Attribution: Informatique Dublin Ireland Key Dates The Museum of Science and Art, Dublin was founded on 14 August 1877. It became The National Museum of Ireland in 1921. The Kildare Street building, which houses the museum’s archaeology collection, was opened in 1890. Key People The current Director of the National Museum is Dr Pat Wallace. The Kildare Street building was designed by Thomas Newenham Deane and his son Thomas Manly Deane. The National Museum of Ireland is Ireland’s state museum. It holds a large collection of artefacts, divided under the areas of archaeology, decorative arts and history, country life and…
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The Staffordshire Hoard has been one of the most staggering and inspirational discoveries in British history. Hundreds of stunning gold Saxon artefacts, all bundled into one stash and found over a thousand years later by a lone metal detecting enthusiast – it’s a story that could have come straight out of an archaeological thriller. While the necessary steps are taken to secure their future, the treasures are being housed in Birmingham’s Museum and Art Gallery. Heritage Key talks to the museum’s resident scholar Dave Simmonds about his thoughts on a momentous breakthrough in British heritage. HK: The Staffordshire Hoard is…
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The Tomb of King Tutankhamun (KV62) contained many calcite jars and vases, but most were located in the antechamber and the annexe. However, the Cosmetic Jar with Recumbent Lion was found between the walls of the first and secondshrine of King Tut, in the burial chamber, suggesting it may have had more significance. Perhaps used in the funeral ceremony, the jar was found with residues of a costmetic inside – a blend of vegetable resin and animal fats.The Cosmetic Jar was one of the many artefacts from KV62 originally discovered by famous explorer Howard Carter, and photographed at the Egyptian…
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French archaeologistDr Alain Zivie, Director of Research at the French National Centre of Scientific Research (CNRS), has devoted many years to investigating the 18th dynasty rock-cut tomb of Aper-el an Egyptian New Kingdom high priest and vizier from the Amarna Period, who served both Amenhotep III and the heretic pharaoh Akhenaten. Zivie discovered it at Saqqara in 1987. In an exclusive video interview, shot by Nico Piazza, he shows Heritage Key some of the abundant treasures hes found there. As Zivie explains, since the tomb which dates from the latter part of the 18th Dynasty, around 1353-1335 BC is so…
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For the first time ever, a major Australian brand has used an ancient indigenous language as part of a mainstream marketing campaign. For a taste of how Australians sounded tens of thousands of years ago, check out the new Qantas ad screening down under. The ad sees 13-year-old Tyus Arndt sing the first verse of Peter Allens famous I Still Call Australia Home in the ancient dialect Kala Lagaw Ya, which is still spoken in the Torres Strait Islands. Tyus and his fellow choristers from the Gondwana National Indigenous Childrens Choir, the Australian Girls Choir and the National Boys Choir…
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At the corner of Bloor and Queens Park a security guard uses a blow-horn to yell out a warning the line-up to see the Ten Commandments is very long and theres no guarantee you will get to see it. For those who dont have a membership at the Royal Ontario Museum, but want to see the commandments anyways, the line starts here, at this Toronto street intersection. Despite asizable lobby the museum simply isnt big enough to contain the people who want to buy a ticket this Saturday afternoon (Oct. 17). I get to skip this particular line since I…
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The Nefertiti’s Bust – attributed to the sculptor Thutmose from whom’s workshop it was recovered in 1912 – is world famous. Thutmose must have been one lucky sculptor, being asked to capture for eternity the ravishing face of the Queen who’s ancient name meant A Beautiful Woman Has Come. The Queen Nefertiti – wife of Akhenaten and known in Germany as Nofretete – Bust is an icon of the Amarna period art and one of the most valuable items in the collection of the gyptisches Museum Berlin (to much frustration of the Egypt, which demands its return). She first went…
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Who hasn’t watched Gladiatorand then wondered why you don’t meet men like that down the local pub? The same goes for those bulging muscles of antiquity that we see in classical art galleries they’ve often made me think that, well, they don’t make ’em like they used to. Now it turns out that what we thought all along that men in ancient times were a darn sight fitter than their modern descendants – is actually true. What’s more, it seems that ancient man was also better looking and more intelligent. This is the controversial argument that Australian author Peter McAllister…
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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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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…