An article in the most recent issue of Newsweek magazine that basically constitutes an invitation to pause in wonder at the fantastic age of the Gbekli Tepe – or “potbelly hill” – site in southeastern Turkey, believed to be 11,500 years old, is a great reminder that, the further back in time an event occured, the easier it is to talk preposterous rot about it. The Newsweek feature, which is admirable at least in the sense that it dedicates a whole three pages (in full colour, too) in a major mainstream magazine to an archaeological subject, nevertheless talks a lot…
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Last summer headlines were made when a team of archaeologists unearthed a cache of tablets from an Assyrian temple at Tayinat. They were discovered by a team led by Professor Tim Harrison of the University of Toronto. Conservation and translation work is ongoing and it is hoped that some translations will be ready in the months ahead. Last Friday, at an archaeology research day presentation in Toronto, Professor Harrison shared some news on what the translations are revealing. He said in his remarks that the cache of tablets is essentially a collection of literary texts and is part of a…
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For Dr. Robert Mason, an archaeologist with the Royal Ontario Museum, it all began with a walk last summer. Mason conducts work at the Deir Mar Musa al-Habashi monastery, out in the Syrian Desert. Its still in use today by monks. The finds at the monastery date mainly to the medieval period and include some beautiful frescoes. I went for a walk into the eastern perimeter, he said – an area that hasnt been explored by archaeologists.What he discovered is an ancient landscape of stone circles, stone alignments and what appear to be corbelled roof tombs. From stone tools found…
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This Sunday tutters at the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO), in Toronto Canada, will attempt to set a world record for the most people tutting at one time. The art gallery is hosting the exhibit King Tut: The Golden King and the Great Pharaohs. Heritage Key has a preview ofit here. The dance is a form of hip hop dance inspired by Ancient Egypt. It was epitomized by comedian Steve Martin in the 1970s on Saturday Night Live. The Gallery has already signed up more than the 250 dancers needed to set the record, said the AGO in a news…
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In our previous Ancient World in London video, history enthusiast Ian Smith showed adventurer Nicole Favish round the Thames and London Wall on the first leg of their Londinium tour. This stop sees them dive right into the heart of the ancient city, to the church of St. Peter-upon-Cornhill. “This is the original site of Christianity in Britain,” says Ian outside the 17th century church, which is allegedly the spot where Romans paid their respects from the 2nd century AD. But there’s much more to the area than religion: this is also the site of the Roman Basilica and Forum.…
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Fellow residents of our Early-Medieval Britannia! Many of you will have become aware of strange men coming from oversees to our green and pleasant island home. You may be wondering who these people are, what they have come for and how long they plan to stay. To we Britons, their barbarian and guttural languages all sound very much the same… but let me inform you that in fact these visitors actually come from different places and each have different cultures- though they share many traits, they will be offended if you should accidentally confuse them for one another. So how…
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My recent travels in India took me to Ajanta, about two hours’ drive outside of Aurangabad, in the Indian state of Maharashtra (where they’re making perfectly drinkable wine these days, by the way). The nearby small town of Ajanta gives its name to the collective of 29 caves carved out of a sheer wall of rock in a horseshoe-shaped river canyon, completed in the period 200BC to 500AD in the name of Buddhism. Several are temples, but most are dormitories originally built for temporarily housing Buddhist monks, as well as travellers and itinerant spice traders. The spice route passed through…
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Want to star in an Ancient World in London video, and learn about the stars at the same time? Then join Heritage Key and famed astronomy writer Paul Murdin at a cool London restaurant this Wednesday at 6:30pm, as the Secrets of the Universe author gives a special presentation on how ancient civilisations and British astronomers have discovered the cosmos. The talk, entitled ‘Unlocking the Wonders of Astronomy’, will show how man’s obsession with the heavens has endured for thousands of years, from the first cities of Sumer to the technological breakthroughs of today’s most powerful nations. The presentation will…
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They came. They saw. They brought affordable self-assembly flat-pack furniture. Okay, so the Scandinavian contribution to the fabric of modern London might not be any more obvious than a few IKEA stores and a scattering of ubiquitous blonde-haired tourists, students, au pairs and bar workers. But without both the influence and menace of outlanders from Denmark, Norway and Sweden in the Anglo-Saxon period, Britains iconic capital wouldnt be the city it is today. Thats why I reckon theyre the invaders that had the biggest influence on London. The Vikings burned, raped, pillaged, ransacked and generally terrorised London frequently between 842…
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Learning about ‘alternative’ sexualities through time is often a murky business, beset with the prejudices and right-leaning morals of almost every culture in history. And when you’re looking as far back as ancient Egypt, the task becomes infinitely harder. This makes the Petrie Museum’s latest endeavour all the more impressive, as it falls in line with LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender) Month, a UK-wide event running throughout February. Watch our special AWiL video on Love & Sex in the ancient world here. Like lesbian or gay history in general, you’ll have to do more than scratch at the museum’s…