• malcolmj

    Treasures of King Tut – Tutankhamun’s Jewellery and the Love of a Queen

    When Howard Carter said he spied wondrous things upon cracking open the tomb of Tutankhamun in 1922, he wasnt joking. KV62 was filled with probably the most fantastic collection of ancient treasures ever discovered in one place all from beautiful golden coffins, to giant statues, canopic shrines and a golden throne. Tuts own body was literally stuffed with precious jewellery. In the third instalment of our four-part video series King Tut Revealed filmed by Nico Piazza, and featuring still photography by Sandro Vannini Dr Zahi Hawass, who you can watch in this video revealing the cause of Tuts death and…

  • owenjarus

    4 Lessons For Barack Obama From Ancient Afghanistan

    The news is awash with Barack Obamas plan to surge roughly 30,000 US troops into the country on a short-term basis. Some consider it a necessary measure to protect American security, while others think hes leading the United States into the next Vietnam. It’s an important debate. He might have just made the most important foreign policy decision of his presidency. Ever since the news broke I havebeen thinking about what lessons ancient history has to teach us about making a choice like this. In ancient times much of Afghanistan was known as “Bactria” and played a significant role in…

  • sean-williams

    Have a Roman Christmas at the British Museum

    Did you know Christmas dates back to Roman times? Want to find out more? You could do worse than head down to the British Museum this Sunday (Dec 6) then, where popular children’s writer Caroline Lawrence will head up a day of Roman fun based around the ancient festival of Saturnalia, aptly named ‘A Roman Christmas‘. Visitors can get stuck into music, quizzes and prizes – and enjoy a talk and book signing from the author of Roman Mysteries, which has also been made into a CBBC series. Tickets are priced at 5 for the event which starts at 1pm…

  • prad

    Ten More Great Cities of the Ancient World

    John Julius Norwich’s new book – “The Great Cities in History” – selects a list of major cities that have been hugely influential throughout their eras. The cities that were chosen spanned across the globe, and you can read more about them in my recent article. In addition, you should definitely also watch Heritage Key’s video interview with Lord Norwich himself as he discusses his book, and how he came to choose the cities that made it to the final edition. But what about cities that didn’t make the cut?There are still several cities in the world which I still…

  • garry-shaw

    Desert Whales in Egypt

    Driving through the desert in search of whales sounds counterproductive, but I had been assured that if I hired a jeep and drove seventy kilometres from Egypts Faiyum Oasis out into the Sahara this is indeed what I would find. If this was a ruse it was a clever one, and UNESCO were in on it. The cream coloured 4×4 arrived at nine AM. Perfectly on time a good sign. The driver, Mohammed, was a youngish man, perhaps in his early thirties, sporting a thick goatee beard and wearing a red and white chequered headscarf. He smiled and shook my…

  • sean-williams

    Stonehenge tops Google Street View Poll

    This summer marked a number of triumphs for Stonehenge: not only did it gain a nextdoor neighbour in newly-discovered Bluestonehenge, but the stone circle topped a poll of British landmarks to be inaugurated in Google’s Street View campaign. The July poll saw 35,000 Brits cast their votes for the nation’s favourite spots. And Stonehenge came out on top of a final shortlist of six that includes: the Millennium Stadium; Angel of the North; Loch Ness; Eden Project; and Warwick Castle. Northumberland’s Bamburgh Castle was picked as a ‘wildcard entry’ by co-organisers Visit Britain. It’s not even the first poll Stonehenge…

  • sean-williams

    Making Megalithic Music: Malta’s Ancient Temples

    Remember the story we reported about three months ago, about the Mayan pyramids being giant musical instruments? The idea seems to have struck a chord with experts based in Malta, who – either by design or jealousy – have heralded the acoustic talents of their own megalithic landmarks. The tiny Mediterranean island was once home to a highly developed civilisation, who between the fourth and third millennia BC created some of the world’s most striking ancient architecture. Listed as a UNESCOWorld Heritage Site, the huge temple complex is a majestic wonder which predates Stonehenge by up to a thousand years.…

  • sean-williams

    University Team Finds Prehistoric East Midlands Settlement

    A prehistoric settlement, which could date back 11,000 years, has been discovered near in England’s East Midlands region. The site, unearthed by a University of Leicester Archaeological Services (ULAS) team, was excavated in advance of building works at Asfordby, near Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire. The team’s experts believe the site would have been inhabited by hunter-gatherers, who journeyed to Britain over the icy remnants of a giant super-river we reported yesterday (sadly they weren’t quite around at the time of Stone Age GPS). Britain would only become an island thousands of years later, when the final chills of the last ice…

  • Ann

    Zahi Hawass’ a Not-So Secret Voyage through London – Book Signing at Harrods’ Waterstone’s

    Dr. Zahi Hawass is coming to London, to promote the massive – you can take that quite literally – art book ‘A Secret Voyage’ and the more normal-sized – but still stunning, we’re sure – ‘Inside the Egyptian Museum with Zahi Hawass’. To the list of must-attend events is now added a book signing at the most famous Egyptian-owned location in London:Harrods. Book Signing at Harrods Invited to London’s most famous departement store by owner Mohamed Al Fayed, the Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities (that’s Dr. Hawass) will sign copies of his new books at Waterstones, Third…

  • owenjarus

    Cypriot archaeology day hits Toronto this Sunday

    Cyprus that great crossroads of the ancient world is going to be the focus of a special event happening this Sunday at the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto Canada. Five archaeologists will give talks about their research and how it is changing our understanding of the island. Heritage Key will be at the event and will publish reports. Cyprus was truly a crossroads of the ancient world. Greeks, Phoenicians, Egyptians, Romans and the Sea People all left their mark on the island. They did it by way of trade, migration, settlement and conquest. Just a month ago Heritage Key reported…