• lyn

    Top 10 Ancient Sites in Syria

    Archaeologist and historian Ross Burns knows Syria better than most, having lived there (and in Lebanon) for many years. He is the author of The Monuments of Syria: A Guide and Damascus: A History. Ross, who is currently preparing a doctorate on the archaeology of the Roman provinces of the Eastern Empire, has lectured at a range of institutions in Australia. He also leads study tours to Syria and Jordan for British and Australian travel companies. He explains why narrowing Syria’s ancient treasures down to a top 10 proves such a challenge: It’s not difficult to guess which of the…

  • Ann

    Unique Crown suggests Arsinoë II ruled as King of Lower Egypt

    A unique queens crown with ancient symbols combined with a new method of studying status in Egyptian reliefs forms the basis for a re-interpretation of historical developments in Egypt in the period following the death of Alexander the Great. In the thesis ‘The Crown of Arsino II’, Maria Nilsson shows that Cleopatra VII was not the only Ptolemaic female pharaoh Queen Arsino II came first, 200 years earlier. Nilsson argues that Arsino (316-270 BC) should be included in the official pharaonic king list as Ptolemy II’s co-regent; her royal authority should be considered equivalent to Hatshepsut, Tawosret and Amenirdis II,…

  • Ann

    New lighting system at Valley of the Kings means longer visitor hours for ancient Egyptian tombs

    Egyptian Minister of Culture, Farouk Hosni, announced that with a total of 922 units the installation of the new lighting system on Luxors west bank has been completed, allowing for people to visit the tombs in the evening. Dr. Zahi Hawass, Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA), said that the aim of this project is to preserve the tombs and temples located on Luxors west bank. The thousands of tourists that daily visit the heritage site will now be distributed throughout the day, from 7:00 am to 8:00 pm. This, he continued, will reduce the level of…

  • Ann

    Unique Crown suggests Arsinoë II ruled as King of Lower Egypt

    A unique queen’s crown with ancient symbols combined with a new method of studying status in Egyptian reliefs forms the basis for a re-interpretation of historical developments in Egypt in the period following the death of Alexander the Great. In the thesis ‘The Crown of Arsinoë II’, Maria Nilsson shows that Cleopatra VII was not the only Ptolemaic female pharaoh – Queen Arsinoë II came first, 200 years earlier.   Nilsson argues that Arsinoë (316-270 BC) should be included in the official pharaonic king list as Ptolemy II’s co-regent; her royal authority should be considered equivalent to Hatshepsut, Tawosret and Amenirdis…

  • nigel-crowther

    Top 10 Ancient Sports: Why Football is Chinese and Sumo is Sexy

    From a variety of sources, we know of hundreds of sports and games in the ancient world, some of which one can be traced from the beginning of writing in about 3,000 BC to the time of the Middle Ages. Many of these pursuits played a prominent role in their respective societies and transcended mere sport to become associated, for example, with religion, entertainment, the military, and social customs. Several sports listed below have parallels in the modern world even though in some cases there may be no direct ancestry. I have extended the discussion to include (in one instance)…

  • General

    King Tut Virtual

    King Tut’s Golden Death Mask is the greatest thing ever discovered. See it now online and up close in 3D. Click below.  Deemed too fragile and precious to travel, Tutankhamun’s death mask will never leave Egypt again. Admire the Golden Death Mask online and up close- in 3D! – on Heritage Key. View the 3D Mask right inside your browser – all you need is the Unity3D plug-in (sort of like Flash). If you haven’t installed it yet, the application below will offer to download and install it for you. Then just refresh the page. King Tut’s Golden Death Mask –…

  • Ann

    Video: Replica King Tut Treasures offer Real Discovery at Manchester Exhibition

    Last week I visited the ‘Tutankhamun: His Tomb and His Treasures’ exhibition in Manchester with Mary-Ann Craig (video), and well… saw wonderful things, and everywhere, the glint of gold. The moment I marvelled at the recreation of the set-up used to remove Tutankhamun’s sarcophagi from his tomb, any doubts still left about the power of replicas disappeared, and I would strongly suggest you visit the touring exhibition before it leaves the UK. Yet, if you want an expert opinion the matter (as well as a great introduction to your visit), watch our Heritage Key video with Robert Partridge, editor of…

  • jon-himoff

    Roman Pub Discovered Under New Luxury Hotel in London Syon Park

    During excavation work in 2008 to build a new luxury hotel on the grounds of Syon Park in west London on the bank of the Thames workers encountered buried objects. The Museum of London Archaeology (MOLA) department now confirms that these are Roman artefacts dating from the 1st century AD. Thousands of artefacts have been collected during the field work including a late bronze age gold bracelet, which has no context in the Roman settlement. Additionally notes the Museum: “Human skeletons found, could have been the remains of former occupants of the settlement, although the placing of the skeletons in…

  • Ann

    Mysterious horse found at Pompeii is in fact an ass

    Ever since the remains of a seemingly unknown breed of horse were excavated at the ancient city of Pompeii, scientists have been puzzled over this find. Now, the riddle is solved: what was thought to be a horse, is actually an ass. After DNA tests were done on a skeleton discovered amongst the ruins of an ancient Roman house in Pompeii in 2004, Italian scientists concluded they had discovered a new breed. Yet, after taking a closer look at the data, researchers from Cambridge and Munster say that in this study, a mistake was made. Their arguments the donkey DNA…

  • Ann

    Ancient Egyptian ‘Avenue of Sphinxes’ gets twelve Sphinxes longer

    Archaeologists have unearthed twelve ancient sphinx statues at Luxor, Egypt. The sculptures were found at a newly discovered part of the Avenue of Sphinxes, an ancient road stretching from the temple at Karnak to the temple of the goddess Mut at Luxor. The discovery, made as part of excavation and restoration works at the site by the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA), was announced by Egypt’s Minister of Culture, Farouk Hosni. The statues of the mythical creatures, inscribed with the name of Pharaoh Nectanebo I, were found in the last sector of the Avenue of Sphinxes, a part of the…