• veigapaula

    Workers and/or Archaeologists: an Exhibition of the Hidden Hands Behind Petrie’s Egypt

    Unseen photographs by Flinders Petrie are now on temporary display in the Petrie Museum in London in an exhibition called Framing the Archaeologist: Portraits and Excavation. The photos were taken by Petrie on site in Egypt, featuring himself, his wife and the excavation workers, and offer a remarkable view of the early years of archaeology. To mark the exhibition, the museum hosted an informal talk between Stephen Quirke and documentary maker Ayman El-Kharrat, entitled Workers and/or Archaeologists: In Conversation, questioning the status of Bedouin workers involved in early excavations in Egypt. You can watch Dr Quirke in this video interview…

  • malcolmj

    Christmas TV Guide: Our Pick of This Year’s Best Ancient World Telly

    No Christmas would be the same without many a wasted hour spent buried in the couch wiped-out on a bellyful of turkey and stuffing, or nursing a hangover after a Herculean nights mulled wine consumption flicking the channels in a dozy haze. It’s a Christmas tradition (although we can’t guarentee that it dates back as far as some other ancient seasonal rituals) This year you can spare yourself all those awful festive films and Christmas music videos youve seen a million times, by keeping Heritage Keys handy guide to ancient world-themed Christmas TV close at hand. All the old-school three-hours…

  • sean-williams

    Abbasid Gold Coin Haul Discovered in Lost Egyptian Monastery

    A Polish archaeological team has discovered a decorated clay vessel containing dozens of gold coins at a lost monastery in Egypt. The find was made in a room of the Archangel Gabriel monastery (Deir Malek Gubrail) in Naqlun, in the Fayum Oasis, by the Polish Centre of Mediterranean Archaeology of Warsaw University. SCA chief Zahi Hawass says the hoard’s 18 coins and 62 coin fragments are dated to Egypt’s Abbasid Period, which ruled northern regions between 750 and 1258 AD. Team leader Wlodzimierz Godlewski says the monastic complex of Naqlun was built at the beginning of the 6th century AD.…

  • malcolmj

    How King Tut’s Tomb Avoided Robbery

    When the tomb was found it was completely by accident, explains Dr Zahi Hawass, of Howard Carters discovery of KV62, at the start of the final instalment of Heritage Keys four-part video interview series King Tut Revealed, filmed by Nico Piazza and featuring still photography by Sandro Vannini. Having already, in previous videos, disclosed the cause of Tutankhamuns death, shared his thoughts on the curse that apparently befalls all who tamper with the boy kings tomb, and revealed some of the jewellery and other treasures buried with the boy king, Hawass this time talks about tomb robbers in the Valley…

  • sean-williams

    Experts Reveal Secret Lost Caribbean City

    Researchers have announced the discovery of a huge ancient city, lost beneath the Caribbean Sea. Yet despite possibly predating the pyramids at Giza, its finders insist their breakthrough is not the legendary city of Atlantis. Satellite images of the city – which is not the same as the underwater site off the coast of Cuba proposed by Russian experts in 2001 – appear to show a pyramid, platforms and ruined buildings. And the project’s leader, who wishes to remain anonymous, is conviced they’re no fluke of nature. “We’ve found structure: what appears to be a tall, narrow pyramid; large platform…

  • sean-williams

    “We are not Pirates!” Zahi Hawass Anger at British Museum Rosetta Stone Loan Letter

    Does Zahi Hawass want the Rosetta Stone on loan or not? It’s hard to know if you read the news often enough. Last night saw Egypt’s antiquities boss come to the British Museum in London to promote his new book A Secret Voyage. Yet among the niceties between Dr Hawass and BM director Neil MacGregor, trouble was already brewing behind the scenes. And while Dr Hawass, who has stepped up his quest to bring Egypt’s greatest treasures home, insisted he wasn’t in London for the Rosetta Stone, he couldn’t help stepping in front of BBC cameras to stake his country’s…

  • bija-knowles

    From Medici to Italy: Repatriation for Boscoreale Fresco and Corinthian Vase

    A precious Roman wall painting, stolen from the site of an ancient villa near Pompeii, has been returned to Italy, after 12 years circulating on the nebulous antiquities market. The fragment of plaster fresco originally came from a Roman villa at Boscoreale, just outside Pompeii, and was reported stolen from an archaeological warehouse at Pompeii in 1997. The fresco is a typically Pompeian scene showing a woman dressed in green carrying a dish or tray against a cream background, surrounded by a deep red frame. Another part of the fragmented wall fresco, depicting Dionysos, was recovered from a London art…

  • sean-williams

    Zahi Hawass Visits London’s British Museum (and ‘Doesn’t’ Mention Rosetta Stone)

    The British Museum’s Egyptian Sculpture Gallery was packed last night, as hundreds of dignitaries flocked to see The World’s Most Famous Archaeologist (copyright all bloggers) Dr Zahi Hawass, speaking ahead of the release of his latest book A Secret Voyage. Cameras in hand, Heritage Key was there to witness Dr Hawass’ appearance, heralded more like the second coming than a book signing. Stood in front of the museum’s colossal head of Ramesses the Great, Dr Hawass boomed out at his fans like an emissary from the pharaoh himself. But as he spoke, you could sense he was looking longingly above…

  • lyn

    Weddings, Sex, Theatre, Contraception… 10 Best Uses for a Stone Circle

    Geoff Holder is an extensively-published author with books that cover Earth mysteries, archaeology, witchcraft and a lot more. His books are an authoritative mix of extensive historical study combined with diligent field research. They are often geographically-based, with titles such as The Guide to Mysterious Glasgow and The Guide to the Mysterious Lake District. He describes himself as a Fortean, which means he’s interested in all things strange and weird, even if they’re not true. Archaeology features large in his books, with a particular emphasis on stone circles, henges and other neolithic ritual and funerary sites. His most recent book is…

  • jacqui-wood

    How to Cook the Perfect Christmas Dinner – Ancient Style

    As an experimental archaeologist and independent researcher, I’ve spent the last 30 years investigating the eating habits of ancient civilisations – including their ancient Christmas dinners. Here are some tips and recipes for the perfect xmas dinner that I’ve collected along the way. I use a technique that I’ve developed over the years to explore the practical aspects of the daily lives of prehistoric Europeans. The approach is based on the theory that the inherent skills and ingenuity of prehistoric European is still latent in the people of Europe today. But the skills of surviving in the northern European landscape…