Submitted by Jon Himoff on Wed, 01/27/2010 - 22:23
Zahi Hawass tells BusinessWeek that the touring exhibits including the King Tut and the Golden Age of the Pharoahs exhibition have netted Egypt $100 million USD since 2005. Considering that none of the major coffins or the ultimate, iconic piece the Death Mask are included in these shows (click here to see where they're hiding) it is quite an impressive yield for brand Tut and Egypt Inc. (King Tut's contracts are worth about as much as the world's most highly paid footballer Cristiano Ronaldo).
Explore Forge Mill Needle Museum and Bordesley Abbey Visitor Centre in Redditch, and enjoy a day packed full of fun when you can have a go at archery, practise archery and even meet a medieval moneyer. Call 01527 62509, email museum@redditch.gov.uk or visit forgemill.org.uk for details.
In today's world, government issued currency is considered to be a pillar of a healthy economy. Countries without a working currency such as Somalia, Zimbabwe and, most recently, Iceland, are considered to be places in great economic trouble.
However research has shown that state-issued currency is a relatively recent invention with the first government issued money appearing in modern day Turkey and China in the 7th century B.C.
BC - Before State-issued Currency
Although state-issued currency didn’t appear in the Middle East until the 7th century B.C., people were living in cities, and conducting trade in the region, long before that.
Trading in Mesopotamia prior to the 7th century B.C. was done with goods, mainly barley, precious metals and cattle. Some of the words developed to manage this trade are still with us today. The word “shekel” originally meant a unit of measurement, not a coin. How much a shekel amounts to varies throughout history but it is usually somewhere between 10 and 20 grams.
Given by Vesta Sarkhosh Curtis, curator of coins and medals, this short talk complements the 'Splendour of Isfahan' exhibition. It is suitable for all levels of knowledge and no booknig is needed.
Although state-issued currency didn’t appear in the Middle East until the 7th century B.C., people were living in cities, and conducting trade in the region, long before that.
