Last year, Dr Zahi Hawass spoke to Heritage Key in a video interview about the restoration work being carried out at the Moses Ben Maimon (Maimonides) synagogue in Cairo by the Egyptian Supreme Council of Antiquities (see the video at the bottom of this page). With the project nearing completion, the SCA chief has today announced that a planned celebration to mark the reopening of the restored monument has been cancelled. Dr Hawass explained that the decision comes in the aftermath of Israeli authorities prohibiting worshippers from praying in the Al-Aqsa mosque in the West Bank. The West Bank has…
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The BNP hit national headlines again last weekend, as Britain limps towards this year’s general election. After having voted to scrap their ‘whites-only’ membership policy, the far-right group introduced a measure whereby prospective members are vetted for up to two hours on whether they support the ‘integrity of the indigenous British’. We, the native British people, the party’s website valiantly claims, will be an ethnic minority in our own country within sixty years. Thankfully Central London County Court ruled the membership move discriminatory, so Nick Griffin and his cronies will have to go back to the drawing board for another…
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Cultural preservation and Beijing’s ongoing development may be set to collide with a new project in one of the city’s historical neighborhoods. A pair of landmark buildings in the capital, the Drum and Bell towers, is at the center of a new redevelopment plan that has left a group of preservationists concerned. I spoke to some locals, and some experts, about the future of the towers, and was surprised by the divided opinions I came across. Dating back to the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368), the citys Drum and Bell towers have stood in the capital for more than 700 years. That…
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We set the task of nominating London’s most influential invaders and talking-up the Big Smoke’s most important ancient sites in the first two rounds of our Ancient World in London Bloggers Challenge, and got some fantastic responses from the blogosphere. In round three we’re posing a new question, to again be answered in blog form in competition for prizes both real and virtual. It’s sure to prove contentious: Should the British Museum return the Rosetta Stone to Egypt? This Ptolemaic era Egyptian stele – created in 196 BC and discovered by the French in 1799 at Rosetta in Egypt –…
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With all the buzz going on about the Ancient World in London Bloggers’ Challenge 2 competition, Ithought I’d weigh in with my own favourite ancient site in London – the grave of the Female Gladiator in Southwark. Now, admittedly, this is a classic case of the experience of the ancient world involving standing in front of one of those blue ceramic plaques imagining what a wild find was made there, since there’s nothing else to see. However, this is pretty inspirational stuff. The site, at 159 Great Dover Street in Southwark, was excavated in 2000 by the British Museum. The…
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Question who can completely fill up a cavernous 1,500 seat domed hall on a Saturday night in Toronto? Answer Dr. Zahi Hawass I dont get to introduce rock stars, said Art Gallery of Ontario CEO Matthew Teitelbaum. Well tonight he did. Forget the critical New Yorker article, the mixed reviews of the new Tut exhibition at the Art Gallery of Ontario, or the fact that local Toronto media largely stayed away from this lecture. The worlds most well-known Egyptologist completely filled Convocation Hall, with people who had all paid a small admission fee (no more than $18) to hear him…
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This week campaigners reached a 200,000 target in their fight to save Colchester’s Roman circus. But it’s just the tip of an iceberg of red tape the circus must dodge to survive as a tourist attraction. And while the city’s leading archaeologist is thrilled the landmark figure has finally been made, he warns there’s much more work to be done. Philip Crummy, director of Colchester Archaeology Trust, has long been fighting for the circus’ survival, and recongises the effort of everyone involved in keeping the dream alive: “We’re delighted that the sponsors and the public have been so helpful with…
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Recent news reports suggest that Britain’s north-south divide is still alive and as pronounced as ever. Whether you’re talking about heart disease, house prices or teenage pregnancy, statistics show that the invisible line that divides the north of Britain from the south is all too real. Running from the Bristol channel up to somewhere just north of Lincoln (placing Wales and most of the West Midlands in the ‘north’ half of the UK), it’s an insurmountable line that separates the traditionally affluent south and the poorer north (although there are exceptions to the rule on both sides). So how did…
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This week a group of archaeologists and volunteers from Colchester Archaeological Trust and Destination Colchester attained their goal to raise 200,000 to buy a plot of land that covers the remains of part of what was once the only known Roman Circus in Britain. The appeal started as recently as December 2009, and was quickly won, with the help of celebrity endorsements and public goodwill. We spoke to Philip Crummy, Director of the Colchester Archaeological Trust about the achievement. HK: Congratulations on raising the 200,000 sum you needed, how do you feel? PC: We feel quite overwhelmed by it all,…
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The future of Britain’s only chariot racetrack is looking a lot brighter this week, as the public funding needed to save Colchester’s Roman circus was reached yesterday. The 200,000 raised by Colchester Archaeological Trust and Destination Colchester will join 30,000 from the local council and 550,000 in loans and grants. The total will go towards buying the Sergeant’s Mess, a Victorian building which stands upon the circus’ gates. To see an in-depth blog on the campaign itself, click here. Campaign spokesperson Wendy Bailey tells the BBC this funding is merely one of many obstacles the team faces, if Colchester is…