Category: sean-williams - Part 13

Is Repatriation Good for Archaeology? Zahi Hawass’ Quest for Egypt’s Antiquities

The opening of Berlin’s Neues Museum and its ceremonial re-unveiling of the Bust of Nefertiti has provided a stark contrast to the recent climate on the repatriation of ancient artefacts. At the forefront of the debate is Zahi Hawass, chief of Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA): marauding worldwide with dossiers in hand, strong-arming museums into giving Egypt back its most prized possessions. Dr Hawass even sent one of his antiquities droogs to Berlin this month with a letter for the Neues‘ director. One can imagine it won’t be a shining eulogy to his work.

Dr Hawass’ Famous Five

“We own that stone, the motherland should own this,” Dr Hawass told an Al-Jazeera audience two years ago, referring of course to the Rosetta Stone that now takes pride of place in the British Museum. Dr Hawass lists a top five “objects that Egypt, the homeland of the pharaohs, does not have”: The Rosetta Stone and Nefertiti’s bust; the Dendera Zodiac in the Louvre; the Statue of Hemiunu (the architect of the Great Pyramid) in Hildesheim Museum and the Bust of Ankhhaf (architect of Khafre’s Pyramid) at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Dr Hawass can rant and rave about his ‘famous five’ ’til the cows come home. But what power does he really wield?

Give it Back – Or Else

Plenty, it seems – and there’s a feeling museums are beginning to fear the ‘Zahi Effect’. Two years ago Dr Hawass started an offensive against the StLouis Art Museum for their purchase of the mask of Ka-Nefer-Nefer. When the museum refused to back down, Dr Hawass lauched a media war, and even distributed leaflets to the city’s schools telling them not to visit the artefact. This July saw the SCA suspend the Louvre’s research at Saqqara over its alleged theft of tomb fragments from Thebes. The fragments were hastily handed back and work duly resumed. New York’s Metropolitan Museum went one step further last October, buying an ancient shrine fragment solely to send it back to Egypt. Dr Hawass’ position is clear: “If any museum will not co-operate with us, if any museum will not be fair with us, what we should do is stop any scientific operation (with) this museum.

But before you get the idea Dr Hawass is sitting in a gold-plated room, stroking a white cat and laughing maniacally at the money coming in from all his repatriated treasures, he is a man of immeasurable worth to the world of antiquities: fighting black markets and looters who threaten to dilute the planet’s ancient past in countries as far apart as Iraq, Bulgaria, the US and Guatemala. He has recovered over 6,000 artefacts from private collectors, thieves and rogue dealers since he began his tenure in 2002.

Dr Hawass also has a point when faced with the age-old question of whether returned antiquities can be as safe in Egypt as they are in their current homes. “Our museums now are more secure and the artefacts in a (more) beautiful display than many museums in Europe,” he argues. Having been to the Luxor Museum recently, I can vouch for him. And the more security is raised as a reason against repatriation, the more it seems a tired, desperate colonial attempt to keep something which doesn’t belong – a feeling echoed loudest in the British Museum’s stubborn refusal to hear Greece’s claims to the Elgin Marbles.

Repatriation could Destroy Archaeology

Yet some argue restrictions on artefact exports are doing more harm than good. John Tierney, writing in his New York Times column, says letting less go could be driving the trade underground: “Restricting the export of artefacts hasnt ended their theft and looting any more than the war on drugs has ended narcotics smuggling. Instead, the restrictions promote the black market and discourage the kind of open research that would benefit everyone except criminals.”
You could argue the real aim is to destroy illegal trade altogether, something Dr Hawass addressed at the start of his post with the invention of the Department of Stolen Antiquities. Experts are divided, however, on the department’s results and it might be more than a little nave to think we can stop a system that’s been working for thousands of years.

A Happy Medium?

“Restricting the export of artefacts hasnt ended their theft and looting any more than the war on drugs has ended narcotics smuggling.” – John Tierney

James Cuno, Director of Chicago’s Art Institute, writes in his book Who Owns Antiquities? that archaeologists should go back to the days of partage, whereby experts agreed to take home a certain percentage of discovered artefacts. He sees scholars of today largely as sell-outs, ready to acquiesce all too easily to governments willing to use archaeology to propagandise. See Saddam Hussein’s shameful highjacking of Nebuchadnezzar’s name for the loudest recent example. Cuno believes westerners should be able to see Egyptian treasures just as much as Egyptians: they are “not, and can never be, the property of one modern nation or another.”

The Rosetta Stone, equally, would never have acquired the importance it now enjoys without international co-operation, something which could potentially vanish under Dr Hawass’ ‘Egypt-only’ views. Yet Cuno’s definition of a ‘modern nation’ is a dangerous one, and one which has been used far too often to argue against repatriation. ‘How,’ many westerners cry, ‘can Arab Egyptians claim artefacts back when they’ve got so little in common with ancient Egyptians?’ Well, if you’re going to use that argument you may want to take a look at the history of Egypt’s archaeology.

Many if not all of Egypt’s most precious items were taken under colonial rule, when the British and French were in charge. So what rights did London or Paris have to take objects back then? Surely it would cost someone across the world just as much to get to Luxor as the Louvre and a lot less to stay: all-but ending the argument that either the Louvre or the BM is a ‘global museum’.

The issues surrounding repatriation are many and complicated. Who own antiquities and who are responsible for them is one of history’s hottest topics, debated fiercely all over the world. “We have to follow those who steal our artefacts,” warns Dr Hawass. The question is, when is something stolen?

Have Your Say!

Should museums return artefacts?Are artefacts abroad hostages or ambassadors? What can be done to stop illegal treasure hunters destroying world heritage? Join the discussion at Heritage Key’s discuss page (visit here) and have your say!You can also get in touch via the , our contact page, or by emailing me direct. Heritage Key – Unlock the Wonders.

Incas ‘Cut off Heads as Trophies’

Experts working at an ancient Inca archaeological site claim three skulls discovered in a ceremonial vessel prove the civilisation cut off the heads of their enemies. The skulls were found by a Peruvian team digging at the ancient ceremonial centre of Qowicarana Ridge, just north of Cuzco. Now the team hopes to find the remains of the trio’s bodies, to prove whether they were actually decapitated – either during or after battle.

Washington Camacho, director of Sacsayhuaman Archaeological Park, says the heads most likely belong to rival chiefs (curacas) or religious leaders of enemy tribes. The heads would have been taken as trophies of war, and offered to the gods. Camacho says the ritual offering of heads occurred during the mysterious culture’s final throes, around 1500 AD, under the rule of Huayna Capac.

Heads were taken as war trophies, and offered to the gods.

Many more human remains have been found by the team at Qowicarana Ridge, including teeth, loose bones and the substantial remnants of 45-year-old man and a baby boy aged just two. Also discovered are two small dishes, decorated with shells. Human sacrifice has always been closely associated with the Inca Empire, South America’s largest pre-Columbian civilisation, which lasted from around 1200 to 1600 AD.

Cuzco is one of the continent’s most important cities; having nurtured the powerful Kingdom of Cuzco which became part of the Inca Empire in the 15th century. The ancient city of Pikillaqta is just one of its many wonders. Peru is one of the world’s hottest archaeological countries: just last week experts unearthed the body of a 1600-year-old deformed priestess in the ancient city of Cahuachi, near modern Nazca.

Should we dig up the bodies of ancient peoples? Is it our right to disturb bodies which were never meant to leave their final resting places? Have your say at Heritage Key – either via the , our contact page or by emailing me direct.

Oldest Babylonian Cuneiform Seal Fragment in Egypt Discovered, at Hyksos Capital of Avaris

Austrian archaeologists have unearthed the oldest cuneiform seal inscription fragment ever found in Egypt. The piece dates to the Old Babylonian reign of King Hammurabi, who brought the world its first code of law, between 1792 – 1750 BC. Egypt’s culture minister Farouk Hosni announced the discovery today, made by the Austrian Archaeological Mission in a pit at Tel El-Daba, modern name of ancient Avaris, 120km north-east of Cairo in the Nile Delta.

Dr Zahi Hawass, Egypt’s antiquities chief, noted the seal was the second of its type excavated in the region. The first seal had been found in the palace of Hyksos King Khayan, who ruled Egypt between 1653 – 1614 BC. The previous oldest cuneiform seals had been found at Akhenaten‘s rogue capital city Amarna.

“The Hyksos had foreign relations and connections in the Near East that reached southern Mesopotamia.”

Austrian mission leader Dr Manfred Bietak says the two fragments could have huge repercussions for how the Hyksos, a Delta-based tribe who seized Egypt around ushering in the Second Intermediate Period, maintained ties with the Near East. “They are evidence that the Hyksos had foreign relations and extensive connections in the Near East that at this time reached southern Mesopotamia,” he says.

Avaris is a city steeped in multicultural heritage dating back over 3,000 years. It was first settled by Asiatic tribes around the time of the 12th Dynasty (2000 BC). It was also visited by Minoans, who painted magnificent frescoes on its buildings’ walls. Avaris’ Asiatic inhabitants would become rulers of Egypt around 1650 BC, when King Salitis ascended the throne. The Austrian mission has been present there since 2006 when it unearthed a royal Hyksos palace. A 5th Dynasty building has also been discovered at the site, which experts believe was an administrative centre.

Digging for Cleopatra’s Tomb at Taposiris Magna

It’s the most exciting project in Egypt, and one that’s captured the hearts and minds of people all over the world: could Kathleen Martinez have discovered the tomb of Cleopatra? The Dominican expert certainly thinks so, and tells Heritage Key all about it in this special video.

A Long Route to Egypt

It has taken Dr Martinez ten years to convince herself Taposiris Magna, just outside Alexandria, is the famous queen’s final resting place. And she knew from the off she had to get out in the field herself to have any chance of finding the tomb. “I needed to come to Egypt…to see the remains of this temple, to be sure that it has the possibility of being the lost tomb of Cleopatra.”

“This is the perfect place for the tomb of Cleopatra.”

Yet Martinez thought she had no chance of securing a spot in the field until she got a letter from Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities, headed by Dr Zahi Hawass (watch the fascinating video about the project with Dr Hawass here) “They would give me two months only to prove my theory,” says Martinez. “In archaeology, two months is nothing.” The race was on: could Martinez capture her holy grail, and find the tomb of Egypt’s last queen?

Time Running Out

Coins Found in the Temple of Taposiris Magna. Image Credit - Supreme Council of Antiquities. Almost two months in the project seemed doomed to failure. But just as things were coming to a close, Martinez’ team hit gold. Tunnels were found, which would eventually reach a depth of 35m. They’re still being cleaned today, after Dr Hawass granted Martinez another season to prove her claim. To date the team’s biggest find has been a cemetery outside the temple, “which is the proof that in this area there is a royal tomb,” Martinez says excitedly.

Martinez feels a sense of responsibility for finding Cleopatra, an ancient character long draped in romance and legend. “If there’s a one per cent chance that the last queen of Egypt could be buried there, it is my duty to search for her.” So far the team has unearthed a huge number of Greco-Roman artefacts, including coins with Cleopatra‘s head on them. Dr Hawass has already hailed the dig as a success, whatever its outcome: “If we discover the tomb…it will be the most important discovery of the 21st century. If we do not discover the tomb…we made major discoveries here, inside the temple and outside the temple.”

A World-changing Discovery?

Martinez is captivating, and her passion for the discovery is clear to see. She knows this could be one of the world’s greatest discoveries, and a smile beams across her face. “We have changed forever what they know about funerary temples. This is the perfect place for the tomb of Cleopatra.”

HDVideo: Search for the Tomb of Cleopatra (Featuring Dr. Kathleen Martinez)

What do you think will happen at Taposiris Magna? Is it the perfect place to find Cleopatra? And what about Mark Antony – was he buried with his great love? Have your say, either via the , our contact page or by emailing me direct. You can watch a whole host of great videos here at Heritage Key – from the perils of Venice to the lost tombs of Thebes. Catch us here or on YouTube.

Lord Norwich and History’s Greatest Cities

We’ve already heard Lord Norwich‘s warnings about the perilous future of his beloved Venice (watch this video). But throughout human history, what have been the planet’s greatest cities – and how did they come to be? Lord Norwich’s latest book, The Great Cities in History (see more info here) attempts to explain that over 300 pages of exquisite photography and expert opinion on 70 of man’s greatest settlements. Famed writers such as Simon Schama and Bettany Hughes lend their views on cities from Nineveh to New York, with forewords on the ancient world and beyond by Lord Norwich himself.

Primordial Beginnings

But what was the most vital asset to the cities which emerged from the cradle of civilization and spread into antiquity – cities like Uruk, Mohenjo-daro and Memphis? For Lord Norwich the answer is obvious: “In any city rivers were much more important than the sea, because seaports meant the sea, and the sea was a very treacherous thing.” Great Cities stretches over five chapters: The Ancient World; the First Millennium AD; the Medieval World; the Early Modern World and today, the ‘Age of the Modern City’. Just about enough history for one book.

“Spain and Portugal like to think they explored to spread the gospel. But I think gold was more important for most of them.”

But how did we get from the dusty cities of Sumer to the epic metropolises of our time? Again, Lord Norwich points to man’s manipulation of water: “It was really only after about 1000 AD that shipbuilding got very much better,” he says in his trademark booming brogue. “Venice was top of them all.” As we explored in the previous video, Lord Norwich is one of Britain’s best experts on the city Italians call La Serenissima, having penned A History of Venice: The Rise to Empire and Venice: A Traveller’s Companion. He has even been on the board of the Venice in Peril Fund.

It’s no surprise then that Lord Norwich sees Venice as a crucial gear in the step towards megalopolis, with shipbuilding its key asset. During the height of its power, he says, the city could churn out a ship a day. “There were 15,000 men working, every man doing his one job exactly as he had to do,” he claims. “It was the first mass-production in the world.” Venice would command the seas from the 13th to 15th centuries, a gateway between east and west.

A Smaller World

Yet the next big breakthrough would come with exploration, again via the seas, when Christopher Columbus and Vasco da Gama discovered America and a route to India respectively at the end of the 15th century. What thus followed, many commentators have claimed, was an explosion of globalised fortunes and culture spurred on by religion, with the Iberian nations at its forefront. Lord Norwich disagrees: “The principle reason for exploring was to increase trade. Of course, Spain and Portugal like to think it was to spread the gospel. But I think gold was more important than the gospel for most of them even then.”

Great Cities comes rushing to its denouement at the age of the modern city. Roughly half the world’s population now lives in cities, and Lord Norwich pays particular attention to the great cities of America, which have risen in the past century to become some of the world’s most important locations. New York and Los Angeles may have been known by foreigners during their birth, he says, but others like Chicago, which grew up on the great 19th century railroads, would not have. Chicago is the ‘Engine of America’, as James Cuno notes in Great Cities: its population boomed from 30,000 to over 300,000 between 1850 and 1870.

What for the Future?

The book ends with an epithet to Shanghai, which John Gittings claims in its post-Mao heyday, has regained its place as China’s ‘brash, do-it-all, ultra-modern super-city.’ It’s clear Great Cities paints a pragmatic view of its pantheon of places. And Lord Norwich’s opinion on the fleeting, organic lives of cities is as clear and lyrical as ever: “One of the most extraordinary phenomena in all history is the way suddenly, from one moment to the next, one city is touched by the angel’s wing and then, just as suddenly, it’s gone.” Suddenly the giant cities we call home seem a little less indestructable.

HD Video: John Julius Norwich on the Great Cities in History

(Transcription of this video.)

Have Your Say

Do you agree with Lord Norwich’s views on the driving forces behind the world’s greatest cities? Have you got an opinion on his latest book, or do you feel your own home town deserves a mention? Don’t hesitate to get in touch either , our contact page or by emailing me direct. Exploring the planet’s ancient past has never been easier with Heritage Key: Unlocking the Wonders.

More Lord Norwich to come

Lord Norwich is one of Britain’s great storytellers, and these interviews and articles on Heritage Key are just a sample of the new book “The Great Cities of the World“. Read fantastic accounts from a several well-travelled writers on some of the most intruiging and stunning cities since the dawn of civilisation. Also watch out for another video coming soon to Heritage Key, on some of history’s lesser-known tales – including the fall of empires and female Popes!

Rock Art is ‘Ancient Doodling’, says Expert

A leading language expert claims man’s first forays into the art world may be nothing more than ‘ancient doodles’. Dr Ekkehart Malotki, a professor at Northern Arizona University, told an audience at Deer Valley Rock Art Centre on Saturday the true meanings behind the world’s earliest images etched onto rocks will remain a mystery forever – and that they may have been spurred by nothing more than an inane desire to create. Malotki has laid out his theory in a book entitled ‘The Rock Art of Arizona: Art for Life’s Sake’. “The act of making the image was more important to them than the final result,” he says.

The oldest-known rock art is a 300,000-year-old panel of chipped ‘cupules’ in India. Malotki argues that subsequent famous cave paintings, such as that of Bhimbetka in India and France’s Lascaux caves, evolved from these early ‘doodles’: “They are the same doodles children draw in school and adults draw while talking on the telephone,” he says. Malotki believes humans are simply ‘hardwired’ to create art. Yet the precise reason for each artwork will be lost forever, having died with the people who created them.

“They are the same doodles children draw in school and adults draw while talking on the telephone.”

Malotki has teamed up with eminent psychologist Ellen Dissanayake to surmise that humans have a core repertoire of images they are born with. His book lists 15 ‘human universals’, called phosphenes, found all over the world, to support this view. The universals include dots (cupules), spirals, lines, circles and boxes, and are found as far apart as the Sahara (such as those at Gilf Kebir – watch a great archaeovideo here) and the Americas. Philip DiSilvestro, a prominent collector of rock art, agrees with the theory “I like the expression of spirituality and the fact we are ‘hardwired’ to create,” he says.

Yet there are many who disagree with Malotki and Dissanayake’s conclusions. They feel that rather than being hardwired with images and symbols, human minds are locked in a state of ‘pareidolia’ – a tendency to see familiarity in randomness. For example, seeing faces in clouds.

Nancy Bodmer, a volunteer at the rock art centre, points to her own experiences. “I’m originally from the Northeast (of America), and I was looking at this image in the Agua Fria National Monument and all I could see was a sailboat with a broken mast,” she says. “I was seeing a pre-set image I had in my mind.”

Are we all hardwired to doodle, as Dr Malotki claims? We’ve made our own list of the world’s top ten cave paintings (see here): Do you agree? Let us know right here, either via the , our contacts page or by emailing me direct. We want your opinions – have your say at Heritage Key!

Dam Floods Threaten Radar-Revealed Lost Syrian City

An ancient Mesopotamian city discovered recently in Syria could be lost forever, experts fear. The circular city, dating back 4,500 years in the enclave of Tall Qabr, was found using cutting edge geo-laser technology. Its location along the Euphrates River means it may hold the key to boundaries between the Mari Kingdom and its southern Babylonian neighbours, in modern Iraq.

Yet the city may be lost forever, thanks to flooding from a modern dam. Its Spanish discoverers, from the universities of Coruna and Vigo, have hastily prepared a report for UNESCO in the hope that it can send scores of archaeologists to dig up the city before disaster strikes. The city could even make it onto UNESCO’s 31-strong list (controversially missing Kashgar) of world heritage sites in danger, which already includes Samarra in Iraq, and Israel’s holy city of Jerusalem.

The team are hoping UNESCO can act before disaster strikes

The danger is a sour note on what has been an successful project so far, for a 20-strong team led by Jean Luis Montero. The group has worked since 2008 in the area, known as the Hill of the Tomb, alongside the Syrian government. And thanks to groundbreaking geo-lasers, which can sniff out sites without having to break ground, Montero believes the team has found a site which will change Mesopotamian history.

The city’s circular plan is its most significant feature, singling it out from established cities in the area such as Mari. A fort was also unearthed, built around a thousand years after the initial layout.

Montero, who will announce his team’s breakthrough later this month in Madrid, has likened the well-preserved state of the city to that of doomed Roman metropolis Pompeii, which was frozen in time when Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79 AD.

Montero’s team are hoping the city can reveal more about a time in Middle Eastern past notably devoid in written history. The Kingdom of Mari was inhabited from the 5th millennium BC, yet flourished three thousand years later. It met an abrupt end in 1759 BC, however, when it was sacked by legendary Babylonian King Hammurabi.

Sadly, the city is just one of many Mesopotamian treasures to face destruction in recent years. Thanks to ongoing conflict in Iraq, much of Babylon’s ruins have been destroyed – with many placing blame on the US Army. Likewise, Baghdad Museum has been ravaged by looting and insurgency. Artefacts dating back to the beginnings of civilization have been found as far afield as The Netherlands and Japan, as the region desperately tries to claw back its amazing heritage. Montero and his team will be hoping their fledgling find is not the latest to suffer at the hands of modern man.

Cambyses the Persian’s Lost Army found in Egyptian Desert

A pair of Italian brothers believe they have at last discovered the lost army of Persian King Cambyses II in the Egyptian desert, some 2,500 years after they are said to have been swallowed up by a vicious sandstorm. The 50,000-strong army was engulfed as it crossed the Great Sand Sea towards Siwa Oasis, to destroy the oracle at the Temple of Amun. Archaeologists have searched for the legendary lost men for centuries – yet Angelo and Alfredo Castiglioni claim that hundreds of human bones and bronze weapons just outside the oasis are the remains of Cambyses’ fateful crew.

Greek historian Herodotus first told the tale of the lost army, sent by Cambyses, son of Cyrus the Great, from Thebes to Siwa to threaten the oracle, after its priests denied his claim to the Egyptian throne in 525 BC. The army trapsed the desert for seven days until it reached an oasis, which many believe to have been El-Kharga, 120 miles west of the Nile.

“In this desolate wilderness we have found the precise location where the tragedy occurred.”

Yet on pressing forward to Siwa the men were hit by a cataclysmic sandstorm and never seen again. Just as the Nazis perished in the foul winters of Russia during World War II, Cambyses soldiers would be fatally thwarted by the tempestuous weather of the arid Egyptian wilderness. “A wind arose from the south, strong and deadly, bringing with it vast columns of whirling sand,” writes Herodotus, “which entirely covered up the troops and caused them wholly to disappear.”

Due to a lack of archaeological evidence, Herodotus’ tale has been written off by many as a myth. Yet the Castiglioni brothers’ recent discovery may prove it happen after all. The duo made their first breakthrough in 1996 just outside Siwa, where they spotted a huge rock 35m long, 1.8m high and 3m deep. “Its size and shape made it the perfect refuge in a sandstorm,” says Alfredo Castiglioni.

Map to show the two routes taken to follow the tracks of the Persian Army.

His Eastern Desert Research Center team excavated a bronze dagger and many arrow heads – proof of Cambyses doomed campaign? “We are talking of small items, but they are extremely important as they are the first Achaemenid objects, thus dating to Cambyses’ time,” adds Castiglioni, “which have emerged from the desert sands in a location quite close to Siwa.”

Moving a quarter of a mile south, the team found an earring, necklace links and a silver bracelet dating to Cambyses’ Achaemenid Dynasty. The Castiglioni brothers spent the next few years mapping possible routes through the desert and painstakingly researching each one. Now the pair feels Cambyses’ army didn’t in fact pass through El Kharga at all – instead chosing a longer route heading east from Thebes to Gilf Kebir, then due north towards Siwa. Their theory was coming together when they found artificial water sources and hundreds of pots dating back 2,500 years along the route.

The show-stopping moment for the Castiglionis would come in 2002, however, when at the end of their last expedition, they explored Bedouin tales of hundreds of bones rising from the desert in certain wind conditions. It would turn out to be much more than an old wives’ tale – a mass grave contained the bones, alongside Persian arrow heads and a horse bit. Sadly they had not been the first there: “We learned that the remains had been exposed by tomb robbers and that a beautiful sword which was found among the bones was sold to American tourists,” says Castiglioni.

The brothers handed in their findings to the Egyptian authorities, from whom they haven’t heard since. Yet they are convinced Cambyses’ men dispersed during the storm and that their bodies are still somewhere in the area. “In the desolate wilderness of the desert, we have found the most precise location where the tragedy occurred,” says Dario Del Bufalo, a Lecce University official who helped the brothers. Their findings will be presented in a Discovery documentary, out soon. The brothers had their first taste of archaeological fame two decades ago when they uncovered the ancient Egyptian ‘Golden City’ of Berenice Panchrysos.

Since this post was published, doubts have been raised as to whether the Castiglioni brothers actually did locate the city of Berenice Panchrysos. For a full SCA statement via Egyptology News, read the .

Roman Town House Discovered Under Kent Theatre Destroyed by Modern Buildings

A rich Roman town house discovered beneath Canterbury‘s Marlowe Theatre cannot be preserved in its present location thanks to damage from earlier modern building works. The astonishing house, complete with under-floor heating, was discovered by builders working on the famous theatre’s 26.5million redevelopment. Workers immediately got in touch with archaeologists – and work has been halted until the remains can be fully removed.

Yet expert James Holden tells the BBC earlier 20th century projects have left the house in a bad state: “A lot of it has been disturbed by earlier buildings, when they built this theatre in the 30s and when it was redeveloped in the 80s,” he says. “A lot of the archaeology has been removed so there isn’t enough of it left to preserve it in situ.”

The 2nd – 3rd century AD house is thought to have belonged to an extremely wealthy individual, whose shoes, seeds and a plate have also been found among the remains. It’s quite unexpected,” explains Holden. “It’s very unusual to find buildings of this type in this area of Canterbury, this side of the River Stour.” While its damage may sour the story slightly, the house’s discovery will come as great news for Roman history lovers in Canterbury, a city steeped in rich Roman heritage.

“A lot of the archaeology has been removed – there isn’t enough of it left to preserve it in situ.”

Once a prosperous trading post named Durovernum Cantiacorum, it grew to become one of Roman Britain‘s premier religious spots – a role it has kept to this day. Today the city celebrates its Roman past at Canterbury Roman Museum, with a myriad tableaux and treasures on display. Visitors can also see Roman Kent in full swing at Lullingstone Villa and Richborough Fort and Amphitheatre. The county also has its fair share of prehistoric wonders: take a look at our top five guide for Kent right here.

The Petrie Museum’s Amelia Edwards – The Greatest Woman in Egyptology

There have been many great women in the times and study of Ancient Egypt – Hatshepsut and Nefertiti are two great examples. Yet in the era of discovery; the time in which great explorers pioneered the excavation of Egypt’s greatest treasures, one woman sticks out louder than Liberace in a dole queue. Cue Amelia Edwards, a Victorian writer and adventurer who bucked the conservative traditions of her time to help found one of London‘s greatest museums.

We meet Petrie Museum curator Stephen Quirke at 10am on a bleak British morning, drizzling rain just about getting our umbrellas out in the heart of Bloomsbury, just yards from the British Museum. The public won’t be here for another three hours; we’ve got carte blanche to investigate the museum’s myriad cases, displays and exhibits with their current custodian.

It’s clear from the outset that Dr Quirke, a much-respected auteur on the language and culture of Ancient Egypt, holds a huge amount of respect for Amelia Edwards (1831 – 1892). Worried for the future of Egypt’s treasures in the face of growing tourism, she co-founded the Egypt Exploration Fund (now Society; see our EES archive adventures here) in 1882. Edwards contributed to the Encyclopaedia Britannica and Standard Dictionary on Egyptian entries, and toured US lecture theatres to enlighten crowds on the budding wonders of the ancient civilisation (bear in mind many of Egypt’s biggest discoveries, such as King Tut’s tomb, were still decades away).

Yet Britain was still a hard place for a female philanthropist, novelist and intellectual to make her mark. “The only university in 1892 for women in England was University College, London,” explains Dr Quirke. Unperturbed, Edwards set out creating a museum where all students could marvel and learn from the wonders coming to Britain from Africa. Dr Quirke continues: “She said, ‘I’m not an Egyptologist, I’m not an archaeologist – but I want my own bequest, my own money, to go somewhere I could have studied myself.'”

Thus was born the Petrie Museum, so named after its first professor William Flinders Petrie, the godfather of modern archaeology. Edwards was determined to get Petrie, the first surveyor of Giza and legendary excavator at Hawara, on board. “She left this clause in her will,” says Quirke, “that the first professor should not be older than 40 – and Petrie was 39 at the time.” Petrie would go on to be (arguably) archaeology’s biggest name, and Edwards’ beloved museum opened doors for thousands of people to admire and study the art and work of the ancient Egyptian people.

We’ve already been looking at loads of amazing artefacts when Dr Quirke pulls out a mysterious stone head from one of the cabinets. It’s one of Edwards’ original pieces. His enthusiasm is infectious – what is it? A head of Amenemhat III, one of Egypt’s greatest builders with pyramids in Dashur and Hawara. Yet there’s something strange about this particular sculpture: the king’s face is withered, his expressions caught in the throes of old age. This goes against the beatific traditions of the time, of the ‘limit’ or ‘nefer’, says Dr Quirke excitedly. “It’s youth that expresses what is beautiful best. Yet here you’ve got the same idea of the head carrying the religious concept but in a different way.”

“None of this would have been here without Amelia Edwards.”

It’s clear that Amelia Edwards was the woman pulling the strings behind the Petrie Museum – one of London’s hidden gems, with the third-largest Egyptian collection outside Egypt. “None of this would have been here without Amelia Edwards,” says Dr Quirke. It’s a fair reflection on a great woman – one of the greatest in the history of Egyptology.

Video: Amelia Edwards and The Petrie Museum(Featuring Dr Stephen Quirke)

(Transcription of this video.)

Are there any other women, ancient or modern, you feel have contributed to Ancient Egypt as much as Amelia Edwards? Maybe you’ve got something to say about the Petrie Museum itself, or anything else in London you think we should know about? Don’t hesitate to get in touch, either via the below, our contact page (visit here) or by emailing me direct. Watch out for another great archaeovideo with Stephen Quirke at the Petrie Museum, where he’ll be unearthing some of the museum’s treasures – and shedding light on Flinders Petrie – the luminary after whom it’s named. Heritage Key – Unlock the Wonders.