It doesn’t happen all that often that the battle over ‘mere tomb paintings’ makes headline news – why would they, when they have the highly debated return of the Elgin Marbles to the Acropolis Museum to write about? But the whole world was shocked last week, when Dr. Zahi Hawass accused France’s most famous museum of theft. Or at least, of purchasing looted artefacts and then refusing to return them to Egypt. Dr. Hawass hit back by refusing to let the Louvre’s Saqqara team dig in Egypt. The Louvre stated that it was forced to wait for permission to return…
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The event Heritage Key attended on Saturday may not have been one of the most glamorous occasions in the archaeological circuit, but it was certainly one of the most important. Hob-nobbing over wine, beer and crisps, some of Britain’s best known Egyptologists gathered in the swanky surroundings of London’s Birlington House, to mark the Egypt Exploration Society’s plans to protect and digitise the Lucy Gura archives. And they need your help! “The most important value of archives is making fun of our colleagues.” Think Egypt and you might imagine great personalities, incredible images and fierce politics. But the excesses, eccentricities…
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Although each of the Terracotta warriors was sculpted to be unique, one common physical trait they all share is a beard. But a new discovery has found that a handful of statues bear no facial hair, suggesting that the Terracotta army had teenaged soldiers enlisted in its ranks. The Terracotta Army was built at the behest of China’s first emperor more than 2,000 years ago, when beards were a must for all adult males. To have one was a matter of respect, and one way of dealing with criminals at the time was cutting off their beards as a form…
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A week after Egypt announced it was suspending archaeological cooperation with The Louvre in Paris in an argument over the return of fragments of a Theban Tomb, Iran has threatened to sever archaeological relations with Britain unless an agreement by the British Museum in London to loan out the Cyrus Cylinder is honoured within the next two months. The artefact a 6th century BC Babylonian cuneiform-inscribed clay cylinder, which has been described as the first charter of human rights was due to arrive in Iran in September. But the British Museum have cited the political situation in post-election Iran which…
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Userkare is a mysterious figure in Egyptian history. He was the second pharaoh of the Sixth Dynasty placed between Teti (who reigned from circa 2345-2333 BC) and Tetis son Pepi I (who reigned from circa 2332-2283 BC) and a usurper to the throne, who took power after Teti was murdered, perhaps in a conspiracy engineered by Userkare himself. His reign lasted just two to four years at most before he was ousted; afterwards he all but disappeared from history. Archaeologists are on the hunt for his missing tomb, to see what secrets it might reveal. We must find Userkare, states…
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As the Director of the Stonehenge Riverside Project, Mike Parker-Pearson recently found himself at the centre of one of the decade’s most exciting and significant discoveries – Bluestonehenge (or Bluehenge in early reports). But this new ‘mini Stonehenge’ is part of a much broader understanding of the area being built up by the Stonehenge Riverside Project as they try to put together a history of the area rather than focusing on individual monuments in isolation. In an illuminating lecture at Wiltshire Heritage Museum, Parker-Pearson revealed some surprising theories about the construction and meaning of the henges. The Stonehenge Riverside Project…
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When KV63 was discovered in 2006, it represented the first tomb to be discovered in the Valley of the Kings in 80 years, since the famous explorer Howard Carter uncovered the treasures of the Tomb of King Tutankhamun. It restored hope that there is still more mystery to uncovered in the region which was said to contain no more secrets, and even today the hunt continues to find what is hidden in the next tomb – KV64. Sandro Vannini, the venerable Egyptology photographer, took many photographs from the latest excavations, including one of the most interesting finds – seven wooden…
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Attribution: Inglewood Mum Bardon Mill United Kingdom Key Dates Vindolanda was founded by the Romans in around 85 AD and it was inhabited until the end of Roman rule (early fifth century AD) and for some time after that until the sixth century. Key People Founded following Agricola’s defeat of the Picts in 85 AD. Hadrian The Roman army had a fort and garrison at Vindolanda from 85 AD – its foundation came after Agricola defeated Britannia’s northern tribes at the battle of Mons Graupius. The fort defended the central section of a supply route that ran from east to…
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A longstanding mystery has been laid to rest this week, as experts finally solved the riddle of a 1,600-year-old body discovered in Gloucestershire 37 years ago. The identity of the 25-30-year-old man, unearthed in a mausoleum in Kingsholm Square in 1972, had long evaded archaeologists. Yet now thanks to chemical testing, a team has revealed him to have been an eastern European Goth warrior from around 400 AD. The man’s lavish burial includes a silver belt buckle and inlaid knife from the Balkans and southern Russia, which show him to have been someone of high rank – experts believe he…
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The Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) have today released video footage of the newest Henge discovered in Britain, at the River Avon and less than a mile away from the world most famous stone circle. Bluestonehenge (or Bluehenge as it was originally called by the press) was named after the famous Welsh blue stones that are also incorporated – or maybe even reused – in the nearby Stonehenge. Dr Josh Pollard, co-director of the research project, explained: “This is an incredible discovery. The newly-discovered circle and henge should be considered an integral part of Stonehenge rather than a separate…