The US military has been heavily criticised for its disregard for Iraq’s heritage sites since invading the country in 2003 – ancient minarets have been bombed, precious artefacts allegedly looted at the National Museum, and a full scale camp, including a helipad, constructed slap bang on top of Babylon. As part of a recent drive to demonstrate renewed sensitivity for the Cradle of Civilization’s venerable past, a US Army sergeant has set about creating a detailed map accurately pinpointing as many of Iraq’s estimated 1,200 archeological hotspots as possible. Sgt. Ronald Peters is a geospatial analyst with Multi-National Corps-Iraq C-7,…
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A team of researchers – excavating a 2,700 year old temple at the ancient city of Tayinat in southeastern Turkey – have discovered evidence that its inhabitants prominently displayed a tablet which bore a pledge of loyalty to the heir of an Assyrian king. At their height the Assyrians controlled an empire that stretched from southern Iraq to the Mediterranean coast. In their art and writing, “the Assyrian king was portrayed as supreme ruler of the known world and viewed with absolute authority as the earthly representative and human embodiment of (the Assyrian god) Ashur,” said Professor Tim Harrison of…
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In 399 BC the Greek philosopher Socrates, by then around the age of 70, was executed in his home state of Athens. He was prosecuted for the rather dubious crimes of “not acknowledging the gods the city acknowledges” and “subverting the youth of the city”. His case was brought to court and prosecuted by a man named Meletus Meletou. After a one day long trial (the norm back then) he was found guilty by a jury of 501 peers – and sentenced to death. Modern day historians suspect that this trial was politically motivated. Indeed Socrates is said to have referred…
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The word “Aryan” has become inseparably associated with the racialist world-view of the Nazis, despite the fact that – far from specifying a blonde-haired, blue-eyed “master race” – it was originally a perfectly innocent self-designator for a tribe of ancient nomadic Indo-Iranians who lived in the region of modern Iran, Afghanistan and India from around 2700 to 350 BC (more about “Aryan’s” passage from a simple piece of linguistic terminology to a racialist rationale for megalomaniacal world domination here). Saturated as they are in misconception, mirth, myth, and wild fantasy, the “Aryans” have become something of a lightning-rod for weird…
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Tickets go on sale today for “Secrets of the Silk Road” a landmark exhibition from China making its only East Coast stop at the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology (Penn Museum) in Philadelphia February 5 through June 5, 2011. The exhibition aims to reflect the wide extent of the Silk Road trade and cultural interchange (see some of the highlights in this slideshow). Despite of what its name suggests, the Silk Road isn’t one single route. Rather, it is an extensive interconnected network of maritime and overland trade routes extending from Southern Europe through The Arabian Peninsula,…
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The ongoing dig at the ancient royal town of Qatna, Syria, has brought some exciting new discoveries to light. Among the skeletal remains, archaeologists have found precious gold jewellery, gemstones, alabaster vases, detailed ivory artefacts, tiny figurines. Since the start of this year’s excavation mid-July, a total of 379 artefacts were recorded in the tomb. The archaeological mission a Syrian-German cooperation between the University of Tubingen and the Syrian governement is further excavating the royal sepulchre that was discovered last year under the northwest wing of Qatna’s royal palace. Among the burial gifts, a number of Egyptian object are of…
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The British Museum has announced that it is lending the Cyrus Cylinder to the National Museum of Iran. Together with two fragments of contemporary cuneiform tablets, it will be the centrepiece of an exhibition that celebrates a great moment in the history of the Middle East. The artefact which is described as ‘an ancient declaration of human rights’ by the United Nations was originally due to arrive in Iran in September 2009. At that time, the British Museum cited the ‘political situation’ in post-election Iran as the reason for the delay. In August this year, the loan was once again…
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As documented in the article ‘Woman of Sparta: Tough Mothers’, Spartan women enjoyed all kinds of rights not shared by their Athenian sisters – albeit plenty of plights too. Sparta’s unique social system and constitution, which was completely focused on military training and excellence, afforded females a level of freedom and responsibility uncommon in the classical world – as child bearers, they were vital to replenishing the ranks of an army that suffered an almost constant stream of casualties; with so many men constantly away at war, they were crucial to running their households and the community at large. Yet, Spartan…
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Britain, man your TVs and iPlayers!Great Britain might be a small island but it has a huge history and, every year, hundreds of excavations bring lost treasures up to the surface. Presented by Dr Alice Roberts, ‘Digging For Britain‘ joins these excavations in a new BBC Twohistory series. ‘Digging for Britain’ is produced by 360 Production (a look behind the scenes) and follows ayear of archaeology around the country, revealing and contextualising some of the newest finds, research and social history. Its four episodes focus onfocus on the Roman, Prehistoric, Anglo-Saxon and Tudor eras. Digging the Romans In the first…
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According to figures quoted at an archaeological conference last week by Dr Zahi Hawass, the Egyptian Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA) has generated more revenue in recent years from sending treasures of Tutankhamun abroad than it has from collections in the countrys own museums. That includes the Howard Carter collection at the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, which features key pieces from King Tuts tomb such as the Golden Death Mask (some amazing picture of which you can view here) and coffins deemed too fragile or unwieldy to travel outwith the country. The SCA has made over $100 million from its…