18th dynasty pharaoh Amenhotep III was the king of Egyptian kings. Under his rule, from around 1391 to 1353 BC, Egyptian civilization reached its very apex all powerful, influential beyond compare, rich beyond dreams and basking in opulent artistic splendour. In a list compiled by American business and financial bible Forbes in 2008, Amenhotep was ranked as the 12th richest person in human history. His funerary temple was therefore never going to be a modest affair. As we discover in a new video interview shot by Nico Piazza with the highly-respected German-Armenian archaeologist leading the excavation of the site, Dr…
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Heritage Key has just returned from a blustery, biting morning trip to legendary writer John Julius Norwich‘s house, beside the pretty canals of London’s Little Venice. It was a great interview, and one which we’ll be following up with articles, videos and photos right here – see below for tips on how to keep up with our content! A brisk wind whips up dervishes of crooked caramel and crimson leaves; whistling cold signals the city’s slide from autumn to winter. Yet a firm handshake and sincere smile minutes later leaves HK as warm as ever, as we enter Lord Norwich’s…
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In a bid to bring more tourists to the town of Tiwanaku – some 64km north of Bolivia’s capital La Paz – the Bolivian Andes town put at risk it’s UNWorld Heritage Site status, and even put their Akapana Pyramid in the danger of collapse. They restored their pyramid with adobe – a clay mixture – instead of stone in what some experts are calling a renovation fiasco. Jose Luis Paz, appointed to assess the damage at the heritage site, told CourierMail the that the state National Archaeology Union erred in choosing to rebuild the pyramid using adobe, when it…
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Ancient choices made by Egyptians digging burial tombs may have led to today’s problems with damage and curation of these precious archaeological treasures, but photography and detailed geological mapping should help curators protect the sites, according to a Penn State researcher. “Previously, I noticed that some tomb entrances in the Valley of Kings, Luxor, Egypt, were aligned on fracture traces and their zones of fracture concentration,” said Katarin A. Parizek, instructor in digital photography, department of integrative arts. “From my observations, it seems that tomb builders may have intentionally exploited these avenues of less resistant limestone when creating tombs.” Fracture…
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The Neues Museum will reopen on 17 October after being closed for more than 70 years. It will be a great moment in German history as well as a major milestone for world culture. The collection of ancient world objects is outstanding, and their presentation helps place them in the context of their original era, whilst adding to our understanding of the world in which we now live. The renovation of the 8,000 square meter museum cost about 220 million (about $328 million and a lot more than the brand new build the New Acropolis Museum, which reportedly cost $200…
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I am making a short expedition to Berlin’s Museum Island which is establishing itself firmly as a major destination in Europe for Ancient World artefacts. This week the Neues Museum is re-opening to the public after a massive renovation project. The place looks amazing and is as much about the modern world as the ancient. Iwill be traveling over there to learn more about the design of this impressive building and complex of museums as well as to get a good look at one of the most iconic artefacts on display anywhere in the world — the Nefertiti Bust (Nofretete…
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English Heritage has unveiled the design for its proposed new Stonehenge visitor centre, after months of anticipation. The plans were revealed as a planning application for the complex was sent to Wiltshire Council for approval. Located at Airman’s Corner some 1.5 miles west of the landmark, the new centre will include exhibition space, a caf, shop and toilet facilities for the million-or-so people who flock to the ancient stones each year. It will comprise two single-storey buildings, one made from wood, the other glass, and a transit system will allow visitors to move to and from the centre. Loraine Knowles,…
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Kashgar has for centuries been a destination for visitors from all over the world. Originally, it was a pivotal point on the ancient Silk Road trading routes, standing at the crossroads of the route linking Kyrgyzstan to Islamabad in Pakistan, and the one heading to modern-day Istanbul and Damascus from the larger Chinese cities to the east. Today, a team from the Asia Institute at Australia’s Monash University, working with Chinas Xinjiang Normal University, is hoping to help put Kashgar back on on the traveller’s map this time not as a trade destination, but as a tourist one. Monash’s Kashgar…
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The discovery of a unique amphitheatre and other structures at Rome’s ancient maritime port is putting the archaeological site of Portus on the map. For decades it’s been a much over-looked site next to Fiumicino’s international runway and scholarly attention has focused on neighbouring Ostia Antica, but experts now believe it is a unique site that should rank alongside monuments such as Stonehenge or Angkor Wat. I spoke to Professor Simon Keay, director of the Portus Project and leading expert in Roman archaeology at the University of Southampton and the British School at Rome about the findings of the excavation,…
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There is some interesting news coming from Tayinat that Heritage Key will be reporting on soon as part of a larger article. Tayinat is the site in southeast Turkey that has been making media headlines for the discovery of a tablet cache. It wasfound in atemple that was reported, in many outlets, to have stood during the Dark Ages. I sat down with Professor Timothy Harrison, the project leader, to learn about what they found. News on the tablet discovery First bit of news, an update on the tablet cache discovered this summer. In 738 BC Tiglath Pilesar III destroyed…