We know the Terracotta Warriors under many different names: the Terracotta Army, Qin’s Warriors, the Army of the First Emperor, The Mausoleum of Qin Shi Huang, … but what if those are almost all wrong? What if the famous stone soldiers were not Emperor Qin Shihuangs guardians for the afterlife?…
- Part 102
Scottish Archaeologists Invite Public to Visit “Textbook” Bronze Age Burial Site
A team of archaeologists, archaeology students and volunteers have made a major discovery in rural Perthshire, Scotland, and are opening it up to the public this Sunday. The removal of a four ton sandstone slab, discovered last summer at Forteviot, revealed a meticulously constructed Bronze Age-period burial chamber, containing a…
Dr. Zahi Needs Your Help!
Zahi Hawass has arguably given more than anyone to the field of Egyptology – but now he needs your help, as he aims to raise $2 million to employ the world’s best Egyptologist as professor at Cairo’s American University. The esteemed archaeologist has been Secretary General of Egypt’s Supreme Council…
A museum full of shoes
One of Torontos most unique cultural getaways is a place dedicated to one small, but important, facet of human culture shoes. The Bata Shoe Museum, as its name suggests, is a museum dedicated to the history of shoes. It shows shoes ranging from 4,500 years ago to the modern day….
Legless Akkadian Cures Century-Old Headache
He’s been legless for millennia – in fact he’s been missing everything from the neck down. But this week saw an ancient Akkadian statue’s head, dating from between the 21st and 23rd centuries BC, united with a replica of his body in Iraq’s Baghdad Museum (also known as the National…
RoboScarab – The Next Generation of Robot Pyramid Explorers
There are currently two* ‘explorer robots’ active in Egypt:the Japanese robot researching the Osiris Shaft – it got as far as it could though, and a ‘snake robot’ might be needed to explore further – and the Leeds robot taking a more thorough look at the shafts in the the…
Discovery of Tablets in Dark Age Temple at Tayinat
An archaeological team, led by University of Toronto professor Tim Harrison, has uncovered a cache of tablets in a temple thatwas built duringthe ‘Dark Age’ period, after the collapse of several Bronze Age civilizations. The temple is at the site of Tayinat in southeastern Turkey. Tayinat has a long history,…
Despicable Me: Stealing The Great Pyramid of Giza
“Mummy.. are we there yet?!”…“Mummy.. are we there yet?!”…“Mummy.. are we there yet?!”…“Mummy.. are w..”*Cue muffled sounds as a hand covers my mouth* I’ll admit that I’ve never grown up. Life’s far too short to do something silly like that – I’ll forever be a big kid who fantasises about…
Google Earth Tour: Ancient Africa – The “Forgotten” Roman Empire
A recent interview by Lyn with author of North Africa:The Roman Coast, Ethel Davies, inspired me to take another look at Roman archaeological finds across this somewhat forgotten continent. When most people think of the Roman Empire, they immediately envision the temples, statues and amphitheatres spanning across Europe. But the…
Lecture Review: Zahi Hawass’ Mysteries of King Tut Revealed
More than two thousand Egyptophiliacs lined up outside Clowes Memorial Hall for what Director of Operations Karen Steele informed me was a sold-out house. Even as funding for the arts is being cut, an event like this sells out in days.” It would not be too much of an exaggeration…