Nazi Egyptology is a complex subject. As Professor Thomas Schneider said, there is no uniform ‘Nazi Egyptology’ discipline. Instead there are a number of German Egyptologists who were thrown into the academic hole of the Third Reich – who each reacted to it in their own way. An interesting story that I didnt put into the article The Real Story of Nazi Egyptology, forbrevity reasons, is that of Friedrich Wilhelm von Bissing. Bissing was a professor at Munich. He is perhaps most noted for his work at Abu Ghurab, done at the turn of the century, where he excavated the…
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About 30 kilometres directly south of Haifa, Israel, lies a very large tel (an earth mound containing ancient architectural and artefact remains) that tells a story crossing at least eight civilizations. It is there – at Tel Dor – that a rare and surprising archaeological discovery has been made:an engraved gemstone carrying a portrait of Alexander the Great was uncovered at an excavation area in the southwestern part of Tel Dor. It is surprising that a work of art such as this would be found in Israel, on the periphery of the Hellenistic world. It is generally assumed that the…
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If you want to keep up with celebrity news a Toronto newspaper is a good place to get it. The Toronto International Film Festival is in full swing, with its long list of celebrities and accompanying red carpet antics. But theres one story in particular that might be of interest to archaeology fans out there. Michael Moore (of Fahrenheit 9/11 fame) is out with his new movie, Capitalism: A Love Story. He held a 45 minute press conference in Toronto to publicize it and hes given a number of media interviews about his ideas. The movie, from what Ive read,…
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One of the most impressive and startling structures in the world is the Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt, yet the construction of it remains the subject of much debate and discussion to this very day. Dr Mark Lehner, an archaeologist at the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago, and Harvard Semitic Museum, has given an exclusive video interview to Heritage Key in which he explains what he and his team are doing in their latest excavation. Dr Lehner wants to know the answer to a question that rarely gets asked – Where and how did the workers who…
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Another carved stone figurine has been discovered at the Neolithic site of atalhyk in Turkey, adding to an already large collection of over 2,000 pieces that has raised conflicting theories among scholars about their prehistoric purpose. The find, made last week, is of a six inch-tall reclining man with a large beard and oversized nose. Back in the 1960s, it was speculated that the prevalence among the carvings of females with big breasts and bellies (similar to the likes of the much older Venus of Hohle Fels, found recently in Germany) were indicative of a cult of worshipping mother goddesses…
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Tourists are taking the piss quite literally when it comes to Uluru, the sacred Aboriginal ‘rock’ in the middle of the Australian desert. Andrew Simpson is the general manager of Anangu Waai, an Aboriginal-owned company that runs culturally sensitive tours of the World Heritage-listed Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park. He claims that tourists are not only disrespecting local heritage and beliefs by climbing Uluru in the first place, but they are “shitting on a sacred site” when they get to the top. Waiting half an hour to get to the bottom again, he says, is just too much of an effort…
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Here in Europe in the 21st century we like to think were pretty sophisticated. Yet, judging by a clutch of recent discoveries, our Iron Age, Bronze Age and even Stone Age ancestors werent so backward themselves. International trade? Social networking? Fancy gadgets? In every case, they went there, did that, bought the t-shirt (well, the animal hide). If theyd had a connection quicker than 28.8K dial-up, theyd probably have just blogged about it themselves, saved me the effort. Take the recent research done at a temple dating back to circa 800 BC in the Tell Tayinat region of Turkey, by…
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It’s a question that’s bamboozled archaeologists for centuries – just where did the Moai of Easter Island get those big red hats? The answer, two British experts have claimed this week, is one of sacred quarries, iconic top-knots and volcanic highways. Sounds a bit too far-fetched for reality? Bear in mind these are the thousand-plus statues which line the world’s remotest inhabited island, in a corner of Polynesia not even touched by Europeans until the eighteenth century, and the truth may seem a little easier to stomach. The University of Manchester’s Colin Richards and Sue Hamilton from University College London…
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A century-old case may have been closed – DNA evidence appears to show Europe’s first farmers were not related to their hunter-gatherer forebears. Teams from the University of Mainz, Cambridge University and University College London have been comparing the genetic make-up of central and northern European hunter-gatherers with ancient farmers and even today’s central Europeans. Their results show that hunter-gatherers share very little of their DNA with the farmers, and just 18 per cent with modern Europeans. Though relatively muted in comparison with other recent finds, the research provides the answer to a question that has mystified thinkers for over…
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There are only five day left if you want to see the mysteries of the mummies come to life on the big screen – Mummies: The Secrets of the Pharaohs ends its two-year run at IMAXcinemas across the world next Monday. But you won’t just want to see it for the breath-taking sights, epic storyline and endless line of experts – the film stars none other than our favourite Egyptologist, Dr Zahi Hawass! The antiquities chief gives his best Indiana Jones impression, as the illustrious movie takes viewers on a technicolour tale through in time. First they can see the…