Ann's blog

This weekend Hadrian's Wall will be put in the spotlight - quite literally - when approximately 500 beacons will illuminate the 84 mile wall in its entirety. It will surely be a memorable sight (and one to capture on video, in pixels, and in Tweets)! As we're all anxiously awaiting the weekend, let's have a look at how Hadrian's Wall, and the bridge and fort complex nearby called the Pons Aelius, might have looked in 200AD!

The history of Newcastle begins about AD120, when Roman engineers constructed the first bridge across the River Tyne. The bridge was called 'Pons Aelius' - meaning 'Bridge of Aelius' - a reference to Emperor Hadrian's family name.

"Young man, well connected, in possesion of fig leave and spare rib is looking for young lady with an apple and a hunger for knowledge to get humanity started. Pets no objection." Which famous person from (biblical) history just placed a personal on Heritage Key? No doubt you'll recognize the aspiring lover in the winning entry for our Valentine's Day contest as Adam, looking for Eve. Congratulations to Loki Popinjay, who with this win earns an extra 50 Ancient World in London Points, AND gets to chose two books from the Thames & Hudson catalogue. Loki, let us know in the comments which ones you chose?

A French archaeological team digging at Saqqara has discovered the burial chamber of 6th Dynasty Queen Behenu, wife of either Pepi I or Pepi II. The burial chamber was revealed while the team was cleaning the sand from Behenu's pyramid in the area of el-Shawaf in South Saqqara, west of the pyramid of King Pepi I.

The burial chamber uncovered by the French mission is badly damaged, apart from two inner walls which contain engraved Pyramid Texts. Those texts were widely used in royal tombs – carved on walls as well as sarcophagi - during the 5th and 6th Dynasties (circa 2465-2150BC).

Using the latest techniques in forensic archaeology, the University of Reading has revealed a new image of multi-cultural Roman Britain. New research demonstrates that 4th century AD York had individuals of North African descent moving in the highest social circles.

The research conducted by the University of Reading's Department of Archaeology used modern forensic ancestry assessment and isotope (oxygen and strontium) analysis of Romano-British skeletal remains such as the ‘Ivory Bangle Lady', in conjunction with evidence from grave goods buried with her.

The ancestry assessment suggests a mixture of 'black' and 'white' ancestral traits, and the isotope signature indicates that she may have come from somewhere slightly warmer than the UK.

After two years of investigation and negotiation, the 21st Dynasty coffin of Imesy is being returned to Egypt. Minister Farouk Hosni describes the coffin as beautifully plastered and painted with colourful religious scenes.

It was intercepted at Miami International Airport in 2008 when the importer failed to show the necessary documents to prove his ownership of the ancient Egyptian sarcophagus, which was part of a shipment from Spain. This raised concern amongst the American authorities that the coffin had left Egypt illegally.

An investigation was started by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency (ICE) of the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS). As the earliest public record of the piece dates to 2007 when it was being exhibited in Madrid, they concluded that the coffin had left Egypt after 1970. ICE then confiscated the coffin and contacted the SCA, who petitioned for the artefact's return to Egypt.

It's only 24 hours since all Tut broke lose, and additional information is still gradually being released (confirming my theory that the main bulk of the information was leaked too early ahead of the press conference). That, or it took the released information a while to percolate through my brain. The following bits are new or extra info (to me) from the official SCA press release.

When I wrote that it was most likely we'd see more conlusive information on King Tut's pedigree on TV first, I obviously was wrong, partly. Spoiler alert: yes, King Tut died at age 19 of (in order) a failing immune system, a leg fracture and malaria, but for the the fine details, and juicy imagery, you'll need to tune in to Discovery Channel's 'King Tut Unwrapped'. The network - which sponsored Egypt's 'mummy lab' - promises us an unprecedented forensic investigation into the life and times of King Tut that reveals the identity of Tut's parents and grandparents, details on his cause of death and new details of his reign.

Ahead of tomorrow's press conference on King Tut's DNA and relatives, some of the news already escaped. Pharoah Tutankhamun died of complications from a broken leg aggravated by malaria. And his family? 'Most likely' (still) Akhenaten is the daddy, with one of Akhenaten's sisters being Tutankhamun's mum (and thus also his aunt!).

The article - to be published tomorrow in the Journal of the American Medical Association alongside the press conference - contains results of over two years of research in two different dedicated 'mummy labs'.

Thanks to the Ancient World in London (and currently the books from Neal Stephenson) I'm quickly catching up on my history of London and neighbouring areas. I'm still far from an expert, or even seriously knowledgeable - hence I've decided to judge who the best invaders of London were on looks. Instantly the Silures - quite sexy in King Arthur, 2004 - spring to mind. Quite neglected when talking and writing about history, they would make the perfect entry... were it not that, unlike Boadicea, they never made it to London, and spent their days in Wales making sure the Romans had one hell of a time.

This Wednesday the long awaited results of the DNA research on King Tut's mummy - and some of his possible family members - will be announced at a press conference with Egyptian Minister of Culture, Farouk Hosni and Dr. Zahi Hawass. They will announce new discoveries surrounding the family of Tutankhamun and the cause of the young king's death.

The study on the family of Tutankhamun (keep an eye on all things Tut on our dedicated page) was conducted through the Egyptian Mummy Project (EMP) headed by Dr. Zahi Hawass, and a team composed of Egyptian scientists from the National Research Center, members from the Faculty of Medicine at Cairo University, and two German DNA specialists.