Last summer headlines were made when a team of archaeologists unearthed a cache of tablets from an Assyrian temple at Tayinat. They were discovered by a team led by Professor Tim Harrison of the University of Toronto. Conservation and translation work is ongoing and it is hoped that some translations will be ready in the months ahead. Last Friday, at an archaeology research day presentation in Toronto, Professor Harrison shared some news on what the translations are revealing. He said in his remarks that the cache of tablets is essentially a collection of literary texts and is part of a…
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Snow-weary Toronto residents are set to get some Aegean relief this Saturday. The Royal Ontario Museum, in Toronto Canada, will be hosting Ontario Aegean Archaeology Day. Nine speakers from universities in Ontario and New York State will present their research on the ancient Aegean. The event is free if you have a museum membership – non-members will have to pay the usual museum admission fee. The event will be held in the Eaton theatre, and is sponsored by the museum, the Hellenic Republic of Greece, Greek Communities of Canada and the Archaeology Centre at the University of Toronto. Don’t Miss…
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For Dr. Robert Mason, an archaeologist with the Royal Ontario Museum, it all began with a walk last summer. Mason conducts work at the Deir Mar Musa al-Habashi monastery, out in the Syrian Desert. Its still in use today by monks. The finds at the monastery date mainly to the medieval period and include some beautiful frescoes. I went for a walk into the eastern perimeter, he said – an area that hasnt been explored by archaeologists.What he discovered is an ancient landscape of stone circles, stone alignments and what appear to be corbelled roof tombs. From stone tools found…
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This Sunday tutters at the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO), in Toronto Canada, will attempt to set a world record for the most people tutting at one time. The art gallery is hosting the exhibit King Tut: The Golden King and the Great Pharaohs. Heritage Key has a preview ofit here. The dance is a form of hip hop dance inspired by Ancient Egypt. It was epitomized by comedian Steve Martin in the 1970s on Saturday Night Live. The Gallery has already signed up more than the 250 dancers needed to set the record, said the AGO in a news…
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In our previous Ancient World in London video, history enthusiast Ian Smith showed adventurer Nicole Favish round the Thames and London Wall on the first leg of their Londinium tour. This stop sees them dive right into the heart of the ancient city, to the church of St. Peter-upon-Cornhill. “This is the original site of Christianity in Britain,” says Ian outside the 17th century church, which is allegedly the spot where Romans paid their respects from the 2nd century AD. But there’s much more to the area than religion: this is also the site of the Roman Basilica and Forum.…
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Fellow residents of our Early-Medieval Britannia! Many of you will have become aware of strange men coming from oversees to our green and pleasant island home. You may be wondering who these people are, what they have come for and how long they plan to stay. To we Britons, their barbarian and guttural languages all sound very much the same… but let me inform you that in fact these visitors actually come from different places and each have different cultures- though they share many traits, they will be offended if you should accidentally confuse them for one another. So how…
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My recent travels in India took me to Ajanta, about two hours’ drive outside of Aurangabad, in the Indian state of Maharashtra (where they’re making perfectly drinkable wine these days, by the way). The nearby small town of Ajanta gives its name to the collective of 29 caves carved out of a sheer wall of rock in a horseshoe-shaped river canyon, completed in the period 200BC to 500AD in the name of Buddhism. Several are temples, but most are dormitories originally built for temporarily housing Buddhist monks, as well as travellers and itinerant spice traders. The spice route passed through…
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Roman London is mostly intangible, hidden and largely forgotten. Today it’s buried under tons of concrete and glass in the shape of the City of London London’s financial district with its busy streets, packed offices and underground networks. It’s not surprising that getting a peak at the remains of the Roman city founded soon after 43 AD is not easy, but archaeologists have excavated several large areas, often when construction projects and post-war reconstruction have provided opportunities to open up the ground. However, areas remain that have yet to be studied by a professional archaeologist, so what Roman structures could…
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We have partnered with Turkey holiday specialist HolidayMate to offer you a grand prize – a week’s holiday for two in Turkey. One lucky competition participant will win the prize at the end of our 12 week Ancient World in London series. For those of you suffering the grey London weather, here are some details to mull over: The prize is a breathtaking holiday for 2 people for 7 nights on the sunny shores of Dalaman, Turkey. The lucky winners will be treated to 4 star bed and breakfast accommodation at Green Anatolia Hotel, Fethiye – Ovacik. All flights from…
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I think it is important to note that having an interest in archaeology and then working in it are two polar opposed situations. With an interest or a hobby you can choose an area of interest, lets say 2010 is going to be ‘Egypt’. You can read till your heart’s content on these areas of fascination and in the summer take the family on a holiday to look at the sites and breathe in the history. Bish Bash Boom, the Egypt box is ticked. Pompeii will be 2012. For the commercial archaeologist in Britain, these dreams die shortly after graduation.…