- Part 100

Out of Egypt, on the Telly

Like the ancient world? Like early civilization? Like pyramids? I’m guessing if you’re reading this you probably do, so you might enjoy a new documentary series airing on the Discovery Channel next Monday evening. Out of Egypt examines the links between ancient cultures, our modern fascination with them, and the…

Unique Roman Villa Uncovered at the City of David

A third-century AD house from the Roman period has been uncovered at excavations in the City of David in Jerusalem. The building covers about 1,000 square metres and has emerged during a dig that is being carried out by the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA). Dr Doron Ben-Ami is the excavation…

A Stonehenge you can eat

There’s no shortage of Stonehenge replicas in the States: cars, foam and even fridges have made the journey from household commodities to prehistoric pretenders across the Atlantic, with Americans seemingly fixated on Britain’s most famous megalithic site. Yet thus far we’ve seen no Clonehenges that look quite as delicious as…

Tut Tomb Closure Could Lead to KV62 Replica for Tourists

Tourism is a massive industry in Egypt, thanks to the countrys venerable past it accounts for 11% of GDP, and creates jobs for around 12% of the total national workforce. Chief among Egypts antiquarian attractions are the tombs of the pharaohs, the vast network of lavishly decorative burial chambers for…

A Celt in China: The Mysterious Origins of Cherchen Man

Cherchen Man, who died around 1000 BC, appears to be as Scottish as square sausage tall, dark-haired, clad in a red tunic and tartan leggings and sporting a beard as ginger as a burning fox. His DNA attests to his Celtic origins. So why on earth, then, was his mummified…

Invergarry Castle The Latest Historic Site to Be Given Virtual Second Life

A Scottish castle ransacked by government soldiers after the Battle of Culloden has been rebuilt in the online virtual reality domain Second Life. Virtual reality tours are now being offered of Invergarry Castle, in Glengarry in the Highlands, which has been cloned in two different forms the intact 1740 version,…

Luxor’s Costly Facelift Complete Today

Today, Zahi Hawass and Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities are celebrating the completion of five major projects in the city of Luxor, which have totalled of 127 million Egyptian Pounds (13.9 million). They include work to restore and develop the famous ancient sites of Luxor Temple and Deir el-BahriTemple of…

Agora, a Film on the Life of Philosopher Hypatia of Alexandria

To be released in October 2009, the Hollywood-made film Agora – set in Alexandria, Egypt, 391 AD, directed by Alejandro Amenbar and starring Rachel Weisz – about the life and death of the Greek scholar Hypatia of Alexandria should be next in the long line of ‘historically correct’ blockbusters that…

Israel Fury Over World Archaeological Conference ‘Exclusion’

Israeli authorities are raging this week, after what they perceive to be their deliberate exclusion from a World Archaeological Congress on Wednesday. The conference, which concerned ‘overcoming structural violence’ and the negative impact of politics on archaeology, was held in the Palestinian city of Ramallah. The Israeli Antiquities Authority is…