18 to 20 year old male, Caucasoid, cause of death: unknown. It’s a brief that wouldn’t have sounded unfamiliar to Jean-Noël Vignal – a forensic anthropologist who works with police to create likenesses of murder victims at the Centre Technique de la Gendarmerie Nationale in France – when it landed on his desk in 2005. Yet the tragic young man in question on this particular occasion was no ordinary subject – he was the most legendary ancient Egyptian that ever lived. Tutankhamun, a Pharaoh of the Eighteenth Dynasty, died mysteriously in 1323 BC. His body lay undisturbed for over 3,200…
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The Twelve Caesars by Suetonius, Robert Graves (translator) As private secretary to the Emperor Hadrian, the scholar Suetonius had access to the imperial archives and used them (along with eyewitness accounts) to produce one of the most colourful biographical works in history. The Twelve Caesars chronicles the public careers and private lives of the men who wielded absolute power over Rome. It covers the time from the foundation of the empire under Julius Caesar and Augustus, to the decline into depravity and civil war under Nero, then the recovery that came with his successors. A masterpiece of observation, anecdote and…
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Google Earth allows us here at Heritage Key to take your bog-standard map and bring it to life by flying over the still standing ancient wonders of the world, and allowing us to explore them through aerial photography and 3D models. Satellite imagery has proved to be invaluable in archaeology, used to locate features which may not be spotted from the ground. Such aerial images, when combined with models created by budding enthusiasts, allow for anyone to explore an environment with a real feel for the area and its historical features. Lets face it – your standard tourist map with…
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Ever heard of mudlarking? No marks off if not, it’s the hobby of sifting through the muddy banks of a river in the search for lost treasure. Sound a bit messy? You betcha, and it used to be a lot worse. The past-time sprang up in the industrial revolution of 19th century Britain, as struggling workers and down-and-outs would resort to scrambling through the rubbish, rocks and excrement of the Thames in the vain hope they’d find something vaguely of value. The pressures of a cramped city overcome by desperate urbanisation meant that the Thames was invariably chock-a-block with all…
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Fire-fighting: A Losing Battle Wildfires are a big problem in southern Italy. Every year they sweep the tinder-dry countryside and often threaten forests, farmers’ land and human habitation. In Sicily and Campania in particular, ancient heritage sites can also be in danger from summer fires. Despite state publicity about not throwing cigarette butts out of car windows and well-publicised hot-lines (no pun intended) for reporting local fires, it seems that the authorities are fighting a losing battle. This year looks like it will be no different, with the countryside around Palermo in Sicily being one of the first to suffer.…
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Chinese archaeologists began the third excavation on Saturday 13th June, hoping to find more pottery figures and unravel some of the mysteries left behind by Qin Shihuangthe first emperor of China. This is the first time in almost 25 years that new digging has been approved for the site. The Museum will uncover about 200 square meters this year and hopes to expand to 2,000 square meters in the next 5 years. Video from CCTV (China Central Television, shown below) shows the start of the excavations at Pit 1 now underway and features interviews with some of the technicians and…
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When it comes to museums, there’s no doubting London’s credentials as one of the world’s finest launchpads for the intrepid antiquarian. Huge, sprawling caverns of colonial collections and stunning curios line the magnificent colonnaded hallways of giants like the British Museum or the V&A, and no-one can deny that both have fully earned their status as truly wonderful exhibitors. Yet scratch below the surface and there’s a whole mini-museum microcosm just waiting to be explored – and you won’t have to shimmy past shoals of dough-eyed snappers to get a glimpse of some of the city’s most intriguing artefacts. Here’s…
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When director Michael Bay (Armageddon, The Rock) and his enormous production team were shooting Transformers II he managed to persuade the great Dr Zahi Hawass, the most famous of Egyptian archaeologists, to support his request to the Egyptian Government. That request was to film at the Giza Pyramid complex and allow some of his actors to actually climb a pyramid! The rare exception was made for the Robots in Disguise at a time when computer imagery is becoming so powerful on the big screen that its nearly impossible to spot CGI in films that dont intentionally spell it out for…
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A Toronto Egyptologist has a new translation of the Edwin Smith Surgical Papyrus coming out and a new theory on how it was written. Previously the content was attributed to a great medical doctor such as Imhotep. But not for much longer. About 3,500 years ago, in an Egypt partly conquered by a foreign power, an Egyptian man with no medical training, likely a metalworker, was pressed into service as a combat medic. He prepared for his task by studying the basics of combat medicine from a swnw (a doctor) or some form of expert. He wasnt preparing to become…
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After much heartache, and a building project which ran five years behind scedule, Saturday saw the doors of Athens’ New Acropolis Museum finally throw open its doors to the public in a triumphant blaze of pomp and ceremony. But Greek officials took the chance to highlight the country’s claim for the ‘stolen’ Elgin Marbles’ – 75 of the original 160 pieces of the magnificent marble friezes which once adorned the city’s famous Parthenon. The night itself was a glittering success, with hundreds of foreign dignitaries and celebrities flooding the museum’s floors to get a first glimpse at its myriad masterpieces…