Key Dates Built between 160 and 174 BC. First archaeological digs commenced in the 1850s; performances started to be staged there again from 1867 and continue to be staged there to this day. The seats and stage were replaced in the 1950s. Athens Greece Key People The Odeon was built by the wealthy Greek rhetorician Herodes Atticus in memory of his wife, Aspasia Annia Regilla. Originally constructed as a music venue, the Odeon of Herodes Atticus – which lies on the southern slope of the Acropolis of Athens – is a spectacular 80-metre diameter ancient amphitheatre. Its steep stepped slopes…
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An interesting concept powers a new website launched by the BBC called Dimensions, which uses data from historical sources to map the area of ancient sites such as the Long Walls of Athens, Stonehenge and the Great Library of Alexandria. The outline of these heritage sites can then be overlayed on top of any other area, so you can see the size of the ancient cities relative to where you live yourself! In a similar sort of scheme as the recent oil spill disaster in the Gulf of Mexico (which saw the British Museum targetted as part of a protest…
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Attribution: 469 BC – 399 BC Relationship People Associated Plato, Xenophon Despite the fact that he left no literary legacy of his own, Socrates is still considered to be the founding father of Western Philosophy. Born in 469 B.C.E he took an early interest in science, studying under Archelaus. He gave up on the examination of the physical world, however, to concentrate on the exploration of morals and humanity. Socrates invented the conception of philosophical dialogue and spent much of his time in discussion with the aristocratic youth of Athens. He was greatly respected by the younger generation and during his time as a teacher to…
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Though not quite as pretty and detailed as the famous Terracotta Warriors in Xi’an, a new discovery of statues in Guizai Mountain, Hunan, China outnumbers the Qin Emperor’s army of stone soldiers, and date back over 5,000 years -over 2,500 years earlier than Qin Shi Huang’s Terracotta Army. Located on what is an ancient worship site, the discovery of over 5,000 statues arespread over 15 square kilometres and the vast majority are believed to have been carved before the Qin dynasty era. The anthropoid stone statues range from 30cm to 100cm in height, and take the form of several ranks…
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Following years of restoration and development, the Marina el-Alamein archaeological site on Egypt’s Mediterranean coast will open to tourists mid-September. The Marina el-Alamein archaeological site a Hellenistic-Roman town is locatedabout 5km east of el-Alamein. The ancient city was accidentally discovered in 1986, when construction started on the Marina El-Alamein resort. The archaeological area spans a section that is more than 1km long and about 0.5km wide and is the largest archaeological site on Egypt’s north coast. Minister of Culture, Farouk Hosni, announced that the site will be opened to tourists mid-September complete with a high-tech lighting system throughout the entire…
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Archaeologists have discovered a large Gallo-Roman religious complex located only a few kilometres from the ancient city of Le Mans. The ancient sanctuary is thought to have been an important pilgrimage area, visited by thousands to honour the gods. The religious complex unearthed in Neuville-sur-Sarthe about 5km north of Le Mans, France is excavated by archaeologists from the French National Institute of Archaeological Research (INRAP) and dated to the 1st to 3rd century AD. Traces of the complex were first revealed on aerial photographs taken in 2003, when an long period of drought scorched much of the vegetation on the…
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Comparing Stonehenge Summer Solstice 2010 with 2009, it seems that the ‘Ancestor’ really stood out as something different. Each year there are small ‘arts & crafts’ performances (dance, live music, jugglers, …) but this year a massive 20ft steel sculpture was the guest of honour at Stonehenge, marking a significant change – a statement that the future and the now is just as important as the celebration of the summer solstice and the past, the ancient megaliths and the remembering of ancestors. So it seemed appropriate to kick-start this picture report with the statue – appropriately dubbed ‘The Ancestor’ – reaching out…
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Its not exactly a spoiler to reveal that the ancient artifact everyone is searching for in my debut thriller, The Noah’s Ark Quest(called The Ark in the US) is actually Noahs Ark. In the novel, former US army combat engineer Tyler Locke and archaeologist Dilara Kenner must find the Ark in seven days to stop the end of the world. Suffice to say, the book has lots more explosions, fistfights, and gun battles than your average Jane Austen novel.
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Britain, man your TVs and iPlayers!Great Britain might be a small island but it has a huge history and, every year, hundreds of excavations bring lost treasures up to the surface. Presented by Dr Alice Roberts, ‘Digging For Britain‘ joins these excavations in a new BBC Twohistory series. ‘Digging for Britain’ is produced by 360 Production (a look behind the scenes) and follows ayear of archaeology around the country, revealing and contextualising some of the newest finds, research and social history. Its four episodes focus onfocus on the Roman, Prehistoric, Anglo-Saxon and Tudor eras. Digging the Romans In the first…
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After a hugely successful tenth anniversary year in 2009, Scottish Archaeology Month (SAM) is upon us once again. Organised by Archaeology Scotland, the 2010 installment of the annual festival of dirt-digging – which takes place from late August right through until the end of September (okay, so a little longer than a month, but who’s counting?) – comprises a panoply of archaeology-related events, around 150 of them in total, taking place up, down and all over Scotland, from the Borders in the south all the way to Orkney in the north, and from Aberdeen in the east all the way…