The UCLA team creatingand updating a virtual model of Qumran, the site where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found in caves, have now released free photos and videos of their work, which are now available to view and download from their website. Their project started in 2005 and has been continuing ever since,adding new archaeological information as it comes along. It includes a number of photos, and short videos which you can watch in high definition on their site, or on youtube. The main aim of the project is not to bolster any one theory on how Qumran, or the…
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Qumran excavator Yuval Peleg (YP) was in Toronto last Thursday to lecture about his recent Qumran findings. Although he had to give two back to back lectures (on the same night) he generously made some time to talk with Heritage Key. I asked him about his theory that Qumran started off as a military site. I alsoquestioned himon his idea that the Dead Sea Scrolls were deposited in the Qumran caves by refugees who were fleeing the Roman army after the fall of Jerusalem in 70 AD. Here’s a transcript of our interview: OJ: One thing I found intriguing is…
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London is a massive metropolis, buzzing with energy and bags of history to boot. Well now you can see the city’s top ancient sights, all handily presented in our custom Google Earth flyover. For there’s plenty more to London than its monstrous museums – though they’re all pretty good too – and this map gives you the chance to plan a first-time visit, tell a friend or just take a day out to explore London’s proud heritage. There’s no shortage of events either; check our calendar page for the pick of the city’s listings, which include this year’s British Archaeology…
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You’ve just finished a Calippo, had a lunchtime cider and staggered towards the tube in shorts and flip flops – and not a green leaf in site. You stumble onto a packed train and instantly lose ten pints of water, face buried in the pungent pits of a Bulgarian banker. You could go to the city’s myriad museums this weekend to grab a piece of the ancient world – but why not escape the madness of the metropolis, and get your fix outside the city limits? Three beautiful Roman villas are waiting for you with open arms, and stunning scenery.…
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Among the Dead Sea Scrolls exhibited in Toronto, at the Royal Ontario Museum, are two fragments which have never before been shown to the public. One of them is a fragment from Daniel. It appears to have been a popular book as archaeologists have no less than eight copies of it among the scrolls but this particular fragment has not beenexhibited until now. The other, Barki Nafshi (Apocryphal Psalms), is a series of Psalms that do not appear in the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament). As mentioned in my preview, photography of the scrolls is forbidden at the ROMs exhibit because…
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Schools out for summer – it’s playtime now. And while there are plenty of computer games to whet your appetite for the ancient world, there’s also still a lot of fun out there to be had with a bit of glue and some decent instructions. From projects for big kids to those with slightly less nimble fingers, there’s something it seems in the ancient world for everyone. Build Your Own Stonehenge from Running Press may not come with the more than 150 rocks that feature in the life-size version, but it does come with a good two dozen that you…
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Summer‘s here – and if you hadn’t noticed from the lighter nights, sunny days and relaxed morals, the Council for British Archaeology are ready to officially launch the barbeque season with a festival on a truly mind-boggling scale: The Festival of British Arachaeology 2009. From Saturday 18 July, the nation will become a hotbed of heritage fun, games and erudition as hundreds of venues the length and bredth of Britain lay on over 615 events celebrating archaeology and history in this country and many more. Maybe you want to join in on an excavation project? Or be taken on guided…
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Aside from the Holy Grail there is probably no artefact more sought than the Ark of the Covenant. It is said to contain nothing less than the 10 commandments themselves. It vanished in 586 B.C. when the Babylonians, led by Nebuchadnezzar, destroyed the First Temple in Jerusalem. Over the past year this writer has noted no fewer than three major claims, all linked to Africa, which have been made about the Arks current whereabouts: Some religious and Ethiopian media sources report that Abuna Pauolos, the patriarch of the Orthodox Church of Ethiopia, has made recent comments that his church has…
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(Mostly) fictional English rock band Spinal Tap made a much-anticipated come back at the Glastonbury music festival last weekend, followed swiftly by their 25th anniversary One Night Only World Tour show at Londons Wembley Arena on Tuesday. The bands magnum opus remains Stonehenge, their mystical hard rock mini-opera tribute to Salisburys millennia-old Neolithic masterpiece, “Where a man’s a man, and the children dance to the pipes of pan.” A performance of the song made for a memorable scene in the movie This Is Spinal Tap, featuring midgets dancing around – and threatening to crush – an 18 inch high megalith,…
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Ever heard of mudlarking? No marks off if not, it’s the hobby of sifting through the muddy banks of a river in the search for lost treasure. Sound a bit messy? You betcha, and it used to be a lot worse. The past-time sprang up in the industrial revolution of 19th century Britain, as struggling workers and down-and-outs would resort to scrambling through the rubbish, rocks and excrement of the Thames in the vain hope they’d find something vaguely of value. The pressures of a cramped city overcome by desperate urbanisation meant that the Thames was invariably chock-a-block with all…