Fire-fighting: A Losing Battle Wildfires are a big problem in southern Italy. Every year they sweep the tinder-dry countryside and often threaten forests, farmers’ land and human habitation. In Sicily and Campania in particular, ancient heritage sites can also be in danger from summer fires. Despite state publicity about not…
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Video of the New Excavation of the Qin Terracotta Warriors
Chinese archaeologists began the third excavation on Saturday 13th June, hoping to find more pottery figures and unravel some of the mysteries left behind by Qin Shihuangthe first emperor of China. This is the first time in almost 25 years that new digging has been approved for the site. The…
London’s Hottest Museums
When it comes to museums, there’s no doubting London’s credentials as one of the world’s finest launchpads for the intrepid antiquarian. Huge, sprawling caverns of colonial collections and stunning curios line the magnificent colonnaded hallways of giants like the British Museum or the V&A, and no-one can deny that both…
Robot in Disguise: Dr. Zahi Hawass
When director Michael Bay (Armageddon, The Rock) and his enormous production team were shooting Transformers II he managed to persuade the great Dr Zahi Hawass, the most famous of Egyptian archaeologists, to support his request to the Egyptian Government. That request was to film at the Giza Pyramid complex and…
Did a metalworker write one of the world’s earliest medical documents?
A Toronto Egyptologist has a new translation of the Edwin Smith Surgical Papyrus coming out and a new theory on how it was written. Previously the content was attributed to a great medical doctor such as Imhotep. But not for much longer. About 3,500 years ago, in an Egypt partly…
New Acropolis Museum’s Opening Night: Elgin Argument Intensifies
After much heartache, and a building project which ran five years behind scedule, Saturday saw the doors of Athens’ New Acropolis Museum finally throw open its doors to the public in a triumphant blaze of pomp and ceremony. But Greek officials took the chance to highlight the country’s claim for…
Woo’s Wish: East/West Unison
The worlds third largest economy may command respect for its military might and new superpower status.But director John Woo wants to use the universal stories of ancient China to build a more culturally respected worldview of the great nation. His new film Red Cliff (read the review here) is one…
Imagine climbing the Pyramids!
Would you walk on someone’s grave? Or cross someone’s back yard if they asked you not to? Or risk your life if you knew someone else would feel responsible if you died? They’re simple questions of common sense and respect, but neither comes into the equation when it comes to…
Done Stonehenge? Get Set For Manhattenhenge
The ponchos are in the wash, the 34 minor incidents have been recorded, the four cans of scrumpy per person have been consumed and recycled, and English Heritage has breathed a sigh of relief and locked the gates of Stonehenge against protesters and other undesireables for another year. Yes, that’s…
King Arthur Pendragon Gets Home Visit
First he gets cruelly (and, many would say, unfairly) evicted, and then he finds his home crammed full of 35,000 half-cut hippies, and not the odd copper on patrol. It’s enough to make a reincarnated Medieval King hang up his cloaks for good. But King Arthur Pendragon is not going…