Yesterday was an exciting day for those in Toronto who are interested in archaeology. Heritage Key learned that the Terracotta Warriors exhibit, coming to Toronto in June, will be the largestwarriors exhibitever to hit North America. No terracotta spectacle on this scale has ever come to these shores! But thats not all. Earlier in the day there was an announcement made by Canadas infrastructure minister John Baird. He said that the Canadian government will commit $2.75 million towards the construction of new Roman and Byzantine galleries at the Royal Ontario Museum.It will also be usedinrevamping thebat cave,” – a facsimile…
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Heritage Key has learned that the Terracotta Warriorsexhibition, whichiscoming to Toronto in June, will be the largest one ever seen in Canada or the United States. Right now the warriors are at the National Geographic Museum in Washington DC. That show, containing more than 100 objects (including 15 terracotta figures), is billed on its website as being the largest display of terracotta figures and tomb artifacts ever to travel to the US. Dr. Dan Rahimi, of the Royal Ontario Museum, dropped Heritage Key a tantalizing nugget of information today in an interview. In response to a question he said that…
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Bergama, Turkey is a city in the west of the country, located near the Bakray river and is home to the ruins of the Roman city of Pergamon (or Pergamum), which lie to the north and west of the modern day site. The ancient city is believed to have had a population of around 150,000 people at its peak in the First Century AD. Thanks to GeoEye who have provided a high resolution satellite image of the region, we can see the relationship between the modern city and its ancient past. Of all the amazing sites in the area surrounding…
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The home to some of the greatest shows on Earth, Rome’s Colosseum had a capacity of 50,000 making it the largest built by the Romans. Where gladiators would have battled and public shows would be held, this amazing monument is captured beautifully by Dmitriy Moiseyev in this photograph. Taken at dusk, the interior lights can be seen glowing from within the structure, emanating a glow about this ancient relic. Rome’s Colosseum differs from many of the Greek amphitheatres preceding it, as it is a freestanding structure as opposed to being built into a hillside. With such a high capacity, the…
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The life of Heinrich Schliemann is as legendary as the city he claimed to have discovered. A quintessential 19th century adventurer and amateur archaeologist, his obsession for Troy took him around the world and to Turkey and Greece. Fascinated by Homers epic narration, Schliemann stopped at nothing to discover the historical sites named by the poet. The veracity of his findings is however often questioned. Heinrich Schliemann: fanatic obsessed by his boyhood dreams or successful antiquarian? A Boyhood Dream Born in 1822 to a poor Protestant minister father and an unpublished literary critic mother who died when he was nine,…
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The worlds of cosmetics and archaeology have recently collided over two unexpected discoveries. Over the course of the past week, researchers have discovered that Neanderthals used make-up and that Cleopatra‘s face paint was good for her eyes. Which fact is most surprising? The first thing that springs to mind when thinking about Neanderthal man is definitely not refinement. Its more beard, dirt, animal skins, grunts and women carried by their hair. Like so many clichs depicted in classroom textbooks and carried on by Hollywood, this idea is probably far from the truth. Thanks to scientific research undertaken in Murcia, in…
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“There is no other site like it,” states the introductory paragraph on the website of the Amarna Project – the body which, since 2005, has been responsible for excavations and research at Tell el-Amarna, the short-lived capital city of the “heretic pharaoh” Akhenaten (who may well have been King Tut‘s dad) in the 14th century BC. As a living site, Tell el-Amarna is perhaps unparalleled in all of Egypt in terms of scale, ready accessibility and quality of preservation. Professor Barry Kemp – of the University of Cambridge – is the director of the Amarna Project, and also the chairman…
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Never before the Book of the Dead has been the focus of such a major exhibition as the one upcoming at the British Museum in November this year. Rumours of the exhibition started to surface (or at least, reach my ears) ever since the Colloquium on the Book of the Death last year, but was only recently confirmed. ‘Journey through the afterlife: the ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead’ will focus on how the ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead was thought to guide the deceased safely through the dangers of the underworld, ultimately (hopefully) ensuring eternal life. The Book…
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There is exciting news breaking right now in Egypt. An archaeological team led by Dr. Zahi Hawass has discovered several new tombs that belong to the workers who built the pyramids of Khufu and Khafre. This is the first time to uncover tombs like the ones that were found during the 1990s, which belong to the late 4th and 5th Dynasties (2649-2374 BC), said Dr. Hawass in the press release. When we think of Giza we tend to think of the Giza Pyramids. However, while the pyramids were under construction, there was an extensive city to the south that supported…
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Many archaeological excavations are taking place across Egypt as the wonders of the Ancient World continue to reveal themselves to us. One such excavation taking place is at el-Assasif, Thebes at the site of TT34 – the Tomb of Montuemhat. The archaeological dig, led by Dr Farouk Gomaa, is searching for the yet undiscovered burial chamber of the diplomat Montuemhat. Renown photographer Sandro Vannini captured images of the excavations in progress at TT34, as well as covering many spectacular images in his publication “The Lost Tombs of Thebes: Life in Paradise” authored by Dr Zahi Hawass (Watch a video about…