Key Dates The earliest record of Nineveh is around 1800 BC. It was captured by the Assyrians in the 14th century BC. It was sacked and razed in 612 BC. The Arab conquest of 637 AD meant Mosul effectively became Nineveh incarnate. Key People King Ninus, the semi-mythological Persian king on whose name Nineveh is based. Sennacherib, the Assyrian king who built most of Nineveh’s legendary landmarks – including its palace. Nineveh has come to be something of a legend of the Near East; a symbol of the ancient civilization of Assyria and the marauding tribes of Mesopotamia. Located in…
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Attribution: Gusmah Rome Italy Key Dates The museum concept began in 1471 when Pope Sixtus IV donated a collection of bronzes to the Roman people. A collection of important sculptures were set out on the Capitoline Hill in the mid-16th century. The Palazzo Nuovo was built in 1654. The Capitoline Museum was inaugurated in 1734. The Museo Nouvo was built in 1925. The Braccio Nuovo was constructed in 1952. The Capitoline Museums are a group of art and archaeological museums which sit astride Rome’s famous Capitoline Hill. It comprises three main buildings; the Palazzo Senatorio, Palazzo dei Conservatori and the…
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Attribution: pjink11 Delphi Greece Key Dates The earliest finds in the area of Delphi date to the Neolithic period (4000 BC). Traces of occupation are rare and fragmentary until the eighth century BC. The first temples were built in the late seventh century BC, and in the sixth and fourth centuries BC the Delphic oracle was at its peak. In the third century BC, the sanctuary was conquered by the Aetolians, and then in turn by the Romans in 191 BC. In the Byzantine age, the Slavs destroyed the precinct in 394 BC. By the seventh century AD, a new…
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Attribution: Parmino il Gioppino Samos Greece Key Dates The first, small-scale excavation of Heraion site was conducted by the doctor and botanist Joseph Pitton de Tournefort in 1702. In 1879, Paul Girard discovered the statue of Hera of Cheramyes; this is now in the Louvre. In 1902 and 1903, the sanctuary was excavated by the Archaeological Society of Athens. In 1910, it was further investigated on behalf of the Koenigliche Museen of Berlin but work was interrupted by World War I. Systematic excavations were begun in 1925 by the German Archaeological Institute at Athens, but interrupted by World War II.…
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Attribution: Schumata Mykines Greece Key Dates Most of the buildings were built between 1350 – 1200 BC, in the Bronze Age. The site was abandoned around 1100 BC. The Lion Gate was cleared in 1837. The site was first excavated in 1874. Subsequent digs were carried out between 1884 and 1957. The Mycenae Comittee was created in 1999. Key People Homer was inspired by the site to record several of his epics. Pausanias mapped the area in the second century. K. Pittakis cleared the Lion Gate in 1841. Heinrich Shliemann began the first excavation of the site in 1876. The…
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Attribution: Peter Mattock Donore Ireland Key Dates Newgrange was built between 3300 and 2900 BC, and was a focus of ceremonial activity throughout the Neolithic period. New monuments were progressively added to the site – timber circles were built and a free-standing circle of stones was erected to circle the mound. It wasn’t until the 17th century that Newgrange was discovered. Excavation and restoration took place 1962-1975 under the supervision of the University of Cork Archaeology Department’s Professor Michael J O’Kelly, the first person to witness the winter solstice from within the mound. During the excavation, the remains of five…