Preserved Mori heads donated to a museum by a collector with a keen interest in natural history. A hand and a few odd bones gifted to a Swedish museum by a sea faring captain. According to details released this week to coincide with the repatriation of Mori ancestral remains to New Zealand, having a preserved head in the corner of your office at work was just the done thing during the 19th century. The recent return by two Swedish museums of Maori remains is part of a large-scale repatriation programme under way at New Zealands national museum. In all, some…
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Locals in the north of England will use their areas rich Roman heritage to fight a major electricity suppliers plans to build wind turbines near their village. RWE npower Renewables one of the UK’s leading renewable energy providers wants to build up to six turbines as part of its Stobhill Wind Farm development. The farm would generate enough electricity to power between 4,800 and 7,300 UK households every year. The company has already conducted preliminary investigations into the site and submitted a scoping report to Durham County Council. A full planning application is expected before the end of 2009. But…
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When the tomb was found it was completely by accident, explains Dr Zahi Hawass, of Howard Carters discovery of KV62, at the start of the final instalment of Heritage Keys four-part video interview series King Tut Revealed, filmed by Nico Piazza and featuring still photography by Sandro Vannini. Having already, in previous videos, disclosed the cause of Tutankhamuns death, shared his thoughts on the curse that apparently befalls all who tamper with the boy kings tomb, and revealed some of the jewellery and other treasures buried with the boy king, Hawass this time talks about tomb robbers in the Valley…
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Does Zahi Hawass want the Rosetta Stone on loan or not? It’s hard to know if you read the news often enough. Last night saw Egypt’s antiquities boss come to the British Museum in London to promote his new book A Secret Voyage. Yet among the niceties between Dr Hawass and BM director Neil MacGregor, trouble was already brewing behind the scenes. And while Dr Hawass, who has stepped up his quest to bring Egypt’s greatest treasures home, insisted he wasn’t in London for the Rosetta Stone, he couldn’t help stepping in front of BBC cameras to stake his country’s…
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The British Museum’s Egyptian Sculpture Gallery was packed last night, as hundreds of dignitaries flocked to see The World’s Most Famous Archaeologist (copyright all bloggers) Dr Zahi Hawass, speaking ahead of the release of his latest book A Secret Voyage. Cameras in hand, Heritage Key was there to witness Dr Hawass’ appearance, heralded more like the second coming than a book signing. Stood in front of the museum’s colossal head of Ramesses the Great, Dr Hawass boomed out at his fans like an emissary from the pharaoh himself. But as he spoke, you could sense he was looking longingly above…
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Although there is copious evidence for the Egyptian kings statues, huge depictions on temple walls, stelae the actual reality of the day-to-day work and personal authority of these individuals is often ignored in favour of discussions of divinity, art and ideology. There is good reason for this. Despite the extensive amount of evidence available to scholars, everything is shrouded in a thick layer of ideological presentation that masks the reality of the situation. This makes it difficult to separate fact from fiction: what are we to envision the king did every day? Initially, just for fun, it is interesting to…
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Dr Zahi Hawass’ quest for the Rosetta Stone is gathering pace. And with the SCA chief set to visit the British Museum tonight to promote his latest book and holding a repatriation conference next March, it’s an issue which could become a lot more incendiary in the coming weeks. Hot on the tail of Heritage Key’s own survey to decide whether the BM should return some of its highest-prized artefacts, national newspaper the Guardian has probed its own readership on the Rosetta Stone’s repatriation. That’s not to say the Guardian’s poll is particularly far-reaching. Readers are simply given two options…
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Egypt will host an international conference next March for countries seeking the return of ancient indigenous treasures being kept in foreign museums, the Sydney Morning Herald reports. Dr. Zahi Hawass, Secretary General of the SCA and deputy-Culture Minister, said the conference – with Greece, Italy, China and Mexico attending – would be a world first. ”We expect around 12 countries to participate, possibly several more,” Dr.Hawass told the Herald. ”There is a moral imperative for museums around the world to return certain artefacts to the countries they came from, and we are going to identify how we can help each…
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Women invented metallurgy! This extraordinary revelation was made in a lecture last night at New York University’s Institute for the Study of the Ancient World (which has an unfortune acronym pronounced eyesore) by David Anthony, Professor of Anthropology at Hartwick College and Guest Curator of the exhibition currently on view at ISAW until April 25, 2010: “The Lost World of Old Europe: The Danube Valley, 5000-3500 BC.” In his talk, entitled “The Rise and Fall of Old Europe,” Anthony delved into the mysteries of the highly sophisticated and populous culture that sprang up 7,000 years ago along the banks of…
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The news is awash with Barack Obamas plan to surge roughly 30,000 US troops into the country on a short-term basis. Some consider it a necessary measure to protect American security, while others think hes leading the United States into the next Vietnam. It’s an important debate. He might have just made the most important foreign policy decision of his presidency. Ever since the news broke I havebeen thinking about what lessons ancient history has to teach us about making a choice like this. In ancient times much of Afghanistan was known as “Bactria” and played a significant role in…