It’s the kind of myth that has always had the power to fascinate people: a beautiful, wealthy and sophisticated ancient city is swallowed up by forces beyond man’s control, destroyed by the sea and earthquakes. There are examples around the world of these mythical submerged cities. We not only have Atlantis somewhere in the Atlantic Ocean, but in Taiwan there’s the legend of the submerged Mudalu, in Wales there is a drowned city called Cantre’r Gwaelod and a similar story tells the tale of Ys, a drowned city off the coast of Brittany in France. They are all myths that…
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I you go sightseeing in London after a night out, stare up at Big Ben to find its clock missing, you might conclude you’ve overdone it on the Metaxa. But no: according to the new campaign video from bringthemback.org, Britain’s best-known clock was taken by Greek multi-millionaire Aristotle Elginiadis. In a month’s time the video – a call for the return of the Elgin Marbles (what else) – has amassed nearly half a million YouTube views, with little sign of its popularity waning. The campaign video kicks off with a breaking news report: Big Ben’s clock has been stolen! Avid…
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My generation has grown up almost exclusively exposed to war in the Middle East. Two wars in Iraq, one in Afghanistan and countless battles between neighbouring nations in the region. The Middle East has been a battleground since time began – and now you can see exactly who has conquered it through the ages with mapsofwar.com‘s great-looking 90 second walkthrough. The map begins in 3,000 BC with the invention of the Egyptian Empire – though there’s no mention of the Sumerian states which comprised the Cradle of Civilization – and shows the spread of the Hittites, Israelis, Assyrians and Babylonians…
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Police have seized two ‘outstanding’ ancient Greek statues in the Peloponnese, shortly before they were due to be sold for 10 million (8.6m). Two men aged 42 and 48 were arrested while loading the pair of 2,500-year-old relics onto the back of a truck near the ancient city of Corinth. Police are seeking a third man they believe to be the group’s ringleader. The pair of marble statues stand 5’8″ and 5’9″ tall, and are of the Kouros style popular during the 6th and 7th centuries BC. Experts believe both were made by the same sculptor between 550 and 520…
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The ancient Spice Route (probably named as a result of the ancient Incense and Perfume routes) was an epic journey which initially began in Arabia, but eventually evolved to link Moluccas (the Indonesian Spice Islands) with Arabia and from there into Europe. The route generally is believed to take in Malacca, Sri Lanka, and Kerala in India. At Kerela, it split into two, with one route to Europe going via Baghdad and the other Accra. Arabia had the monopoly on the spice route for over 2000 years, and its said that both the Roman invasion of Persia in 24 BC…
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By ancient Olympic Games standards, the recent Australian Special Olympics IX National Games, an event held for athletes with an intellectual disability, were relatively small. As the Communications Manager for the games, my job was manic, but fortunately I had a team of volunteers to help coordinate the multitude of print and broadcast media on event as well as updating the Special Olympics Australia website, facebook and twitter at regular intervals throughout the day. Between frantic phone calls, tweets and manically hitting of the send email option, I did ponder for a moment how promoting and communicating results to the…
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Having two leaders might be uncharted territory for Britain, but it’s an arrangement that worked well over 2,500 years ago when Sparta was ruled by two kings. The fearless Greek city-state found that having two leaders was the best way to plunder its neighbours and promote harmony amongst its citizens. This Monday ‘Dave and Nick’, as the PM and his deputy are to be known, gave a press conference backing their ambitions for the next five years. This government would be a radical, reforming government where it needs to be and a source of reassurance and stability at a time…
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Financial austerity measures were a grave problem in ancient Greece too it seems quite literally. In the same week that the European Union and the International Monetary Fund have been asked by Greece to unblock the first tranche of a 110-billion (93 billion) bail-out loan package in exchange for severe spending cuts, archaeologists have revealed how 2,300 years ago people in the northern Greek region of Macedonia were forced to scale back on funeral offerings, probably on orders from the king. The AFP reports that senior archaeologist for the Greek Archaeological Service Manthos Besios told Athens daily newspaper Ta Nea…
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Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg vows to return the Elgin Marbles to Greece if voted into power in today’s general election. As an MEP (Member of the European Parliament) in 2002 Clegg even spearheaded a conference on sending the marbles back to Athens named Marbles in Exile. Clegg described the marbles being housed in the British Museum (BM) like displaying Big Ben in the Louvre. When Tory MEPRoger Helmer criticised the stance, Clegg wrote to him, “During the opening of the Marbles in Exile exhibition yesterday, I took the opportunity to read out your message. Everyone agreed that you appear…
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Britain might be staring a hung parliament in the face, but Heritage Key’s election has quickly become a two-horse race. And with just a few hours to go ’til the votes are counted in our grand finale (alas, no Jon Snow and his ever-brilliant green-screenery), it’s time to swot up on Alexander the Great’s manifesto. Alexander was born in Pella, modern-day Greece, in 356 BC. His father Philip II was already one of the Macedonian Empire’s greatest kings, and was determined that his son would make the nation even greater. A rigorous education ensued, during which Alexander was even afforded…