the gold wreath, which the museum bought for US$1.15 million (€900,000) in 1993.
Another four people were charged with illegally excavating, exporting and selling the artifact.
True, who denies any wrongdoing, was the Getty antiquities curator from 1986 to 2005, when she was asked to retire. She was responsible for recommending what objects the museum should buy from private dealers and at public auctions.
Last year, police raided a Greek island villa belonging to True and seized several unregistered antiquities.
True is on trial in Rome for allegedly having knowingly purchased stolen artifacts for the museum from Italy.
ATHENS, Greece: Greece and the J. Paul Getty Museum have signed an agreement for the return of two ancient treasures that Athens claims were illegally excavated and smuggled out of the country, officials said on Wednesday.
The artifacts are among the most important ever reclaimed by antiquities-rich Greece: a fourth century B.C. gold wreath and a sixth century B.C. marble statue of a young woman. They are the last of four antiquities successfully reclaimed by Greece from the Getty.
They will be handed over to Greek officials by the end of next month. The deal was signed in Athens late Monday by Greek Culture Ministry Secretary-General Christos Zachopoulos and Michael Brand, director of the private Los Angeles museum.
"This signing confirms the climate of trust and mutual understanding (between Greece and the Getty), and creates new prospects in their relations," the Culture Ministry and the museum said in a joint statement.
The antiquities will be returned to Greece by the end of March, the statement said.
Culture Minister George Voulgarakis read the statement at a news conference attended by Brand. Neither made any further comment on the agreement.
Voulgarakis has said there will be no trade-off with the Getty in exchange for the works, which Athens has claimed for more than a decade. But he did not rule out the possibility of Greece lending artifacts to the museum or organizing exhibitions there in the future.
Wednesday's signing came after an informal agreement in December for the works' return.
In September, the museum returned two stone sculptures dating to the sixth and the fourth centuries B.C. following pressure from Athens, which has launched an aggressive campaign for the return of looted Greek antiquities held in museums and private collections abroad.
These are on display at the National Archaeological Museum in Athens.
The two works to be returned next month are among thousands of ancient artifacts lost to smugglers in recent decades.
The fourth century B.C. wreath is decorated with sprays of gold leaves and flowers inlaid with colored glass paste and — according to Greek authorities — was illegally excavated in the province of Macedonia. Designed as a burial gift, it was probably made shortly after the death of the Macedonian warrior-king Alexander the Great.
The marble statue, which lacks its head, lower arms and legs, is of a young woman and is a type widespread in southern Greece and the Aegean Sea islands from the mid-seventh to the late sixth centuries B.C.
Under Greek law all antiquities found in the country are state property.
A Greek prosecutor has brought criminal charges against a former Getty curator, Marion True, over the sale of the gold wreath, which the museum bought for US$1.15 million (€900,000) in 1993.
Another four people were charged with illegally excavating, exporting and selling the artifact.
True, who denies any wrongdoing, was the Getty antiquities curator from 1986 to 2005, when she was asked to retire. She was responsible for recommending what objects the museum should buy from private dealers and at public auctions.
Last year, police raided a Greek island villa belonging to True and seized several unregistered antiquities.
True is on trial in Rome for allegedly having knowingly purchased stolen artifacts for the museum from Italy.
Prehistoric Romeo and Juliet discovered
Source: AP via Yahoo! News
By ARIEL DAVID, Associated Press Writer
ROME - They died young and, by the looks of it, in love. Two 5,000-year-old skeletons found locked in an embrace near the city where Shakespeare set the star-crossed tale "Romeo and Juliet" have sparked theories the remains of a far more ancient love story have been found.
Archaeologists unearthed the skeletons dating back to the late Neolithic period outside Mantua, 25 miles south of Verona, the city of Shakespeare's story of doomed love.
Buried between 5,000 and 6,000 years ago, the prehistoric pair are believed to have been a man and a woman and are thought to have died young, because their teeth were found intact, said Elena Menotti, the archaeologist who led the dig.
"As far as we know, it's unique," Menotti told The Associated Press by telephone from Milan. "Double burials from the Neolithic are unheard of, and these are even hugging."
Archaeologists digging in the region have found some 30 burial sites, all single, as well as the remains of prosperous villages filled with artifacts made of flint, pottery and animal horns.
Although the Mantua pair strike an unusual and touching pose, archaeologists have found other prehistoric burials in which the dead hold hands or have other contact, said Luca Bondioli, an anthropologist at Rome's National Prehistoric and Ethnographic Museum.
Bondioli, who was not involved in the Mantua dig, said the find has "more of an emotional than a scientific value." But it does highlight how the relationship people have with each other and with death has not changed much from the period in which humanity first settled in villages, learning to farm the land and tame animals, he said.
"The Neolithic is a very formative period for our society," he said. "It was when the roots of our religious sentiment were formed."
Menotti said the burial was "a ritual, but we have to find out what it means."
Experts might never determine the exact nature of the pair's relationship, but Menotti said she had little doubt it was born of a deep sentiment.
"It was a very emotional discovery," she said. "From thousands of years ago we feel the strength of this love. Yes, we must call it love."
The couple's burial site was located Monday during construction work for a factory in the outskirts of Mantua. Alongside the couple, archaeologists found flint tools, including arrowheads and a knife, Menotti said.
Experts will now study the artifacts and the skeletons to determine the burial site's age and how old the two were when they died, she said. The finds will then go on display at Mantua's Archaeological Museum.
Establishing the cause of death could prove almost impossible, unless they were killed by a debilitating disease, a knife or something else that might have left marks on the bones, Menotti said.
The two bodies, which cuddle closely while facing each other on their sides, were probably buried at the same time, an indication of a possible sudden and tragic death, Bondioli said.
He said DNA testing could determine whether the two were related, "but that still leaves other hypotheses; the Romeo and Juliet possibility is just one of many."
By ARIEL DAVID, Associated Press Writer
ROME - They died young and, by the looks of it, in love. Two 5,000-year-old skeletons found locked in an embrace near the city where Shakespeare set the star-crossed tale "Romeo and Juliet" have sparked theories the remains of a far more ancient love story have been found.
Archaeologists unearthed the skeletons dating back to the late Neolithic period outside Mantua, 25 miles south of Verona, the city of Shakespeare's story of doomed love.
Buried between 5,000 and 6,000 years ago, the prehistoric pair are believed to have been a man and a woman and are thought to have died young, because their teeth were found intact, said Elena Menotti, the archaeologist who led the dig.
"As far as we know, it's unique," Menotti told The Associated Press by telephone from Milan. "Double burials from the Neolithic are unheard of, and these are even hugging."
Archaeologists digging in the region have found some 30 burial sites, all single, as well as the remains of prosperous villages filled with artifacts made of flint, pottery and animal horns.
Although the Mantua pair strike an unusual and touching pose, archaeologists have found other prehistoric burials in which the dead hold hands or have other contact, said Luca Bondioli, an anthropologist at Rome's National Prehistoric and Ethnographic Museum.
Bondioli, who was not involved in the Mantua dig, said the find has "more of an emotional than a scientific value." But it does highlight how the relationship people have with each other and with death has not changed much from the period in which humanity first settled in villages, learning to farm the land and tame animals, he said.
"The Neolithic is a very formative period for our society," he said. "It was when the roots of our religious sentiment were formed."
Menotti said the burial was "a ritual, but we have to find out what it means."
Experts might never determine the exact nature of the pair's relationship, but Menotti said she had little doubt it was born of a deep sentiment.
"It was a very emotional discovery," she said. "From thousands of years ago we feel the strength of this love. Yes, we must call it love."
The couple's burial site was located Monday during construction work for a factory in the outskirts of Mantua. Alongside the couple, archaeologists found flint tools, including arrowheads and a knife, Menotti said.
Experts will now study the artifacts and the skeletons to determine the burial site's age and how old the two were when they died, she said. The finds will then go on display at Mantua's Archaeological Museum.
Establishing the cause of death could prove almost impossible, unless they were killed by a debilitating disease, a knife or something else that might have left marks on the bones, Menotti said.
The two bodies, which cuddle closely while facing each other on their sides, were probably buried at the same time, an indication of a possible sudden and tragic death, Bondioli said.
He said DNA testing could determine whether the two were related, "but that still leaves other hypotheses; the Romeo and Juliet possibility is just one of many."
Saturday, February 03, 2007
Friday, February 02, 2007
‘Scrap metal’ piece is rare Roman coin
Source: Gazette & Herald
By Gordon Simpson
A ROMAN coin buried in the depths of Malmesbury's Athelstan Museum has been unearthed.
Volunteers auditing the museum's collection discovered the small, corroded piece of metal last week.
Unsure of what it was, they sent it to Wiltshire County Council's conservation department, where it was identified as a Roman Denarius coin.
Friends of Athelstan Museum chairman Roger Griffin said it was further evidence of the Roman presence in the town.
"The coin was one that we found while doing an audit of the collection," he said.
"It had been taken in by the former curator, when the museum was run by North Wiltshire District Council, but nothing was done with it.
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"It looked a rather unprepossessing piece of scrap metal.
"The person who turned it up came to me and asked what we should do with it.
"It was almost a case of throwing it away, it was that unpromising.
"But we sent it to the county council's conservation department and they worked on it and found it's a Roman Denarius.
"It's quite an uncommon one, because they were unable to say which particular emperor was on it.
"They have taken photos of it, which will be sent to the British Museum, to get it positively identified.
"It's quite small, not much bigger than a five pence piece.
"We are very excited about it, because it was another treasure sitting there that nobody appreciated."
Mr Griffin's group took over the museum from the district council, which still owns the collection, in April last year.
Over 7,000 visitors have passed through the museum's doors since then.
It is the second time in a matter of months that a coin discovered in the town has caused excitement.
In November, an eighth century Saxon sceatta was found during the excavation of a new cable trench in Abbey Row.
Archaeologist Steve George, who was keeping a watching brief on the work in the Gloucester Street and Abbey Row area, found the silver coin.
By Gordon Simpson
A ROMAN coin buried in the depths of Malmesbury's Athelstan Museum has been unearthed.
Volunteers auditing the museum's collection discovered the small, corroded piece of metal last week.
Unsure of what it was, they sent it to Wiltshire County Council's conservation department, where it was identified as a Roman Denarius coin.
Friends of Athelstan Museum chairman Roger Griffin said it was further evidence of the Roman presence in the town.
"The coin was one that we found while doing an audit of the collection," he said.
"It had been taken in by the former curator, when the museum was run by North Wiltshire District Council, but nothing was done with it.
advertisement
"It looked a rather unprepossessing piece of scrap metal.
"The person who turned it up came to me and asked what we should do with it.
"It was almost a case of throwing it away, it was that unpromising.
"But we sent it to the county council's conservation department and they worked on it and found it's a Roman Denarius.
"It's quite an uncommon one, because they were unable to say which particular emperor was on it.
"They have taken photos of it, which will be sent to the British Museum, to get it positively identified.
"It's quite small, not much bigger than a five pence piece.
"We are very excited about it, because it was another treasure sitting there that nobody appreciated."
Mr Griffin's group took over the museum from the district council, which still owns the collection, in April last year.
Over 7,000 visitors have passed through the museum's doors since then.
It is the second time in a matter of months that a coin discovered in the town has caused excitement.
In November, an eighth century Saxon sceatta was found during the excavation of a new cable trench in Abbey Row.
Archaeologist Steve George, who was keeping a watching brief on the work in the Gloucester Street and Abbey Row area, found the silver coin.
Alexander's Afghan gold
Source: Al-Ahram Weekly
After establishing the Egyptian port city of Alexandria in 331 BC, Alexander the Great founded Greek garrison cities across Asia, including Afghanistan. His legacy is on show in a new Paris exhibition, writes David Tresilian
While not drawing quite the crowds making their way to the Grand Palais for Tr?sors engloutis d'Egypte, an exhibition of mostly Ptolemaic artefacts -- "submerged treasures" -- discovered off the coast of Alexandria and reviewed in Al-Ahram Weekly on 14 December, Afghanistan, les tr?sors retrouv?s across Paris at the Mus?e Guimet should nevertheless be on the itinerary of every visitor to the French capital.
This exhibition features discoveries of international importance made by French archaeological missions in Afghanistan over the course of the last century, most of which have never been seen before outside the country. In what is being seen as quite a coup both for the Mus?e Guimet, an institution specialising in south and south-east Asian art, and for the French capital, the exhibition allows visitors to gain their first glimpses of material that not only has never been lent before by the Afghan National Museum in Kabul, but that was also considered lost during the decade of civil war that wracked Afghanistan following the withdrawal of Soviet forces in 1989, destroying much of the country as it did so.
The material includes the famous "Bactrian gold" discovered by joint French and Afghan archaeologists in northern Afghanistan shortly before Soviet forces moved into the country in 1979. This material, long thought lost, survived the later civil war locked in the vaults of the National Bank in Kabul, where it was "rediscovered" following the US-led invasion in October 2001. It also includes Hellenistic objects from excavations carried out at the site of the ancient city of Ai Khanoum north of Kabul and Hellenistic and Indian materials found at Begram (Bagram).
Taken as a whole, Afghanistan, les tr?sors retrouv?s is one of the most important archaeological exhibitions to have visited the French capital for years, and it is the only opportunity European and international visitors will have to view this material before it moves onto the US leg of its world tour in April 2007. It is a fine successor to Afghanistan, une histoire mill?naire (Afghanistan: A Timeless History), an exhibition of mostly Graeco-Buddhist Afghan materials brought together in the wake of the destruction of the Bamiyan Buddhas by the Taliban, also at the Mus?e Guimet and reviewed in the Weekly in March 2002.
The exhibition is divided into three parts, the first of which displays materials discovered at Ai Khanoum by successive French archaeological missions, providing insights into the functioning of this Hellenistic garrison city founded following Alexander the Great's conquest of the area in the late fourth century BC. Alexander's epic journeys took him from his native Macedonia in northern Greece to the plains of the western Punjab in what is now Pakistan, destroying the Persian Empire as he did so, as well as through Anatolia, the Levant and to Egypt, where he founded the port city of Alexandria and consulted the oracle of Amun at Siwa.
READ FULL STORY
After establishing the Egyptian port city of Alexandria in 331 BC, Alexander the Great founded Greek garrison cities across Asia, including Afghanistan. His legacy is on show in a new Paris exhibition, writes David Tresilian
While not drawing quite the crowds making their way to the Grand Palais for Tr?sors engloutis d'Egypte, an exhibition of mostly Ptolemaic artefacts -- "submerged treasures" -- discovered off the coast of Alexandria and reviewed in Al-Ahram Weekly on 14 December, Afghanistan, les tr?sors retrouv?s across Paris at the Mus?e Guimet should nevertheless be on the itinerary of every visitor to the French capital.
This exhibition features discoveries of international importance made by French archaeological missions in Afghanistan over the course of the last century, most of which have never been seen before outside the country. In what is being seen as quite a coup both for the Mus?e Guimet, an institution specialising in south and south-east Asian art, and for the French capital, the exhibition allows visitors to gain their first glimpses of material that not only has never been lent before by the Afghan National Museum in Kabul, but that was also considered lost during the decade of civil war that wracked Afghanistan following the withdrawal of Soviet forces in 1989, destroying much of the country as it did so.
The material includes the famous "Bactrian gold" discovered by joint French and Afghan archaeologists in northern Afghanistan shortly before Soviet forces moved into the country in 1979. This material, long thought lost, survived the later civil war locked in the vaults of the National Bank in Kabul, where it was "rediscovered" following the US-led invasion in October 2001. It also includes Hellenistic objects from excavations carried out at the site of the ancient city of Ai Khanoum north of Kabul and Hellenistic and Indian materials found at Begram (Bagram).
Taken as a whole, Afghanistan, les tr?sors retrouv?s is one of the most important archaeological exhibitions to have visited the French capital for years, and it is the only opportunity European and international visitors will have to view this material before it moves onto the US leg of its world tour in April 2007. It is a fine successor to Afghanistan, une histoire mill?naire (Afghanistan: A Timeless History), an exhibition of mostly Graeco-Buddhist Afghan materials brought together in the wake of the destruction of the Bamiyan Buddhas by the Taliban, also at the Mus?e Guimet and reviewed in the Weekly in March 2002.
The exhibition is divided into three parts, the first of which displays materials discovered at Ai Khanoum by successive French archaeological missions, providing insights into the functioning of this Hellenistic garrison city founded following Alexander the Great's conquest of the area in the late fourth century BC. Alexander's epic journeys took him from his native Macedonia in northern Greece to the plains of the western Punjab in what is now Pakistan, destroying the Persian Empire as he did so, as well as through Anatolia, the Levant and to Egypt, where he founded the port city of Alexandria and consulted the oracle of Amun at Siwa.
READ FULL STORY
Thursday, February 01, 2007
Earliest Semitic Text Revealed In Egyptian Pyramid Inscription
Source: Science Daily
The first public revelation of the earliest continuous Semitic text ever deciphered has taken place at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
The presentation was made by Prof. Richard Steiner, professor of Semitic languages and literature at Yeshiva University in New York, in a lecture entitled "Proto-Canaanite Spells in the Pyramid Texts: a First Look at the History of Hebrew in the Third Millennium B.C.E." The lecture was sponsored by the Academy of the Hebrew Language in cooperation with the Hebrew University and the World Union of Jewish Studies.
Prof. Steiner, a past fellow of the Institute for Advanced Studies at the Hebrew University and a member of the Academy of the Hebrew Language, has deciphered a number of Semitic texts in various Egyptian scripts over the past 25 years. In his Hebrew University lecture, he provided the interpretation for Semitic passages in Egyptian texts that were discovered more than a century ago, inscribed on the subterranean walls of the pyramid of King Unas at Saqqara in Egypt. The pyramid dates from the 24th century B.C.E., but Egyptologists agree that the texts are older. The dates proposed for them range from the 25th to the 30th centuries B.C.E. No continuous Semitic texts from this period have ever been deciphered before.
The passages, serpent spells written in hieroglyphic characters, had puzzled scholars who tried to read them as if they were ordinary Egyptian texts. In August, 2002, Prof. Steiner received an email message from Robert Ritner, professor of Egyptology at the University of Chicago, asking whether any of them could be Semitic. "I immediately
recognized the Semitic words for 'mother snake,'" said Steiner. "Later it became clear that the surrounding spells, composed in Egyptian rather than Semitic, also speak of the mother snake, and that the Egyptian and Semitic texts elucidate each other."
Although written in Egyptian characters, the texts turned out to be composed in the Semitic language spoken by the Canaanites in the third millennium B.C.E., a very archaic form of the languages later known as Phoenician and Hebrew. The Canaanite priests of the ancient city of Byblos, in present-day Lebanon, provided these texts to the kings of Egypt.
The port city of Byblos was of vital importance for the ancient Egyptians. It was from there that they imported timber for construction and resin for mummification. The new discovery shows that they also imported magical spells to protect royal mummies against poisonous snakes that were thought to understand Canaanite. Although the
Egyptians viewed their culture as far superior to that of their neighbors, their morbid fear of snakes made them open to the borrowing of Semitic magic.
"This finding should be of great interest to cultural historians," said Prof. Steiner. "Linguists, too, will be interested in these texts. They show that Proto-Canaanite, the common ancestor of Phoenician, Moabite, Ammonite and Hebrew, existed already in the third millennium B.C.E as a language distinct from Aramaic, Ugaritic and the other Semitic languages. And they provide the first direct evidence for the pronunciation of Egyptian in this early period." The texts will also be important to biblical scholars, since they shed light on several rare words in the Bible, he said.
"This is a sensational discovery," said Moshe Bar-Asher, Bialik Professor of Hebrew Language at the Hebrew University and president of the Academy of the Hebrew Language. "It is the earliest attestation of a Semitic language, in general, and Proto-Canaanite, in particular."
Note: This story has been adapted from a news release issued by The Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
The first public revelation of the earliest continuous Semitic text ever deciphered has taken place at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
The presentation was made by Prof. Richard Steiner, professor of Semitic languages and literature at Yeshiva University in New York, in a lecture entitled "Proto-Canaanite Spells in the Pyramid Texts: a First Look at the History of Hebrew in the Third Millennium B.C.E." The lecture was sponsored by the Academy of the Hebrew Language in cooperation with the Hebrew University and the World Union of Jewish Studies.
Prof. Steiner, a past fellow of the Institute for Advanced Studies at the Hebrew University and a member of the Academy of the Hebrew Language, has deciphered a number of Semitic texts in various Egyptian scripts over the past 25 years. In his Hebrew University lecture, he provided the interpretation for Semitic passages in Egyptian texts that were discovered more than a century ago, inscribed on the subterranean walls of the pyramid of King Unas at Saqqara in Egypt. The pyramid dates from the 24th century B.C.E., but Egyptologists agree that the texts are older. The dates proposed for them range from the 25th to the 30th centuries B.C.E. No continuous Semitic texts from this period have ever been deciphered before.
The passages, serpent spells written in hieroglyphic characters, had puzzled scholars who tried to read them as if they were ordinary Egyptian texts. In August, 2002, Prof. Steiner received an email message from Robert Ritner, professor of Egyptology at the University of Chicago, asking whether any of them could be Semitic. "I immediately
recognized the Semitic words for 'mother snake,'" said Steiner. "Later it became clear that the surrounding spells, composed in Egyptian rather than Semitic, also speak of the mother snake, and that the Egyptian and Semitic texts elucidate each other."
Although written in Egyptian characters, the texts turned out to be composed in the Semitic language spoken by the Canaanites in the third millennium B.C.E., a very archaic form of the languages later known as Phoenician and Hebrew. The Canaanite priests of the ancient city of Byblos, in present-day Lebanon, provided these texts to the kings of Egypt.
The port city of Byblos was of vital importance for the ancient Egyptians. It was from there that they imported timber for construction and resin for mummification. The new discovery shows that they also imported magical spells to protect royal mummies against poisonous snakes that were thought to understand Canaanite. Although the
Egyptians viewed their culture as far superior to that of their neighbors, their morbid fear of snakes made them open to the borrowing of Semitic magic.
"This finding should be of great interest to cultural historians," said Prof. Steiner. "Linguists, too, will be interested in these texts. They show that Proto-Canaanite, the common ancestor of Phoenician, Moabite, Ammonite and Hebrew, existed already in the third millennium B.C.E as a language distinct from Aramaic, Ugaritic and the other Semitic languages. And they provide the first direct evidence for the pronunciation of Egyptian in this early period." The texts will also be important to biblical scholars, since they shed light on several rare words in the Bible, he said.
"This is a sensational discovery," said Moshe Bar-Asher, Bialik Professor of Hebrew Language at the Hebrew University and president of the Academy of the Hebrew Language. "It is the earliest attestation of a Semitic language, in general, and Proto-Canaanite, in particular."
Note: This story has been adapted from a news release issued by The Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
Nero's Golden Palace to partly reopen
Source: AP via Yahoo! News
By MARTA FALCONI, Associated Press Writer Wed Jan 31, 7:39 PM ET
ROME - Nero's Golden Palace will partly reopen to visitors next week, offering rare insight into archaeologists' efforts to preserve the first-century imperial residence from decay and humidity.
Visitors will have access to half of the palace, wandering through a maze of underground passageways, officials said Wednesday. They can also climb a 43-foot scaffolding and take a close look at the building's frescoed vaulted ceilings, as restorers and archaeologists work to clean the paint.
"People will have the chance to get to know the monument itself and the efforts to maintain and preserve it," said archaeologist Irene Pignatelli, leading a press tour of the palace. "The aim of this type of visit is to show how the residence can be assaulted (by weather), how to intervene and what happens after the restoration."
Guided tours or no more than 20 people start on Feb. 6. Visitors are required to wear helmets as they walk through the largely underground complex.
The sumptuous residence — also known by its Latin name, Domus Aurea — rose over the ruins of a fire that destroyed much of Rome in A.D. 64 and was completed in A.D. 68, the year the unpopular Nero committed suicide amid a revolt.
After an 18-year restoration, the palace reopened in June 1999. Two years later, it was briefly closed to the public after part of the ceiling collapsed. The Domus Aurea closed again in 2005 after days of heavy rains threatened to cause the collapse of parts of the building.
The palace has been plagued by structural problems, including humidity. In the winter, humidity in the palace ranges from 82 percent to 98 percent, Pignatelli said. "You can almost swim in the Domus Aurea."
High humidity causes the walls to break and creates crusting. Algae and fungus are also appearing on the frescoes, she said.
Restorers work to remove some humidity — but not all.
"The frescos would suffer even more if all of a sudden the environment became completely dry again," said Angelo Bottini, the state's top official for archaeology in Rome. Bottini added that further restoration is being planned, especially on the external structures of the palace, to remove earth and tree roots.
The vaulted ceilings were once encrusted with pearls and covered with ivory — luxuries that were funded by heavy taxation that Nero levied on Rome's population, said Pignatelli. Marble and other precious materials were imported from Greece, Egypt and other parts of Asia, while inhabitants of the area were expropriated to build the 198 acres residence.
"We have to imagine this place as full of light, luxurious, with precious colorful materials and golden leaves," Pignatelli said. "Today, we only see what time and decay have given back to us."
By MARTA FALCONI, Associated Press Writer Wed Jan 31, 7:39 PM ET
ROME - Nero's Golden Palace will partly reopen to visitors next week, offering rare insight into archaeologists' efforts to preserve the first-century imperial residence from decay and humidity.
Visitors will have access to half of the palace, wandering through a maze of underground passageways, officials said Wednesday. They can also climb a 43-foot scaffolding and take a close look at the building's frescoed vaulted ceilings, as restorers and archaeologists work to clean the paint.
"People will have the chance to get to know the monument itself and the efforts to maintain and preserve it," said archaeologist Irene Pignatelli, leading a press tour of the palace. "The aim of this type of visit is to show how the residence can be assaulted (by weather), how to intervene and what happens after the restoration."
Guided tours or no more than 20 people start on Feb. 6. Visitors are required to wear helmets as they walk through the largely underground complex.
The sumptuous residence — also known by its Latin name, Domus Aurea — rose over the ruins of a fire that destroyed much of Rome in A.D. 64 and was completed in A.D. 68, the year the unpopular Nero committed suicide amid a revolt.
After an 18-year restoration, the palace reopened in June 1999. Two years later, it was briefly closed to the public after part of the ceiling collapsed. The Domus Aurea closed again in 2005 after days of heavy rains threatened to cause the collapse of parts of the building.
The palace has been plagued by structural problems, including humidity. In the winter, humidity in the palace ranges from 82 percent to 98 percent, Pignatelli said. "You can almost swim in the Domus Aurea."
High humidity causes the walls to break and creates crusting. Algae and fungus are also appearing on the frescoes, she said.
Restorers work to remove some humidity — but not all.
"The frescos would suffer even more if all of a sudden the environment became completely dry again," said Angelo Bottini, the state's top official for archaeology in Rome. Bottini added that further restoration is being planned, especially on the external structures of the palace, to remove earth and tree roots.
The vaulted ceilings were once encrusted with pearls and covered with ivory — luxuries that were funded by heavy taxation that Nero levied on Rome's population, said Pignatelli. Marble and other precious materials were imported from Greece, Egypt and other parts of Asia, while inhabitants of the area were expropriated to build the 198 acres residence.
"We have to imagine this place as full of light, luxurious, with precious colorful materials and golden leaves," Pignatelli said. "Today, we only see what time and decay have given back to us."
Wednesday, January 24, 2007
Pax Minoica in Aegean
Source: ekathimerini
Karpathos excavations reveal settlements safe from piracy
New and interesting information on the proliferation of Pax Minoica (the Minoan Peace) has come to light from a Thrace University mission to the Aegean which examined a number of newly found settlements of Minoan character, built and destroyed by earthquakes during the so-called Palace period (circa 1800-1500 BC).
Some of these settlements are located near the sea and may have served as ports, while the others are located 400-800 meters from the coast but maintained complete visual contact with the sea. “This illustrates – beyond the maritime activities (fishing and commercial) and the contact with Crete – the security the Minoans felt, probably because of King Minos’s legendary victory over piracy,” said Associate Professor Manolis Melas, who headed the excavations.
The research, which began a year ago, is part of a program run by the University of Thrace and is estimated to last for four more years. The focus is on the systematic examination of the ground surface in Afiarti, a lush plain in southern Karpathos. “Other than archaeology, the program also focuses on geology, geomorphology, ecology and ethnography,” explained Melas. “It is looking to examine a particular type of island environment where we can map changes over time in a number of areas, such as the natural environment, history and the material aspects of a civilization.
“The central aim of the investigation is to study the relationship between the natural and human environment, especially during the Minoan period.” This is necessary, says the professor, in order to understand why the settlements were built as they were and where they were, in relation to the use they made of the natural resources at their disposal, the strategic positions of the settlements and their sociopolitical organization.
The Afiarti Plain, says Melas, can be separated into three ecological zones, all more or less parallel to the coast and facing east. Evidence suggests that the area was constantly cultivated for farming, to a greater or lesser degree, depending on what crop was being grown and the availability of water.
“Fertile land was a very valuable asset and this is why its use for anything other than farming was avoided,” said Melas.
Land use, according to the archaeologist, was always worked out in advance and human habitation on it was almost always limited – especially during the Minoan period – to rocky, arid areas of the land that were normally located on a rise (low hills or on amphitheatrical ridges), so that they would have solid foundations and a wide view that would ensure control over the area and safety. Evidence of this has been discovered in two zones in Minoan, Roman and earlier settlements.
What does Melas think the future holds? He says he expects several more similar settlements to come to light, which will “establish in a more solid way the mythical, historical tradition of the Minoan civilization’s domination of the sea and the peace it brought to the Aegean.”
Karpathos excavations reveal settlements safe from piracy
New and interesting information on the proliferation of Pax Minoica (the Minoan Peace) has come to light from a Thrace University mission to the Aegean which examined a number of newly found settlements of Minoan character, built and destroyed by earthquakes during the so-called Palace period (circa 1800-1500 BC).
Some of these settlements are located near the sea and may have served as ports, while the others are located 400-800 meters from the coast but maintained complete visual contact with the sea. “This illustrates – beyond the maritime activities (fishing and commercial) and the contact with Crete – the security the Minoans felt, probably because of King Minos’s legendary victory over piracy,” said Associate Professor Manolis Melas, who headed the excavations.
The research, which began a year ago, is part of a program run by the University of Thrace and is estimated to last for four more years. The focus is on the systematic examination of the ground surface in Afiarti, a lush plain in southern Karpathos. “Other than archaeology, the program also focuses on geology, geomorphology, ecology and ethnography,” explained Melas. “It is looking to examine a particular type of island environment where we can map changes over time in a number of areas, such as the natural environment, history and the material aspects of a civilization.
“The central aim of the investigation is to study the relationship between the natural and human environment, especially during the Minoan period.” This is necessary, says the professor, in order to understand why the settlements were built as they were and where they were, in relation to the use they made of the natural resources at their disposal, the strategic positions of the settlements and their sociopolitical organization.
The Afiarti Plain, says Melas, can be separated into three ecological zones, all more or less parallel to the coast and facing east. Evidence suggests that the area was constantly cultivated for farming, to a greater or lesser degree, depending on what crop was being grown and the availability of water.
“Fertile land was a very valuable asset and this is why its use for anything other than farming was avoided,” said Melas.
Land use, according to the archaeologist, was always worked out in advance and human habitation on it was almost always limited – especially during the Minoan period – to rocky, arid areas of the land that were normally located on a rise (low hills or on amphitheatrical ridges), so that they would have solid foundations and a wide view that would ensure control over the area and safety. Evidence of this has been discovered in two zones in Minoan, Roman and earlier settlements.
What does Melas think the future holds? He says he expects several more similar settlements to come to light, which will “establish in a more solid way the mythical, historical tradition of the Minoan civilization’s domination of the sea and the peace it brought to the Aegean.”
Monday, January 22, 2007
Gothic version of Thermopylae
A different take on the legendary story of the 300 Spartans will premiere in two months
The film, starring Scottish actor Gerard Butler as Leonidas, is a frame-by-frame screen adaptation of the comic book of ‘300,’ which circulated in five issues in 1998.
By Panayiotis Panagopoulos - Kathimerini
In another two months, Greeks are sure to witness another clash between the big movie industry and local critics. Following Oliver Stone’s “Alexander,” Ang Lee’s “Brokeback Mountain” and Wolfgang Petersen’s “Troy,” there are plenty of people here who feel they know what should and shouldn’t be allowed to be shown on the silver screen.
This time round the debate will revolve around a number: 300. But, this is not just any number: It refers to the 300 Spartan warriors led by Leonidas in the 480 BC battle of Thermopylae, told in a Gothic heavy-metal version of the tale, directed by Zack Snyder (“Dawn of the Dead”) and designed by Miller, the man behind great comics such as “Sin City.”
How many Greeks are prepared to see a Xerxes who is black, bald and covered in body and face piercings, Ephialtes as a hunchback and rhinos running across Thermopylae to the music of Nine-Inch Nails? The film may not be 100 percent true to history but it is 100 percent true to Miller’s style. He says that despite the liberties he has taken, he is quite familiar with the story of Leonidas and has tremendous respect for it. “There is a scene where the Persian emissary asks for a gift of land and water. A Spartan leads him to a well and throws him in. This scene, like most others in the book, is exactly the same as it is told,” says Miller. “The Spartans behaved this way to tyrants.” Why did he choose to tell this chapter of Greek history? “Because it’s the best story I have ever laid my hands on.”
The comic book of “300” circulated in five issues in 1998. Five years later, it was slated to become a film, with Snyder in the director’s chair and Miller acting as consultant and coproducer. The film is a frame-by-frame screen adaptation of the comic books. This accounts for the fact that the trailer, which has already gone into circulation (on www.300themovie.warnerbros.com), has such a strong sense of being drawn, with effects that resemble video games. The film “300,” starring Scottish actor Gerard Butler, is not aimed at telling a historically accurate story. It is a spectacle, and an impressive one at that, that uses every new technology at its disposal and simply bases itself on the story of Leonidas.
The film’s budget reached an impressive $60 million and it was shot exclusively with the actors performing against digital screens on which the effects were added later. The digitally created image of the film has also been made into a video game titled “300: March to Glory,” which is to be launched on the same date as the film, while stores will soon have action figures of the characters as well.
There is little doubt that “300” will have Greek purists screaming for blood as soon as it hits movie theaters, but whether they like this style of film or not, the genre is here to stay. “Sin City 2,” the sequel to the noir thriller directed by Miller and Robert Rodriguez – with the help of Quentin Tarantino as special guest director – made Miller a household name.
In the world of comics, however, Miller, now aged 49, has nothing to prove; his status is already legendary. World literature and Japanese cinema, especially the masterpieces of Akira Kurosawa, have deeply influenced the American artist’s work and this is reflected in his dark, personalized style of drawing and his references to the art of the manga Japanese comics.
Born in Maryland and raised in Vermont, Miller was like so many other teenagers of his time, growing up on the stories of superheroes such as Batman and Superman. However, even though he loved these comic books, he was annoyed by the heroes’ one-dimensional characters. For several years, he put down comics and began watching movies and reading books instead. Miller’s earliest foray into the world of television was in 1978 for “The Twilight Zone.” His first hit came when he wrote and penciled several series of Marvel Comic’s “Daredevil,” the film version of which, starring Ben Affleck, was a box-office flop. Even though Miller had not created Daredevil himself, he nurtured and developed him further.
Miller’s first independent work was the hit miniseries “Ronin” in the mid-1980s, while in 1986 he relaunched Batman and a series of stories about how the Caped Crusader survives the death of Robin. Ever since, Miller has continued to develop this character, updating him constantly and involving him in contemporary stories.
However, Miller’s success is not just seen in the work he has signed himself, but in the work of others who are inspired by him as well. The new-era Batman, as presented and directed by Christopher Nolan in the 2005 “Batman Begins,” was clearly drawn from Miller’s Gothic atmosphere, in contrast to previous Batman films that were glossier and glitzier.
Last year’s “V for Vendetta,” directed by James McTeigue and based on the comic book by David Lloyd, gives the impression that it would not have reached such a big, wide audience had it not been preceded by “Sin City” by just a year.
Even the clean-cut Spider-Man, whose latest film is coming out in the spring, will this time be a bit darker and moodier, in step with the public demand for a darker atmosphere.
The film, starring Scottish actor Gerard Butler as Leonidas, is a frame-by-frame screen adaptation of the comic book of ‘300,’ which circulated in five issues in 1998.
By Panayiotis Panagopoulos - Kathimerini
In another two months, Greeks are sure to witness another clash between the big movie industry and local critics. Following Oliver Stone’s “Alexander,” Ang Lee’s “Brokeback Mountain” and Wolfgang Petersen’s “Troy,” there are plenty of people here who feel they know what should and shouldn’t be allowed to be shown on the silver screen.
This time round the debate will revolve around a number: 300. But, this is not just any number: It refers to the 300 Spartan warriors led by Leonidas in the 480 BC battle of Thermopylae, told in a Gothic heavy-metal version of the tale, directed by Zack Snyder (“Dawn of the Dead”) and designed by Miller, the man behind great comics such as “Sin City.”
How many Greeks are prepared to see a Xerxes who is black, bald and covered in body and face piercings, Ephialtes as a hunchback and rhinos running across Thermopylae to the music of Nine-Inch Nails? The film may not be 100 percent true to history but it is 100 percent true to Miller’s style. He says that despite the liberties he has taken, he is quite familiar with the story of Leonidas and has tremendous respect for it. “There is a scene where the Persian emissary asks for a gift of land and water. A Spartan leads him to a well and throws him in. This scene, like most others in the book, is exactly the same as it is told,” says Miller. “The Spartans behaved this way to tyrants.” Why did he choose to tell this chapter of Greek history? “Because it’s the best story I have ever laid my hands on.”
The comic book of “300” circulated in five issues in 1998. Five years later, it was slated to become a film, with Snyder in the director’s chair and Miller acting as consultant and coproducer. The film is a frame-by-frame screen adaptation of the comic books. This accounts for the fact that the trailer, which has already gone into circulation (on www.300themovie.warnerbros.com), has such a strong sense of being drawn, with effects that resemble video games. The film “300,” starring Scottish actor Gerard Butler, is not aimed at telling a historically accurate story. It is a spectacle, and an impressive one at that, that uses every new technology at its disposal and simply bases itself on the story of Leonidas.
The film’s budget reached an impressive $60 million and it was shot exclusively with the actors performing against digital screens on which the effects were added later. The digitally created image of the film has also been made into a video game titled “300: March to Glory,” which is to be launched on the same date as the film, while stores will soon have action figures of the characters as well.
There is little doubt that “300” will have Greek purists screaming for blood as soon as it hits movie theaters, but whether they like this style of film or not, the genre is here to stay. “Sin City 2,” the sequel to the noir thriller directed by Miller and Robert Rodriguez – with the help of Quentin Tarantino as special guest director – made Miller a household name.
In the world of comics, however, Miller, now aged 49, has nothing to prove; his status is already legendary. World literature and Japanese cinema, especially the masterpieces of Akira Kurosawa, have deeply influenced the American artist’s work and this is reflected in his dark, personalized style of drawing and his references to the art of the manga Japanese comics.
Born in Maryland and raised in Vermont, Miller was like so many other teenagers of his time, growing up on the stories of superheroes such as Batman and Superman. However, even though he loved these comic books, he was annoyed by the heroes’ one-dimensional characters. For several years, he put down comics and began watching movies and reading books instead. Miller’s earliest foray into the world of television was in 1978 for “The Twilight Zone.” His first hit came when he wrote and penciled several series of Marvel Comic’s “Daredevil,” the film version of which, starring Ben Affleck, was a box-office flop. Even though Miller had not created Daredevil himself, he nurtured and developed him further.
Miller’s first independent work was the hit miniseries “Ronin” in the mid-1980s, while in 1986 he relaunched Batman and a series of stories about how the Caped Crusader survives the death of Robin. Ever since, Miller has continued to develop this character, updating him constantly and involving him in contemporary stories.
However, Miller’s success is not just seen in the work he has signed himself, but in the work of others who are inspired by him as well. The new-era Batman, as presented and directed by Christopher Nolan in the 2005 “Batman Begins,” was clearly drawn from Miller’s Gothic atmosphere, in contrast to previous Batman films that were glossier and glitzier.
Last year’s “V for Vendetta,” directed by James McTeigue and based on the comic book by David Lloyd, gives the impression that it would not have reached such a big, wide audience had it not been preceded by “Sin City” by just a year.
Even the clean-cut Spider-Man, whose latest film is coming out in the spring, will this time be a bit darker and moodier, in step with the public demand for a darker atmosphere.
Saturday, January 20, 2007
Meteorites from under the pyramids
Source: Science and Scholarship in Poland
Samples of rock and fragments of pyramid walls brought from Egypt are being examined at the AGH University of Science and Technology. It is very likely that meteorites had dropped near the pyramids. The material was collected during the December expedition of geologists. Another aim of the expedition was to study some geoglyphics, i.e. gigantic pictures drawn on the ground.
According to "Dziennik Polski", the scientists were intrigued by some unusual structures, which resembled craters formed after meteorites hit the ground. They noticed them when analysing satellite pictures of areas north of the great pyramids in Giza.
“We found very solid metallic fragments in this area. These are probably meteorite fragments” – says Prof. Maciej Pawlikowski from the Mineralogy, Petrography and Geochemistry department at AGH University, who was the supervisor and main organiser of the geological expedition. “We hope that further tests on the patina covering the rocks, which formed during the meteorites’ fall, will help us to establish the exact time of the event” – the scientists said.
The aim of the expedition was also to study the geoglyphics, i.e. gigantic pictures on the ground. Located east of Cairo, they form two several-kilometre-long curved lines, which almost meet in one point. On satellite pictures, they look like a huge drawing of a scarab.
The origins of these mysterious structures remain unknown. “It is not known, whether they are made by man or a natural land formation. Up to now, there have been no publications on the subject” – said Prof. Pawlikowski.
The results of the Krakow geologists’ expedition do not confirm the research of American scientists, who claimed that the pyramids were built from prefabricates.
Samples of rock and fragments of pyramid walls brought from Egypt are being examined at the AGH University of Science and Technology. It is very likely that meteorites had dropped near the pyramids. The material was collected during the December expedition of geologists. Another aim of the expedition was to study some geoglyphics, i.e. gigantic pictures drawn on the ground.
According to "Dziennik Polski", the scientists were intrigued by some unusual structures, which resembled craters formed after meteorites hit the ground. They noticed them when analysing satellite pictures of areas north of the great pyramids in Giza.
“We found very solid metallic fragments in this area. These are probably meteorite fragments” – says Prof. Maciej Pawlikowski from the Mineralogy, Petrography and Geochemistry department at AGH University, who was the supervisor and main organiser of the geological expedition. “We hope that further tests on the patina covering the rocks, which formed during the meteorites’ fall, will help us to establish the exact time of the event” – the scientists said.
The aim of the expedition was also to study the geoglyphics, i.e. gigantic pictures on the ground. Located east of Cairo, they form two several-kilometre-long curved lines, which almost meet in one point. On satellite pictures, they look like a huge drawing of a scarab.
The origins of these mysterious structures remain unknown. “It is not known, whether they are made by man or a natural land formation. Up to now, there have been no publications on the subject” – said Prof. Pawlikowski.
The results of the Krakow geologists’ expedition do not confirm the research of American scientists, who claimed that the pyramids were built from prefabricates.
Society bought the sites it intended to excavate
Source: ekathimerini
“One of the most important moments in the history of the Greek state was the founding of the Archaeological Society in Athens in January 1837,” said its current general secretary, Vassilios Petrakos, a member of the Athens Academy.
“Inspired by the romantic classicism of an overseas Greek, Constantine Bellios, a group of scholars headed by Alexandros Rizos Rangavis and Kyriakos Pittakis founded a society for ancient artifacts, the country and science,” Petrakos added.
Their main purpose was to discover ancient ruins in Athens and to preserve them as well as possible.
During the first half of the 19th century, only low-rise buildings went up in Athens and so the society wasn’t concerned about overbuilding.
Because it did not have state powers, the society had to buy the sites it excavated.
Their work was visible for all to see. At the Acropolis for example, medieval buildings and others dating from the Turkish occupation were demolished.
Heinrich Schliemann paid for the Frankish tower at the Propylaea to be demolished. Excavations on the southern side of the Acropolis reached from the Asclepeio to the Herod Atticus Theater.
At Kerameikos, the gravestone of Hipparete, the granddaughter of Alcibiades, was found.
In Elefsina, houses and football fields were bought to save the Temple of Demeter, and the famous excavation of the five royal tombs at Mycenae was begun at Schliemann’s own expense.
The Archaeological Society, apart from the battles it fought, often bought shares; they did so notably in Tanagra, where antiquities smugglers rented properties so they could dig undisturbed – and legally.
The society bought the antiquities in order to save them. In other words, it was often forced to make many such purchases in order to ensure valuable artifacts at risk of being spirited out of the country stayed in Greece.
A typical example was the marble statue of Poseidon from the island of Milos.
“One of the most important moments in the history of the Greek state was the founding of the Archaeological Society in Athens in January 1837,” said its current general secretary, Vassilios Petrakos, a member of the Athens Academy.
“Inspired by the romantic classicism of an overseas Greek, Constantine Bellios, a group of scholars headed by Alexandros Rizos Rangavis and Kyriakos Pittakis founded a society for ancient artifacts, the country and science,” Petrakos added.
Their main purpose was to discover ancient ruins in Athens and to preserve them as well as possible.
During the first half of the 19th century, only low-rise buildings went up in Athens and so the society wasn’t concerned about overbuilding.
Because it did not have state powers, the society had to buy the sites it excavated.
Their work was visible for all to see. At the Acropolis for example, medieval buildings and others dating from the Turkish occupation were demolished.
Heinrich Schliemann paid for the Frankish tower at the Propylaea to be demolished. Excavations on the southern side of the Acropolis reached from the Asclepeio to the Herod Atticus Theater.
At Kerameikos, the gravestone of Hipparete, the granddaughter of Alcibiades, was found.
In Elefsina, houses and football fields were bought to save the Temple of Demeter, and the famous excavation of the five royal tombs at Mycenae was begun at Schliemann’s own expense.
The Archaeological Society, apart from the battles it fought, often bought shares; they did so notably in Tanagra, where antiquities smugglers rented properties so they could dig undisturbed – and legally.
The society bought the antiquities in order to save them. In other words, it was often forced to make many such purchases in order to ensure valuable artifacts at risk of being spirited out of the country stayed in Greece.
A typical example was the marble statue of Poseidon from the island of Milos.
Bringing ancient civilization to light
The Greek Archaeological Society marks its 170th anniversary of excavations by featuring a series of vibrant exhibitions over the next two years
By Iota Sykka - Kathimerini
Without the excavations it has carried out in Athens and elsewhere in Greece, our perception of the country’s archaeological map would be quite different. Many monuments would have been destroyed and information on others would have been limited.
Athens still has remnants of ancient civilization – including the Acropolis, Philopappou Hill, the Roman Forum and Hadrian’s Library, the Pnyx, Observatory Hill, Kerameikos and Lycabettus – thanks to the Greek Archaeological Society, which has also excavated at Mycenae, Sesklo and Epidaurus.
The society has every good reason to celebrate this year, its 170th anniversary. It’s an opportunity to look back at some of its work, which is recorded in its archives and library and is continually being updated. These rich files are considered comparable to that of the great old foreign archaeological schools here, including the French, British and American schools.
Four interesting archaeological exhibitions will be taking place over the next two years, beginning this month with a show on the Cycladic civilization in the basement of the society’s headquarters at 22 Panepistimiou Street. For the first time, drawings by the archaeologist Anastassios Orlandos will be shown, along with impressive watercolors of ancient sites. There will also be an exhibit with images of excavations at Akrotiri on the island of Santorini, marking the 40th anniversary of the work begun by Spyros Marinatos.
By Iota Sykka - Kathimerini
Without the excavations it has carried out in Athens and elsewhere in Greece, our perception of the country’s archaeological map would be quite different. Many monuments would have been destroyed and information on others would have been limited.
Athens still has remnants of ancient civilization – including the Acropolis, Philopappou Hill, the Roman Forum and Hadrian’s Library, the Pnyx, Observatory Hill, Kerameikos and Lycabettus – thanks to the Greek Archaeological Society, which has also excavated at Mycenae, Sesklo and Epidaurus.
The society has every good reason to celebrate this year, its 170th anniversary. It’s an opportunity to look back at some of its work, which is recorded in its archives and library and is continually being updated. These rich files are considered comparable to that of the great old foreign archaeological schools here, including the French, British and American schools.
Four interesting archaeological exhibitions will be taking place over the next two years, beginning this month with a show on the Cycladic civilization in the basement of the society’s headquarters at 22 Panepistimiou Street. For the first time, drawings by the archaeologist Anastassios Orlandos will be shown, along with impressive watercolors of ancient sites. There will also be an exhibit with images of excavations at Akrotiri on the island of Santorini, marking the 40th anniversary of the work begun by Spyros Marinatos.
Worshippers of Zeus demand access to temple for ceremony
Source: ekathimerini
Plan to defy ban by Culture Ministry on entering Athens archaeological site
After all these centuries, Zeus may have a few thunderbolts left. A tiny group of worshippers plans a rare ceremony tomorrow to honor the ancient Greek gods, at the 1,800-year-old temple of Olympian Zeus.
Greece’s Culture Ministry has declared the central Athens site off-limits, but worshippers say they’ll defy the decision.
“These are our temples and they should be used by followers of our religion,” said Doreta Peppa, head of the Athens-based Ellinais, a group campaigning to revive ancient religion.
“Of course we will go ahead with the event... we will enter the site legally. We will issue a call for (world) peace, who can be opposed to that?” Peppa said the ceremony will be held in honor of Zeus, king of the ancient gods, but did not give other details.
The daily Ethnos newspaper, citing the group’s application to the Culture Ministry to use the site, said the 90-minute event would include hymns, dancers, torchbearers, and worshippers in ancient costume.
Greece’s ancient religion is believed to have several hundred official followers, mainly middle-aged and elderly academics, lawyers and other professionals, typically with a keen interest in ancient history and a dislike for the Greek Orthodox Church.
Ancient rituals are re-enacted every two years at Olympia, in southern Greece, where the flame-lighting ceremony is held for the Summer and Winter Olympic Games – but the event is not regarded as being religious and actresses are used to pose as high priestesses. Last year, the Culture Ministry, fearing damage to monuments, blocked an initiative to hold an international track meet at Olympia. A panel of ministry experts ruled against tomorrow’s ancient ceremony in Athens on similar grounds.
“Ancient sites are not available for this kind of event... the (panel) ruled unanimously against the proposal,” ministry official Eliza Kyrtsoglou said. It was not clear whether the government had plans to block the worshippers.
Revivalists of the ancient Greek religion are split into rival organizations which trade insults over the Internet.
Peppa’s group is at odds with ultra-nationalists who view a revival as a way to protect Greek identity from foreign influences.
The worshippers also face another obstacle: Greece’s powerful Orthodox Church.
About 97 percent of native-born Greeks are baptized Orthodox Christian, and the Church regards ancient religious practices as pagan. Representatives of the Church in the past have not attended flame ceremonies at Olympia because reference is made to Apollo, the ancient god of music and light.
Christianity took hold in Greece in the 4th century after Roman Emperor Constantine’s conversion. Emperor Theodosius wiped out the last vestige of the Olympian gods when he abolished the Olympic Games in AD 394. The modern revival of the Olympiad maintains a slender link to ancient ceremonies.
“Christianity did not prevail without bloodshed,” said Peppa, a novelist and historical writer. “After 16 centuries of negativity toward us, we’ve gotten something in our favor.” Peppa’s group, dedicated to reviving worship of the 12 ancient gods, was founded last year and won a court battle for official state recognition of the ancient Greek religion.
Ellinais is demanding government approval for its downtown offices to be registered as a place of worship and is threatening further court action unless that permission is granted. “The court decision is clear but the (government) has done nothing to put it into effect,” Peppa said. “There should be respect for people who want to express their religious feelings in a different way, not the typical Orthodox or Christian way. We should not be stopped or denied our rights.” (AP)
Plan to defy ban by Culture Ministry on entering Athens archaeological site
After all these centuries, Zeus may have a few thunderbolts left. A tiny group of worshippers plans a rare ceremony tomorrow to honor the ancient Greek gods, at the 1,800-year-old temple of Olympian Zeus.
Greece’s Culture Ministry has declared the central Athens site off-limits, but worshippers say they’ll defy the decision.
“These are our temples and they should be used by followers of our religion,” said Doreta Peppa, head of the Athens-based Ellinais, a group campaigning to revive ancient religion.
“Of course we will go ahead with the event... we will enter the site legally. We will issue a call for (world) peace, who can be opposed to that?” Peppa said the ceremony will be held in honor of Zeus, king of the ancient gods, but did not give other details.
The daily Ethnos newspaper, citing the group’s application to the Culture Ministry to use the site, said the 90-minute event would include hymns, dancers, torchbearers, and worshippers in ancient costume.
Greece’s ancient religion is believed to have several hundred official followers, mainly middle-aged and elderly academics, lawyers and other professionals, typically with a keen interest in ancient history and a dislike for the Greek Orthodox Church.
Ancient rituals are re-enacted every two years at Olympia, in southern Greece, where the flame-lighting ceremony is held for the Summer and Winter Olympic Games – but the event is not regarded as being religious and actresses are used to pose as high priestesses. Last year, the Culture Ministry, fearing damage to monuments, blocked an initiative to hold an international track meet at Olympia. A panel of ministry experts ruled against tomorrow’s ancient ceremony in Athens on similar grounds.
“Ancient sites are not available for this kind of event... the (panel) ruled unanimously against the proposal,” ministry official Eliza Kyrtsoglou said. It was not clear whether the government had plans to block the worshippers.
Revivalists of the ancient Greek religion are split into rival organizations which trade insults over the Internet.
Peppa’s group is at odds with ultra-nationalists who view a revival as a way to protect Greek identity from foreign influences.
The worshippers also face another obstacle: Greece’s powerful Orthodox Church.
About 97 percent of native-born Greeks are baptized Orthodox Christian, and the Church regards ancient religious practices as pagan. Representatives of the Church in the past have not attended flame ceremonies at Olympia because reference is made to Apollo, the ancient god of music and light.
Christianity took hold in Greece in the 4th century after Roman Emperor Constantine’s conversion. Emperor Theodosius wiped out the last vestige of the Olympian gods when he abolished the Olympic Games in AD 394. The modern revival of the Olympiad maintains a slender link to ancient ceremonies.
“Christianity did not prevail without bloodshed,” said Peppa, a novelist and historical writer. “After 16 centuries of negativity toward us, we’ve gotten something in our favor.” Peppa’s group, dedicated to reviving worship of the 12 ancient gods, was founded last year and won a court battle for official state recognition of the ancient Greek religion.
Ellinais is demanding government approval for its downtown offices to be registered as a place of worship and is threatening further court action unless that permission is granted. “The court decision is clear but the (government) has done nothing to put it into effect,” Peppa said. “There should be respect for people who want to express their religious feelings in a different way, not the typical Orthodox or Christian way. We should not be stopped or denied our rights.” (AP)
Monday, January 15, 2007
Temple Aqueduct and Ritual Bath Excavated Opposite Temple Mount
Source: Arutz Sheva
By Ezra HaLevi
Excavations being conducted opposite the Western Wall Plaza have uncovered an aqueduct that brought water to the Holy Temple, as well as a ritual bath from that period.
The never-before-excavated area is situated behind the Western Wall police station, adjacent to the plaza where millions of worshipers and tourists come each year to visit the Western Wall and Temple Mount.
The new archaeological find uncovers a missing link in the ancient water system, known as the "Lower Aqueduct." This system channeled water from Solomon’s Pools near Bethlehem (located several miles south of Jerusalem) directly to the national focal point of Jewish worship - the Temple Mount.
Solomon’s pools, situated just north of the modern Jewish town of Efrat, cover an area of about 7 acres and can hold three million gallons of water. A lengthy aqueduct conveyed the water from the lowest pool through Bethlehem, across the Gihon valley, along the western slope of the Tyropoeon valley, and into the cisterns underneath the Temple Mount. Today, the water from the pools reaches only Bethlehem due to the destruction of the aqueducts.
Current plans for the partition wall will leave Solomon’s Pools outside the area of Jewish sovereignty.
The plastered hewn-stone mikva (ritual bath) unearthed at the excavation is from the Second Temple period. It was originally situated in the foundation level of a private home during the time of the Second Temple. The ritual bath was damaged at a later date when the bedrock cliff opposite it was hewn into a vertical wall that rose up to a maximum height of about thirty feet.
The most extensive remains of the period are those of a Roman-Byzantine colonnaded street – the Eastern Cardo. Included in that area is a covered stoa, a row of shops and several artifacts.
The street appears on a 6th century map known as the Medaba Map and is known as the Eastern Cardo or the Valley Cardo. The lavish colonnaded street began at the Damascus Gate in the north and led south, running the length of the channel in the Tyropoeon Valley. Sections of this street were revealed in the past in the northern part of the Old City, at a depth of about four meters (12 feet) below the pavement. The full eleven-meter (33 foot) width of the original road was exposed in the present excavation for the first time.
“The street was paved with large flagstones that were set in place diagonally, in the customary method of the Roman world, which was probably meant to prevent wagons from slipping,” Shlomit Wexler-Bdolah, the director of the excavations, explained. She added that a drainage system was installed below the flagstones.
To the west of the street was a covered stoa that was six meters wide, and beyond it was a row of shops set inside cells whose walls were hewn out of the bedrock cliff. A large base of a magnificent corner column has just been exposed in the eastern side of the street and may be part of a building that stood there, or an intersection with an entrance to the road that runs to the east.
The Antiquities Authority is carrying out the excavations of the 80 by 200 foot area west of the Western Wall at the request of the Western Wall Heritage Foundation. The area will soon be the site of the Western Wall Heritage Center.
By Ezra HaLevi
Excavations being conducted opposite the Western Wall Plaza have uncovered an aqueduct that brought water to the Holy Temple, as well as a ritual bath from that period.
The never-before-excavated area is situated behind the Western Wall police station, adjacent to the plaza where millions of worshipers and tourists come each year to visit the Western Wall and Temple Mount.
The new archaeological find uncovers a missing link in the ancient water system, known as the "Lower Aqueduct." This system channeled water from Solomon’s Pools near Bethlehem (located several miles south of Jerusalem) directly to the national focal point of Jewish worship - the Temple Mount.
Solomon’s pools, situated just north of the modern Jewish town of Efrat, cover an area of about 7 acres and can hold three million gallons of water. A lengthy aqueduct conveyed the water from the lowest pool through Bethlehem, across the Gihon valley, along the western slope of the Tyropoeon valley, and into the cisterns underneath the Temple Mount. Today, the water from the pools reaches only Bethlehem due to the destruction of the aqueducts.
Current plans for the partition wall will leave Solomon’s Pools outside the area of Jewish sovereignty.
The plastered hewn-stone mikva (ritual bath) unearthed at the excavation is from the Second Temple period. It was originally situated in the foundation level of a private home during the time of the Second Temple. The ritual bath was damaged at a later date when the bedrock cliff opposite it was hewn into a vertical wall that rose up to a maximum height of about thirty feet.
The most extensive remains of the period are those of a Roman-Byzantine colonnaded street – the Eastern Cardo. Included in that area is a covered stoa, a row of shops and several artifacts.
The street appears on a 6th century map known as the Medaba Map and is known as the Eastern Cardo or the Valley Cardo. The lavish colonnaded street began at the Damascus Gate in the north and led south, running the length of the channel in the Tyropoeon Valley. Sections of this street were revealed in the past in the northern part of the Old City, at a depth of about four meters (12 feet) below the pavement. The full eleven-meter (33 foot) width of the original road was exposed in the present excavation for the first time.
“The street was paved with large flagstones that were set in place diagonally, in the customary method of the Roman world, which was probably meant to prevent wagons from slipping,” Shlomit Wexler-Bdolah, the director of the excavations, explained. She added that a drainage system was installed below the flagstones.
To the west of the street was a covered stoa that was six meters wide, and beyond it was a row of shops set inside cells whose walls were hewn out of the bedrock cliff. A large base of a magnificent corner column has just been exposed in the eastern side of the street and may be part of a building that stood there, or an intersection with an entrance to the road that runs to the east.
The Antiquities Authority is carrying out the excavations of the 80 by 200 foot area west of the Western Wall at the request of the Western Wall Heritage Foundation. The area will soon be the site of the Western Wall Heritage Center.
Friday, January 12, 2007
Indiana Jones to Start Production in 2007!!!!
It's finally official!!!
Source: IndianaJones.com
In a long-awaited announcement, George Lucas and Steven Spielberg revealed today that the fourth installment of Indiana Jones will begin production in June 2007. Harrison Ford returns in his role as the daring Dr. Jones for the new adventure. The film will be produced by Lucasfilm Ltd., directed by Steven Spielberg and released by Paramount Pictures throughout the world in May 2008.
The screenplay has been written by David Koepp.
Spielberg states "George, Harrison and I are all very excited. We feel that the script was well worth the wait. We hope it delivers everything you'd expect from our history with Indiana Jones."
The film will be produced by Frank Marshall with George Lucas and Kathy Kennedy as executive producers. "Working with Steven, Frank, Kathy and the Indy crew is like working with family," states Lucas. "These films are such great fun to make. I'm looking forward to reuniting with the team and starting this new journey."
The film has plenty of action in store for the rogue archeologist. Harrison Ford comments "I'm delighted to be back in business with my old friends. I don't know if the pants still fit but I know the hat will. "
It will be shot on undisclosed locations around the world as well as in the United States.
For more than 25 years, audiences have been enraptured by the exploits of Indiana Jones. The film trilogy -- Raiders of the Lost Ark, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade -- garnered 14 Academy Award nominations, won 7 Oscars, and grossed over $1,182,000,000 at the box office. The films are among the most popular films ever made and have become a legendary part of film history.
It was about time! :-)
Dynasty revealed
Source: Al-Ahram Weekly
A quartz stela unearthed in the Avenue of Ram-headed Sphinxes in Luxor has changed what we know of the 20th dynasty, writes Nevine El-Aref
For more than three centuries, since historians and Egyptologists began to write the first history in modern times of the 20th dynasty of Ancient Egypt, compiled from hieroglyphic texts drawn on papyri or engraved on tombs and temple walls, the history of the dynasty has remained virtually unchanged. However, this is archaeology, and in archaeology nothing can be said to be fixed. A newly-unearthed stela in the avenue lined with ram-headed sphinxes that once connected the temples of Luxor and Karnak, along which official and religious processions passed for centuries, has thrown further light on this ancient era.
The new information not only illustrates the growing power of the priesthood during the New Kingdom, but also changes some concepts of the 20th dynasty, especially the facts and figures relating to its founder, the Pharaoh Setnakhte.
The stela is a quartzite religious relief engraved in two parts; the upper one featuring Setnakhte wearing the blue crown and kneeling before the god Amun- Re, who holds the key of life in his right hand and the waset symbol in his left hand. The pharaoh is offering the god the feather of justice, while the goddess Mut, standing in the background, raises her left hand as a symbol of protection and holds the key of life in her right. The lower part bears 17 lines of hieroglyphic text followed by a scene showing Bakenkhunsu, the High Priest of Amun-Re, wearing his religious robes and praying.
Zahi Hawass, secretary-general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA), described the discovery as one of the most important finds of 2006. "It adjusts the history of the 20th dynasty and reveals more about the life of Bakenkhunsu," Hawass says.
Ever since the discovery several years ago of his four limestone statues, now exhibited at the Egyptian Museum, nothing was known about Bakenkhunsu except for his title as the High Priest of Amun-Re. Now, Hawass says, after deciphering the hieroglyphic text, the priest's family members and relatives have been identified. The priest's construction achievements at Karnak Temple's Great Hall can also be recognised. The text mentions that Bakenkhunsu carried out and oversaw several construction projects at the Great Hall.
Luxor monuments director Mansour Borayek told Al-Ahram Weekly that early studies on the stela revealed that it was a very well-preserved Ancient Egyptian object carved for Bakenkhunsu during the fourth year of Setnakhte's reign. It was made to be installed in the Temple of Amun-Re at Karnak. This date contradicts with the accepted record, which says Setnakhte ruled Egypt for only three years. According to the new information provided by the stela, Setnakhte's reign certainly lasted for four years, and may have continued for longer. Hence, early constructions at the Temple of Amun-Re in Karnak could be attributed to Setnakhte and completed by his son and successor Ramesses III, who also built a mortuary temple at Medinet Habu on Luxor's west bank.
Ramesses III was arguably the last of the great pharaohs to sit on the throne of Egypt. His reign was a time of considerable turmoil throughout the Mediterranean that also saw the Trojan wars, the fall of Mycenae and a great movement of displaced people from all over the region that was to wreak havoc; even toppling empires.
The stela is now being subjected to comprehensive studies in an attempt to reveal more of the 20th dynasty's secrets and, according to what may be discovered, to rewrite its history.
The stela was found accidentally by an Egyptian excavation team working on a project to reconstruct the ram-headed sphinx avenue in Luxor.
Although the 20th dynasty was founded by Setnakhte, its most important member was Ramesses III, who modelled his career after the great pharaoh of the previous dynasty, Ramesses II. The 20th is considered to be the last dynasty of the New Kingdom of Egypt, and was followed by the Third Intermediate Period.
The era of these rulers is notable for the beginning of the systematic robbing of royal tombs. Many surviving administrative documents from this period are records of investigations and punishment for these crimes, especially in the reigns of Ramesses IX and Ramesses XI.
Unfortunately the bickering between the royal heirs that had been a feature the 19th dynasty continued in the 20th, with the winner being the strongest. This group of heirs was described by Diodorus Siculus as "confirmed sluggards devoted only to indulgence and luxury," without "any deed worthy of historical note". However, at this time Egypt was increasingly beset by a series of droughts, below- normal flood levels of the Nile, famine, civil unrest and official corruption -- all of which would limit the managerial abilities of any king. The power of the last pharaoh, Ramesses XI, grew so weak that in the south the High Priests of Amun at Thebes became the de facto rulers of Upper Egypt, while Smendes controlled Lower Egypt even before Ramesses XI's death. Smendes went on to found the 21st dynasty at Tanis.
'Priceless' Roman find in farmer's field
Source: Manchester Eveing News
Gary Skentelbery
A RARE solid silver Roman bracelet unearthed in a farmer's field has been declared treasure trove.
The snake-shaped ornament could be the only one of its kind in the world, making it priceless, it was revealed at a Stockport coroner's hearing.
Archaeologist James Balme didn't even need his metal detector to make the discovery, gleaming in the soil in the field at Lymm near Warrington.
The ancient jewellery will now be valued by a panel of experts at the British Museum in London.
Warrington Museum has already expressed an interest in displaying the item and James will consider selling it - if the price is right.
He will share the proceeds with farmer Tony Cookson, who owns the land on which James made his important find. James, who says it is impossible to put a value on the find, has previously discovered an unknown Roman fort and numerous prehistoric sites in the area, where he has recovered large quantities of prehistoric flint tools and weapons.
All his finds have been recorded by the portable antiquities scheme, the official body working in conjunction with the British Museum.
His discovery has provided new, exciting information about the wealth and social standing of the Roman citizens who lived and farmed in the area almost 2,000 years ago. READ FULL STORY
Gary Skentelbery
A RARE solid silver Roman bracelet unearthed in a farmer's field has been declared treasure trove.
The snake-shaped ornament could be the only one of its kind in the world, making it priceless, it was revealed at a Stockport coroner's hearing.
Archaeologist James Balme didn't even need his metal detector to make the discovery, gleaming in the soil in the field at Lymm near Warrington.
The ancient jewellery will now be valued by a panel of experts at the British Museum in London.
Warrington Museum has already expressed an interest in displaying the item and James will consider selling it - if the price is right.
He will share the proceeds with farmer Tony Cookson, who owns the land on which James made his important find. James, who says it is impossible to put a value on the find, has previously discovered an unknown Roman fort and numerous prehistoric sites in the area, where he has recovered large quantities of prehistoric flint tools and weapons.
All his finds have been recorded by the portable antiquities scheme, the official body working in conjunction with the British Museum.
His discovery has provided new, exciting information about the wealth and social standing of the Roman citizens who lived and farmed in the area almost 2,000 years ago. READ FULL STORY
Clues found for early Europeans
Source: BBC News
An archaeological find in Russia has shed light on the migration of modern humans into Europe.
Artefacts uncovered at the Kostenki site, south of Moscow, suggest modern humans were at this spot about 45,000 years ago.
The first moderns may have entered Europe through a different route than was previously thought, the international team reports.
The research is published in the journal Science.
"Until now, it appeared as though the earliest presence of modern humans in Europe was in south central Europe, in places like Bulgaria and Greece," explained John Hoffecker, author on the paper and a research scientist at the University of Colorado at Boulder, US.
"This reflects an entry from the Levant (eastern shores of the Mediterranean) just before 44,000 years ago." READ FULL STORY
An archaeological find in Russia has shed light on the migration of modern humans into Europe.
Artefacts uncovered at the Kostenki site, south of Moscow, suggest modern humans were at this spot about 45,000 years ago.
The first moderns may have entered Europe through a different route than was previously thought, the international team reports.
The research is published in the journal Science.
"Until now, it appeared as though the earliest presence of modern humans in Europe was in south central Europe, in places like Bulgaria and Greece," explained John Hoffecker, author on the paper and a research scientist at the University of Colorado at Boulder, US.
"This reflects an entry from the Levant (eastern shores of the Mediterranean) just before 44,000 years ago." READ FULL STORY
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