The opening weekend for the The Warrior Emperor and China’s Terracotta Army, is shaping up to be one filled with, well, warriors. The Royal Ontario Museumannounced recently that the exhibit, the largest Terracotta Warriors show ever to hit North America, will be opening on June 26. That day coincides with the opening of the G20 summit which runs from June 26-27 in Toronto. The leaders of the worlds 20 largest economies, including US President Barack Obama, will be attending meetings at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre. News is just breaking that the main protest zone islikely to be just steps…
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One of the most famous, popular and mysterious ancient Egyptian treasures of the Louvre, the 2060-year-old Le zodiaque de Dendéra – the Dendera Zodiac – has witnessed more than its fair share of controversy over the centuries. Stripped from the portico of a chapel dedicated to Osiris at the Hathor Temple at Dendera in 1820, then shipped to Paris, the beautifully carved bas-relief played an unlikely role in fierce disputes over science and faith in Napoleonic and Restoration France. Today, the zodiac continues to spark debate. As the first known depiction in history of the classical zodiac of twelve signs,…
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Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg vows to return the Elgin Marbles to Greece if voted into power in today’s general election. As an MEP (Member of the European Parliament) in 2002 Clegg even spearheaded a conference on sending the marbles back to Athens named Marbles in Exile. Clegg described the marbles being housed in the British Museum (BM) like displaying Big Ben in the Louvre. When Tory MEPRoger Helmer criticised the stance, Clegg wrote to him, “During the opening of the Marbles in Exile exhibition yesterday, I took the opportunity to read out your message. Everyone agreed that you appear…
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in New York holds one of the largest and most famous collections of Egyptian material in the world. Today, it opens a brand-new, long-term exhibition gathering together 170 pieces from within its Egyptian collection titled The Mummy Chamber. Its an exploration of the many complex ancient Egyptian afterlife rituals and beliefs, which were all intended to protect a deceased soul from harm once they passed-on, and ensure a pleasant experience on the other side. It covers everything from mummification to the placing of votive goods in burial chambers. Organised by the Brooklyn Museums Curator of Egyptian Art Edward Bleiberg, The…
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It’s the end of the Ancient World in London video series! We’ve travelled up and down the country getting the inside line on London’s impressive history, and we’ve seen no small number of ancient wonders along the way. So here’s a video of our best bits and what we thought of them – from the rebellion of Boudicca to the fearsome Maunsell Sea Forts. The series has been much more than the videos, though: we’ve been running bloggers’ challenges, real-world and virtual events, a pub quiz and even a special concert. Of course you can still see Stonehenge, the Valley…
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A team of archaeologists, led by Professor Vance Watrous and Matt Buell of the University at Buffalo, have discovered a fortification system at the Minoan town of Gournia. The discovery rebukes the popular myth that the Minoans were a peaceful society with no need for defensive structures. That idea arose from work done in the early 20th century by Sir Arthur Evans who proposed that a pax Minoica existed on Crete during their time. Certainly the Minoans were afraid of somebody, Professor Watrous said. The town was originally excavated from 1901-1904 by Harriet Boyd Hawes, a pioneering women who was…
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King Tut has left Toronto. The Tut exhibition – Tutankhamun: The Golden King and the Great Pharaohs – at the Art Gallery of Ontario wrapped up on Sunday after a blockbuster run. The final visitor total was about 400,000 people an impressivenumber but not as high as the 1979 show that drew 750,000 visitors. That show featured Tuts golden death mask, an artefact that no longer leaves Egypt. Despite the lower numbers the art gallery considers the show to be a success. “King Tut attracted 404,364 visitors, 47 per cent of whom were making their first visit to the AGO.…
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Archaeologists excavating at Taposiris Magna, 45 km west of Alexandria, have discovered a huge headless granite statue of an as yet unidentified Ptolemaic king, and the original gate to the temple one of fourteen temples said to contain a piece of the god Osiriss body. The monumental sculpture, which is a traditional image of an ancient Egyptian pharaoh wearing collar and kilt, could represent Ptolemy IV, the pharaoh who constructed the Taposiris Magna temple. In a statement issued by the SCA, Dr Zahi Hawass says that the statue is very well preserved and might be one of the most beautiful…
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At its peak during the 2nd century AD, Roman London (Londinium) had a population of up to 60,000 people and represented a thriving urban centre. But as the Roman Empire declined over the next 300 years, so too did the city. In 410, Britain was cut loose from the Empire altogether, and with it London. Troops and officials departed, and the city was left to fend for itself. Exactly what happened during the immediately ensuing phase in London’s history – which is referred to as the Sub-Roman period, and lasted from approximately 450 until 600 AD – is mysterious. A…
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Boudicca’srampaging Celts tore through Calleva Atrebatum, now Silchester, killing thousands of Romans and leaving the town a smouldering wasteland. That’s what 13 years of excavations at the Berkshire town suggest, say a leading expert. Professor Michael Fulford of the University of Reading claims Silchester bears all the scars of the AD60 rebellion, in which up to 80,000 people were massacred by Boudicca and her Britons. An Iron Age settlement was found at Silchester just last year – and though it is often overlooked in the pantheon of Roman British towns Prof. Fulford insists it was at least as important than…