• veigapaula

    Archaeovideo: Digging in the Nile – Underwater Archaeology in Egypt

    Ever wondered what ancient histories might be waiting to be discovered underwater, or dreamed about diving in the Nile and looking for treasures? Well, check out this new video from Heritage Key, featuring Dr. Hawass and teams of Egyptian divers excavating underwater relics near Aswan, Egypt. Experience almost first-hand that feeling of adventure that surrounds Zahi Hawass and his team as they search in the greenish basin of the Nile for precious items. The success of Mediterranean underwater archaeology has led divers and Egyptologists to re-consider the the Nile as an attractive archaeological site. Already, the river has yielded some…

  • sean-williams

    Tutankhamun Discoverer Carter’s Rest House Opened as Museum

    The rest house of Howard Carter, discoverer of King Tutankhamun‘s tomb, has reopened to the public today as a museum. The mud-brick building, near the Valley of the Kings on Luxor‘s West Bank, was one of the projects earmarked by Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities three months ago, as costly facelifts to Luxor were undertaken – including renovations to Luxor Temple and the Deir el-Bahritemple of Queen Hatshepsut. The house, from where Carter made his greatest discovery in 1922 with the backing of Lord Carnarvon, allows visitors to see the office and tools which made Carter an overnight celebrity 87…

  • sean-williams

    Pictures of the Staffordshire Hoard at the British Museum

    As blogged earlier today, the Staffordshire Hoard made its way to London’s British Museum this week, to feverish public interest. And not wanting to miss out on the party, Heritage Key took a trip to Bloomsbury today, to give you a first-hand look at how it has been laid out for the capital’s history lovers. As you can see, there weren’t queues tailed back hundreds of yards outside the building – as was the case at earlier displays in Birmingham – but interest was high, with HK struggling to burst through the crowd for some decent shots. Only a handful…

  • malcolmj

    First Pictures of Stirling Iron Age Gold Hoard Treasure

    As blogged by Sean yesterday, a precious hoard of Iron Age gold treasures worth an estimated 1 million has been discovered by a first-time metal detector enthusiast near Stirling. It was unveiled to the media at an event at the National Museum of Scotland this morning. The collection was described as the most important hoard of Iron Age gold found in Scotland to date. The Stirling Hoard: Gold Iron Age Torcs The artefacts four neck ornaments of European significance, dating from between the 1st and 3rd centuries BC were discovered by a local man, David Booth, on private land back…

  • sean-williams

    El Danta, in Lost Maya City of El Mirador, Could be World’s Biggest Pyramid

    Archaeologists exploring the lost Maya city of El Mirador claim they’ve found the world’s biggest pyramid. The massive structure, called La Danta (The Tapir), may have its summit hidden beneath Guatemala’s jungle canopy. Yet its volume is reckoned to be larger than that of the Great Pyramid of Khufu in Egypt’s Giza Plateau. The city itself, dubbed the ‘Maya Cradle of Civilization‘, is the size of a modern metropolis; bigger than downtown Los Angeles. And experts believe there are thousands more pyramids yet to be found. Yet there is more to El Mirador, tucked in Guatemala’s northern wilderness just a…

  • malcolmj

    ArchaeoVideo: The Tomb of Diplomat Montuemhat Featuring Dr Farouk Gomaa

    The tomb is one of the largest in Thebes, says Dr Farouk Gomaa, the highly-respected archaeologist from the University of Tbingen in Germany who is leading the exploration of the burial monument of Montuemhat, in a new video interview for Heritage Key by Nico Piazza. Clearly, Montuemhat was a powerful and influential figure in ancient Egypt if he was able to carve out such a substantial resting place for himself in the necropolis of the pharaohs. Yet you wont find him on any Egyptian king lists. In this latest ArchaeoVideo from the Theban tombs, from where Sandro Vannini has been…

  • owenjarus

    Who says snow and Egypt don’t go together? Symposium, King Tut, hit Toronto this month!

    Toronto is a good place to be for Egyptian lovers this month. While the weather in Toronto isnt exactly like Cairo (snowfall is common during November), there is going to be lots of important Egyptian activities happening. First the big event King Tut is coming to town! The North American show, which made its last stop in Indianapolis, is opening at the Art Gallery of Ontario on November 24. Advance tickets are on sale now. The show is going to go beyond King Tuts tomb to explore Egypt as it was during the Amarna period. One of the most important…

  • bija-knowles

    Schoolboy Tourist Finds Ancient Underwater Ruins Off Montenegro Coast

    The seas off the coast of Montenegro are largely under-explored by archaeologists, but a school-boy’s discovery could put one site near the city of Bar on the archaeological map once and for all. When 16-year old Michael Le Quesne, from Buckinghamshire, was snorkelling at the bay of Maljevik in September, he came across what looked first of all like some round stones two metres below the surface. Many people might have thought nothing of it and would have snorkelled happily on, preferring to look for fish instead. But Michael had obviously learned a thing or two about old ‘stones’ at…

  • sean-williams

    The EES Archives Explored in London

    Heritage Key loves the tales woven by the archives of the Egypt Exploration Society, as mentioned at their fundraising afternoon earlier this month. So much were we interested in the project, which aims to preserve and digitise the society’s rich recorded history, that we decided to take a look for ourselves. Spread over three separate mews in a backstreet of central London, the only indicator you’ve reached EES HQ is a tiny plaque on the door and some obscured old relics in the window. Yet the minimal decoration and creeping vines embody an eccentricity of EES’ earliest explorers, looking more…

  • publication

    The Persians: Ancient, Mediaeval and Modern Iran

    The Persians Ancient, Mediaeval and Modern Iran by Homa Katouzian In recent years, Iran has gained attention mostly for negative reasons – for its authoritarian religious government, disputed nuclear programme, and controversial role in the Middle East – but there is much more to the story of this ancient land than can be gleaned from the news. This authoritative and comprehensive history of Iran covers the entire history of the area from the foundation of the ancient Persian Empire to today’s Iranian state. Writing from an Iranian rather than a European perspective, Katouzian integrates the significant cultural and literary history…