Stonehenge summer solstice 2010 is to be marked by the debut of a 25ft-high steel statue. ‘The Ancestor’, created by local sculptors Andrew Rowlings and Michelle Topps with help from Druids and the local community, will sit 70m from the stone circle and provide an alternative focus of revelry and worship at sunrise, easing congestion within Stonehenge itself. The Ancestor is as tall as a double-decker bus, and weights a huge seven tons. It has been shrouded in secrecy until today to prevent a further swell of people visiting the already overcrowded event in Wiltshire, which tonight is thought to…
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Canadas largest museum has picked a curator from down under to lead them into the next decade. Janet Carding has been Assistant Director, Public Programs & Operations at the Australian Museum inSydney, since 2004. She also teaches the Museums and Galleries administration segment of the University of Sydneys Museum Studies program. She will be taking over as CEO and Director of the Royal Ontario Museum after William Thorsell, the museums current leader, retires in August. Like the ROM the Australian Museum has a collection that stretches into ancient times. In particular it has a large collection devoted to the aboriginalcultures…
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An iPhone application that will provide information, ticketing and itineraries for the 40 most visited museums and sites in Italy is to be launched on 1 July. Released by Italy’s Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities (known in Italy as MiBAC), ‘i-MiBAC Top 40’ is the first of a series of free apps produced by the Italian ministry dedicated to Italy’s heritage sites and museums. In both English and Italian, it will initially be available for iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad, but will soon be made available for smartphones too. According to MiBAC’s press release, the application will available on…
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While the golden kings exhibition has left Canada for southern climes, those in Vancouver will have an opportunity to learn more about him and more specifically how his artefacts reinforced his position as pharaoh. Professor Katja Goebs research looks at Egyptian pharaohs and the artefacts that cement their hold on power. Her most recent book Crowns in early Egyptian Funerary Literature: Royalty, Rebirth, and Destruction, examines the white and red crowns ofUpper and Lower Egypt. They possess a wide-ranging symbolism that transcends the terrestrial sphere to encompass the divine and the cosmos, death and rebirth, she wrote in the book…
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The Spanish Culture Ministry have announced that the Caves of Altamira the so-called Sistine Chapel of Paleolithic art are to reopen after eight years of closure, despite serious warnings from scientists that the world-famous ancient drawings and polychrome rock paintings within may suffer irrevocable damage from moisture generated by visitors. In a statement to reporters on Tuesday, Spanish Culture Minister Angeles Gonzalez-Sinde and the sites board of directors announced that public access will resume before the end of this year, albeit on an unspecified, restricted basis. The cave complex located in the Cantabria region of northern Spain, and first discovered…
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Angelina Jolie will play Cleopatra, the last queen of Egypt, in a film adapted from Stacy Schiff’s upcoming book ‘Cleopatra: A Life’. It’s hardly likely to subdue those arguing Cleopatra was little more than ‘Egypt’s sex kitten’ (opposed by myself, Nele and Rosemary Joyce in her blog and book ‘Ancient Bodies’, I must say), but it’s exciting news nonetheless. The book won’t be published until autumn 2010, but producer Scott Rudin has already purchased film rights, saying the movie ‘is being developed for and with Jolie’. Author Schiff has even hinted at Brad Pitt playing Roman general Mark Antony, reminding…
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The world’s most photogenic stone circle, Stonehenge, is the subject of a film called “Remnants” by Grant Wakefield which explores the Neolithic civilisation, looking at how we know so little about a culture which spanned over 3 millennia. With the Summer Solstice 2010 this weekend, it’s worth reminding ourselves of the beauty of this sacred ancient site. Heritage Key also has explored Stonehenge during the Spring Equinox (Watch the Video), and talked to Druid Frank Somers about how the stones came to be (Watch the Video). The Neolithic people vanished without leaving anything but their remnants, and it is these…
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In a matter of weeks, or even days, the Royal Ontario Museum, in Toronto Canada,will be announcing who their next CEO is going to be. I dont have any knowledge as to who it is, but, can certainly say that the new leader has an almost impossible act to follow. William Thorsell, the museums current leader, will be retiring in August. His ten year termat the museum was one of unprecedented growth. Under his leadership the ROM built an expansion that saw its Bloor Street frontage turned quite literally into a giant crystal. Collections that had been in storage from…
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I’ve had something of a crash-course on the subject of the Lewis Chessmen since it was announced back in October last year that pieces from the London and Edinburgh collections would be reunited for a major touring exhibition of Scotland running throughout 2010 and 2011. I researched the story of the Lewis Chessmen for this article, blogged on the findings of new research on their origins and usage, pitted them against King Tut’s ivory senet board in a face-off, and reported on the premiere last month of the exhibition at the National Museum of Scotland (NMS). I was beginning to…
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A massive haul of ancient cultic vessels dating back over 3,500 years has been discovered in Israel. The find, made ahead of gas pipe works at the base of Tell Qashish, near Tishbi Junction, has been described as a ‘bottomless pit’ of artefacts, and contains over a hundred intact objects – almost unheard of in archaeological circles. The find includes incense-burning vessels, a sculpted woman’s face – seen in the picture below – and various items of tableware. Experts from the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) who made the find believe the artefacts were part of an ancient pagan cult which…