• owenjarus

    Early conservation effort? 3,400 year old wall found at Giza shows Thutmose IV tried to preserve Sphinx

    A new discovery made by Dr. Zahi Hawass and his team shows that an ancient pharaoh made serious efforts to save the Sphinx. At Giza his team found the remains of a mudbrick enclosure wall that would have surrounded the Sphinx, perhaps protecting it from sand blown by wind. Made of mudbrick, the first section runs to the east of the Sphinx for 86 meters north-south and is 75 cm tall. The second section is 46 meters long, 90 cm in size, and runs east-west along the perimeter of Khafre’s valley temple. The two sides converge in the southeast. Archaeologists are already aware…

  • Ann

    TV: Psusennes I, the Silver Pharaoh (who ursurped Merenptah’s sarcophagus)

    The royal tomb of Pharaoh Psusennes I is said to be one of the most spectacular discoveries ever made in Egypt. So, why hasn’t the world heard about it? And what does it reveal about Ancient Egypt? Find out in ‘Secrets of the Dead:The Silver Pharoah’, premiering this Wednesday. Tanis, Egypt, circa 1939. An excavation team led by French archaeologist Pierre Montet unearthed an intact royal burial chamber (NRT III), which containedtreasures that (almost) rivals the riches found in Tutankhamuns tomb almost two decades before. One of the most spectacular discoveries inside the crypt was the exquisite silver sarcophagus of…

  • Ann

    ‘Rare’ Bronze Age hoard unearthed at Burnham-on-Crouch, Essex

    Archaeologists have unearthed Bronze Age hoard containing 3000-year-old axe heads, spear tips and other metal objects in a field in the Burnham-on-Crouch area, Essex. The objects foundat the fieldinclude an pottery container with heavy metal contents unearthed undisturbed. The first finds at the location were all metal work and reported to the Portable Antiquities Scheme in September. At the same field, metal detectorists later discovered an in situ pottery vessel. They covered up the pot, and reported this find tothe PAS as well. A dig was planned, and early October,archaeologists from PAS joined the landowner and four metal detectorists to…

  • michael-kan

    Earliest Urbanisation: the First 10 Cities of the World

    What makes a city? Certainly an abundance of people is needed (that and maybe a few skyscrapers too.) But when trying to find signs of urbanization in the ancient world, archaeologists like to look at more than just population size. Factors like whether or not a social hierarchy existed, was there a political system in place, and if the denizens specialized in different professions, are just some of the indicators used. Even the development of art and monuments can serve as benchmarks. We’ve picked out 10 of the earliest cities in the world — each one being among the first…

  • owenjarus

    Was King Tut killed by a hippo? The father of Egypt’s New Kingdon executed? Week of Egyptian events kicks off in Toronto

    Toronto is the place to be this week for fans of ancient Egypt. Especially if youre interested in the gruesome ways that two of its pharaohs might have died. King Tut: Death by Hippo? This Wednesday, at 7 pm at theU of Tcampus, Dr. Benson Harer of California State University at San Bernardinowill argue that King Tutwasmauled to death by a hippo his lecture istitled”What really killed King Tut: The Hippo Heresy.” Dr. Harer is a medical doctor and adjunct professor of Egyptology atCalifornia State so he brings a unique perspective to this issue. Indeed, the death of King Tut…

  • Ann

    Melbourne Museum brings ‘Tutankhamun and The Golden Age of The Pharaohs’ to Australia

    Treasures from the tomb of King Tutankhamun will be seen in Australia for the first time, when the Melbourne Museum hosts ‘Tutankhamun and The Golden Age of The Pharaohs’, startingApril, 2011. Up to 700,000 people are expected to visit the exhibition, which will feature more than 130 artefacts from Tut’s tomb and the gravesand temples of his ancestors from Egypt’s 200-year ‘Golden Age’. Six months ago,Frank Howarth, director of Sydney’s Australian Museum, said the show’s $10 million price tag for six months, and its size were too big for Australian institutions to handle. In stead, the Australian Museum hosted the…

  • malcolmj

    US Army Sergeant Creating Map of 1200 Archaeological Sites in Iraq

    The US military has been heavily criticised for its disregard for Iraq’s heritage sites since invading the country in 2003 – ancient minarets have been bombed, precious artefacts allegedly looted at the National Museum, and a full scale camp, including a helipad, constructed slap bang on top of Babylon. As part of a recent drive to demonstrate renewed sensitivity for the Cradle of Civilization’s venerable past, a US Army sergeant has set about creating a detailed map accurately pinpointing as many of Iraq’s estimated 1,200 archeological hotspots as possible. Sgt. Ronald Peters is a geospatial analyst with Multi-National Corps-Iraq C-7,…

  • Ann

    Silbury Hill’s true story – construction process was more important than design

    Standing 30 metres high and 160 metres wide, Silbury Hill in England is one of the world’s largest man-made prehistoric mounds. It was constructed in the Neolithic, about 25 kilometres north from Stonehenge. Silbury Hill Construction It is estimatedtheconstruction of Silbury Hill involved half a million tonnes of material and around four million man-hours of work equivalent to about ten years for a crew of a hundred people working 7/7 for more than ten hours a day. New and more precise dating of materials found inside the hill nowsuggests the main construction happened in about 100 years, involving some three…

  • Ann

    Bracken Tor – Murder mystery set in Bronze Age Cornwall

    Right in time for Halloween, Shadow Tor Studios have released the first (and spooky) trailer for horror adventure game ‘Bracken Tor: The Time of Tooth and Claw’, which will hit the UK late November. The point-and-click PC game is set in a Bronze Age environment, based on prehistoric Cornwall. Beyond Barrow Hill Bracken Tor also tagged ‘Adventures beyond Barrow Hill’ after its predecessor ‘Barrow Hill: Curse of the Ancient Circle’ is the latest title from the Shadow Tor Studios and produced with assistance from the ‘Mysterious Beasts Research Group’ (fictional) and Cornwall Archaeology Society (possibly the real one). Amongst the…

  • meral-crifasi

    Addison Lee The Driver Challenge Winner Announced

    The “Meet the Driver” competition has been a great success, with many registered users completing our short quest to be able to win 1,000 worth of travel with Addison Lee in and around London. We closed the entry to the competition on Thursday the 30th of September. As we have promised we put all the entered names into a hat and and pulled out a lucky winner, here in our office in Shoreditch, London. As we were selecting the winner for the big prize and two runners up we have taken some wonderful photos to record the moment. We will…