A splendid exhibition in New York – ‘The Lost World of Old Europe: The Danube Valley’ – brings to the United States for the first time more than 250 objects recovered by archaeologists from the graves, towns, and villages of Old Europe, a period of related prehistoric cultures that achieved a peak of sophistication and creativity between 5000 and 4000BC in what is now southeastern Europe. The cultures mysteriously collapsed by 3500 BC, possibly brining a shift from female to male power. The exhibition – made possible through loan agreements with over 20 museums in Romania, Bulgaria, and Moldova –…
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Karnak is home to several temples and ruined chapels, and is the largest ancient site in the world. Within the site is the Great Hypostyle Hall, Karnak, which is a popular tourism hotspot. Located in the Precinct of Amun-Re, the hall covers an area of 5 square kilometres, and is composed of 134 columns divided within 16 rows. The composition and angle of this fantastic photograph by ktildsley inside the Great Hypostyle Hall is captivating, giving a sense of how high up the roof would have been. The tall columns appear almost intimidating, closing in the shot tightly and the…
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Yesterday was an exciting day for those in Toronto who are interested in archaeology. Heritage Key learned that the Terracotta Warriors exhibit, coming to Toronto in June, will be the largestwarriors exhibitever to hit North America. No terracotta spectacle on this scale has ever come to these shores! But thats not all. Earlier in the day there was an announcement made by Canadas infrastructure minister John Baird. He said that the Canadian government will commit $2.75 million towards the construction of new Roman and Byzantine galleries at the Royal Ontario Museum.It will also be usedinrevamping thebat cave,” – a facsimile…
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Heritage Key has learned that the Terracotta Warriorsexhibition, whichiscoming to Toronto in June, will be the largest one ever seen in Canada or the United States. Right now the warriors are at the National Geographic Museum in Washington DC. That show, containing more than 100 objects (including 15 terracotta figures), is billed on its website as being the largest display of terracotta figures and tomb artifacts ever to travel to the US. Dr. Dan Rahimi, of the Royal Ontario Museum, dropped Heritage Key a tantalizing nugget of information today in an interview. In response to a question he said that…
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Bergama, Turkey is a city in the west of the country, located near the Bakray river and is home to the ruins of the Roman city of Pergamon (or Pergamum), which lie to the north and west of the modern day site. The ancient city is believed to have had a population of around 150,000 people at its peak in the First Century AD. Thanks to GeoEye who have provided a high resolution satellite image of the region, we can see the relationship between the modern city and its ancient past. Of all the amazing sites in the area surrounding…
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“There is no other site like it,” states the introductory paragraph on the website of the Amarna Project – the body which, since 2005, has been responsible for excavations and research at Tell el-Amarna, the short-lived capital city of the “heretic pharaoh” Akhenaten (who may well have been King Tut‘s dad) in the 14th century BC. As a living site, Tell el-Amarna is perhaps unparalleled in all of Egypt in terms of scale, ready accessibility and quality of preservation. Professor Barry Kemp – of the University of Cambridge – is the director of the Amarna Project, and also the chairman…
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Never before the Book of the Dead has been the focus of such a major exhibition as the one upcoming at the British Museum in November this year. Rumours of the exhibition started to surface (or at least, reach my ears) ever since the Colloquium on the Book of the Death last year, but was only recently confirmed. ‘Journey through the afterlife: the ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead’ will focus on how the ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead was thought to guide the deceased safely through the dangers of the underworld, ultimately (hopefully) ensuring eternal life. The Book…
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Many archaeological excavations are taking place across Egypt as the wonders of the Ancient World continue to reveal themselves to us. One such excavation taking place is at el-Assasif, Thebes at the site of TT34 – the Tomb of Montuemhat. The archaeological dig, led by Dr Farouk Gomaa, is searching for the yet undiscovered burial chamber of the diplomat Montuemhat. Renown photographer Sandro Vannini captured images of the excavations in progress at TT34, as well as covering many spectacular images in his publication “The Lost Tombs of Thebes: Life in Paradise” authored by Dr Zahi Hawass (Watch a video about…
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About a week backHeritage Keypublished a story about the discovery of a massive, one ton, statue of Taharqa that was found deep in Sudan. Taharqa was a pharaoh of the 25th dynasty of Egypt and came to power ca. 690 BC. The pharaohs of this dynasty were from Nubia a territory located in modern day Sudan and southern Egypt. When Taharqa came to power, he controlled an empire stretching fromSudan to theLevant. The Nubian pharaohs tried to incorporate Egyptian culture into their own. They built pyramids inSudan even though pyramid building in Egypt hadnt been practiced in nearly 800 years.…
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The media preview for Fakes and Forgeries: Yesterday and Today was held today. It will be opening at the Royal Ontario Museum, in Toronto Canada, this Saturday. It’s a much smaller exhibition than the King Tut and Dead Sea Scrolls shows that have hit Toronto recently, and will potentially be dwarved by the very large China show that may or may not include the Terracotta Warriors this June. But Fakes and Forgeries offers some strong lessons about the world of fakes and the experts who try to out them. How the ancient section of the exhibit works is that there…