• Ann

    Exclusive Interview: Dr Zahi Hawass in Indianapolis

    The treasures of King Tut are currently making their rounds of the US and Canada in one of the most eagerly-anticipated tours in recent years. In an exclusive interview for Heritage Key, I caught up with Dr Zahi Hawass, Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities in Egypt, after his lecture in Indianapolis on Friday, where the exhibition Tutankhamum: The Golden King and the Great Pharoahs is currently running. We got some very special insights into current issues in Egyptology, including the newly opened tomb of Horemheb, the legacy of King Tut, and Dr Hawass’s own plans for book releases and retirement.

  • Ann

    Britain & The Cannibals: Devon as well as Cheddar Gorge?

    A single human bone found in a cave in Devon may prove that early Britons were cannibals. The arm bone carries seven cut marks made deliberately with a stone tool which are consistent with the act of dismemberment. Scientists believe the bone is evidence that Britons from the Mesolithic period – some 9,000 years ago, between the end of the last Ice Age and the start of farming – engaged in complex burial rituals and possibly cannibalism. They think that because the markings are in the same place, they would have been used to remove muscle from the bone while…

  • Ann

    Parthenon History Gets Censored Still Today

    A video depicting the damage done to the Parthenon over the centuries on display at the new Acropolis Museum was censored following protests by the Greek Orthodox Church. The fragment from a film by Costa-Gravas gives an overview of the ‘vandalism’ to the Parthenon starting at the Germanic warriors in 267 ADto the removal of a large part of the freize by British diplomat Lord Elgin in the 19th century. As such, it also contains a scene from the early Byzantine period showing figures clad in black climbing up ladders and destroying part of the Parthenon frieze. Some damage was…

  • Ann

    Virtual Sambor Prei Kuk, avatars welcome!

    Ever wondered how a 7th century temple complex must have looked like?You can now find out, as the USBerkeley’s Architecture Department has launched what they call a ‘Digital Model of Tangible and Intangible Cultural Heritage’ of one of Cambodia’s earliest Khmer temple complexes. The team used a 3Dgame engine to bring their models of Sambor Prei Kuk alive, allowing you to walk amongst digital reconstructions of ancient ruins – they pre-date Angkor Wat by several centuries – whilst reciting your prayers. Architecture Professor Yehuda Kalay – head of the Virtual Sambor Prei Kuk project – is convinced that this project…

  • Ann

    Cornell University Library Archives on Flickr

    Today was yet another glorious day, as I stumbled over quite a few small museums, universities and organisations that put their ‘heritage’ photographs online – on Flickr to be more precise – for the world to enjoy. Amongst today’s discoveries are the Manchester Museum (also check out their very museum 2.0 project ‘Manchester Hermit’), the Salisbury Museum (how to move an ancient Roman sarcophagus) and Wessex Archaeology. And then of course there are all those awesome ancient world photographs in ‘The Commons’. But you do not even need to be an institution specialising in archaeology to hold an interesting archive.…

  • Ann

    The Manchester Hermit, an artistic way to clean out the museum cabinets

    My name is Ansuman Biswas. I am an artist living in a Gothic Tower in the Manchester Museum, which is part of the University of Manchester, England. Over several months I have been exploring the museum stores and collecting my own little cabinet of curiosities.Each day over the next forty days I will choose an object from my collection and offer it up in a spirit of sacrifice. I will then destroy it. This destruction will inevitably take place unless someone cares for the object… . MUSTDEFINITELYSTAY!!! Brick Part of the Chinese Wall, this brick is not just Ancient History,…

  • Ann

    Ancient Advertisement – Nefertiti Cigarettes

    Although traces of nicotine and even of cocaine have been found on Egyptian mummies that date as long as 3000 years back -French scientists examining the stomach of the Egyptian Pharaoh Rameses II‘s mummy found fragments of tobacco leaves most likely used in the embalming process – and discussion is still ongoing on how these plants exactly got to Egypt without the help of the Spanish conquistadores – a 1997 Discovery Channel show suggests ancient international trade: a Pacific crossing and then delivery via the Silk Route. Regardless if the Pharaohs were junkies or not, we doubt if Queen Nefertiti…

  • Ann

    Egyptian Exhibition opens at Lord Carnarvon’s Highclere Castle

    Lord Carnarvon, the man who funded the discovery of KV-62 – the tomb of Tutankhamun – and died five months later in mysterious circumstances before he could actually see the mummy’s face, was a superstitious man who wore the same lucky bow tie all his life. Such anecdotes are part of the ‘Egyptian Exhibition’ at Highclere Castle. Rising in the Berkshire Hampshire countryside south of Newbury, England, the castle kept many secrets on its own. As the old Earl did not want to talk about Egypt, the collection was hidden away until 1987. But the long-hidden collection of Egyptian antiquities…

  • Ann

    How the Brooklyn Museum’s male mummies were misdiagnosed as female

    When recently the mummy formerly known as ‘Lady Hor’ underwent a scan, researchers were surprised to find that it should have been ‘Sir Hor’ from the start. Yet, this case of ‘gender confusion’ is not a unique one. The same happened to ‘The Daughter of Amunkhau’ – actually a son – from the Birmingham Museum Collection and according to curator Edward Bleiberg on the Brooklyn Museum’s blog, no less than three of the five male mummies from that museum – including Lady Hor – that were CT-scanned in the last eighteen months were at one time thought to be women.…

  • Ann

    Egyptology Idol – Want to be Super and Star next to Dr Zahi?

    Now, this must be the dream of every starting archaeologist: no longer hot – or worse, rainy – dig seasons, no more spending ages meticulously noting down every find’s smallest detail and never again being send to locations where they won’t even serve you a decent chilled pint. This is your chance to escape them all, as History Channel is looking for the next Top Archaeologist (or an anthropologist will do too). Regardless if you crawl out of a dig somewhere in Egypt, toss aside those recently finished final papers or want a break away from your students, this is…