• Ann

    Fourteen Graeco-Roman Tombs Discovered at the Bahariya Oasis, Egypt

    A collection of 14 Graeco-Roman tombs, artefacts and a mummy dating to the third century BC have been discovered in a cemetery in the Ain El-Zawya area of Bawiti, a town in the Bahariya Oasis, Egypt. The find is early evidence of a large Graeco-Roman necropolis at the site. The tombs were found during excavation works ahead of the building of a local youth centre in the area, about 260 miles southwest of Cairo. Dr. Mahmoud Affifi, director of Cairo and Giza antiquities, said that the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA) has halted construction and has started legal procedures to…

  • Ann

    Archaeological Collections Administration – Egypt’s SCA Expands to Facilitate New Antiquities Protection Law

    Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities is to expand, with the addition of a new department for archaeological collections. Among its duties will be the registration of privately owned artefacts, as well as supervising the transfers of ownership on these items. The Archaeological Collections Administration is established to facilitate the execution of the newly amended Antiquities Protection Law. The announcement comes only days after Egypt held its first conference on the repatriation of artefacts, showing that Egypt’s focus is not just on retrieving looting antiquities from foreign collections, but mapping and saveguarding those ‘at home’ as well. Farouk Hosni, Egypt’s Minister…

  • world

    Egtved Girl

    Key Dates 1370 BC The Egtved Girl in Denmark has died circa 1370 BC. She was a Bronze Age girl whose well-preserved remains were discovered in a barrow in 1921. The oak log that she was buried in is dated to the summer of 1370 BC. Although the body itself is missing, the acidic bog conditions of the soil made that the Egtved Girl’s clothing is extremely well preserved. The Egtved Girl must have been 16 to 18 years-old when she died, and was a slim, 160cm tall girl with long blond hair and well-trimmed nails. At her feet were…

  • Ann

    A tale about Egyptian archaeologist Zakaria Goneim and the discovery of Sekhemkhet’s Buried Pyramid

    Behind each great archaeological discovery there are at least two stories: who found it and how, and to whom it belonged. In case of the buried, or unfinished, step pyramid at Saqqara, both stories are fascinating. But one definitely does not come with a happy ending. Dr. Zahi Hawass tells us about the 1951 discovery of the Buried Pyramid at Saqqara by Egyptian archaeologist Zakari Goneim, and about how professional jealousy and false accusations eventually ended Goneim’s life as well as his career. In the 27th Century BC, Third Dynasty pharaoh Djoser was buried in the famous – and first…

  • Ann

    The King Tut Timeline – World Events at the Time of Tutankhamun

    I was asked to gather a heap of data for our timeline-testing, and figured King Tut would make the most interesting case. Why?His history is one that contains a combination of ‘estimates’, undecided parentage and debated dates – and causes of death, as a matter of fact – with very few exact facts and dates for the era in which Carter and Carnarvon dug him out. The ‘split’ makes it a good test-case as well. There’s a huge gap between (circa) 1350BCand 1922 during which Pharaoh Tutankhamun was more or less left in peace. Tut’s tomb did not get robbed…

  • owenjarus

    Assyrian King’s Treaty Discovered in Tayinat Tablet Cache

    Scholars have discovered an ancient treaty ina cache of Assyrian tablets excavated at Tayinat last summer. It was made by the Assyrian ruler Esarhaddon, who was trying to ensure that his son, Ashurbanipal, would be recognized as his successor. Translation work is ongoing and many details are not yet known. The treaty dates to ca. 672 BC, several decades after Tayinat was conquered by Tiglath-Pileser III. Professor Tim Harrison said in a University of Toronto news release that: The tablet is quite spectacular. It records a treaty – or covenant – between Esarhaddon, king of the Assyrian Empire and a…

  • malcolmj

    New Species of Human Ancestor Discovered in Africa is “Rosetta Stone” of Genus Homo

    Archaeologists in South Africa have discovered a previously unknown species of human ancestor in the form of the 1.9 million-year-old partial skeletons of an adult female and a young male hidden deep in an underground cave outside Johannesburg. Theyre thought to represent a key period of evolutionary transition between ape and man. The find is believed to be so important that the lead scientist behind their research has described the species dubbed Australopithecus sediba as potentially being the Rosetta Stone that unlocks our understanding of the genus Homo. The find comes hot on the heels of the discovery of the…

  • bija-knowles

    ‘Vanished Rome’ Turns up on Facebook

    A page on social networking site Facebook has been gathering and publishing historical photos of the city of Rome. Roma Sparita (‘Vanished Rome’) has so far clocked up more than 64,500 fans since January (it’s growing rapidly) and has more than 7,200 ‘vintage’ photos online. The site is becoming far more than its four administrators ever expected. Most of the photos show Rome throughout the 20th century (up until 1990) and there are plenty of iconic scenes of people in the 50s and 60s riding Vespas or in vintage Fiats. Some of the photos also date back as far as…

  • owenjarus

    King Tut Stays Put: Toronto’s Tutankhamun Exhibit Extended Until May

    King Tut will be staying in Toronto for two more weeks. The Art Gallery of Ontario announced today that his departure will be delayed until May 2 due to demand for the exhibition. The shows next stop is Denver the start date of which remains unaffected. Visiting hours for the Toronto show have also been extended to accommodate the crowds. To accommodate weekend visitors, the Gallery has extended the exhibitions hours on Friday and Saturday evenings. Visitors will now be able to purchase tickets for entry at 4:30 pm, 5:00 pm, and 5:30 pm. The King Tut galleries will remain…

  • malcolmj

    Science Versus the Druids: Campaigners Lose Fight For Reburial of Charlie the Avebury Skeleton

    The 5,000-year-old skeleton of a young girl known as Charlie, found buried on a hilltop at Avebury in Wiltshire, will remain on public display at the nearby Alexander Keiller Museum where it has resided for 50 years.A campaign for its reburial by the Council of British Druid Orders (CoBDO) was defeated overwhelmingly by weight of government guidelines and expert and public opinion. The CoBDO argue that its disrespectful for the bones of our ancient ancestors to be stared at or stored in cardboard boxes in dark basements when not the immediate subject of study. In 2006 they selected Charlie who…