Tag: Phienicians

Who Has Conquered the Middle East throughout History? Mapsofwar’s Interactive Map

My generation has grown up almost exclusively exposed to war in the Middle East. Two wars in Iraq, one in Afghanistan and countless battles between neighbouring nations in the region. The Middle East has been a battleground since time began – and now you can see exactly who has conquered it through the ages with mapsofwar.com‘s great-looking 90 second walkthrough.

The map begins in 3,000 BC with the invention of the Egyptian Empire – though there’s no mention of the Sumerian states which comprised the Cradle of Civilization – and shows the spread of the Hittites, Israelis, Assyrians and Babylonians before Cyrus the Great’s Persians swept all in their path, forging an empire which stretched from Libya and Greece to Syria from 550 to 330 BC.

Alexander the Great – Heritage Key’s ancient election 2010 victor – then wiped out Persian resistance, establishing Hellenistic rule from his native Macedon to Pakistan. Alexander’s mighty empire would soon collapse under civil and economic unrest, and the Roman Empire controlled the Mediterranean as far east as the Persian Gulf.

The Byzantines and Sassanids then conquered various parts of the Middle East, until the rise of Islam resulted in the Caliphate around the 6th and 7th centuries AD. Great leaders such as Saladin and, of course, Genghis Khan, then stamped their mark on the continent before the Middle East moved out of the ancient period. The map is a great way to see how the world’s greatest empires have evolved over time. Let’s face it: there are much worse ways to spend 90 seconds!

Barkay: Stop ‘Barbaric’ Temple Mount Digs

A top Israeli archaeologist claims ‘barbaric’ Muslim digs are stripping Jerusalem’s Temple Mount of its Jewish heritage. Dr Gabriel Barkay, of BarIlan University, has likened Israel and the West’s denial of the site’s Jewish history to that of the Holocaust, and has warned that thousands of years of history could be lost if authorities do not step in soon to prevent more damage at the hands of the controlling Islamic Wafq council, who he says have been dumping vital archaeological material miles away as waste.

“(It is) the most important archaeological site in Israel, and despite all this, Israel has abandoned it,” Barkay tells Arutz Sheva magazine. ” Over the past ten years, the Waqf has taken control, making major changes in the status quo: It has conducted illegal digs, built mosques and the like, and the situation has changed from one extreme to the other.

“Some years ago,” adds Barkay, “they took 400 truckloads of dirt from the Temple Mount and dumped it into the Kidron Valley – totally illegally. This is dirt that is filled with Jewish history from many periods.” Barkay has been leading a team of archaeologists in the ‘Screening the Waste’ project in the valley, which he claims has thrown up many objects from the Mount’s past including ornaments from the Second Temple Period and Roman and Babylonian arrowheads, latterly from the Nebuchadnezzar-led army that sacked Zedekiah’s Jerusalem in 587BC.

“It is the most important archaeological site in Israel, and Israel has abandoned it.”

“This is of course not the optimum way to perform archaeology, because you need context, layers and the like,” says Barkay, “but this is the best we can do in light of these barbaric digs, and we are trying to get the most out of it. Jerusalem is filled with archaeological digs, but the most important site has never been done; this dirt is the only source we have.”

And Barkay believes Israeli antiquities law should be introduced to the site as quickly as possible to prevent any further damage. “These are cultural assets for which we have a tremendous responsibility towards future generations,” he says. “I would like to see the removal of all the Waqf’s heavy equipment, and I would like to see the Waqf observe the law; the Israel Antiquities Authority must be allowed to always be on site to supervise, and not have to come in various disguises and the like.” Israel’s archaeology has always been a febrile issue – it was even excluded from a recent world conference.

Temple Mount is one of the world’s holiest sites for both Jews and Muslims, and is the subject of continued conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, both of whom claim sovereignty. The first and second Jewish temples were built on the site in the 10th and 6th centuries BC respectively. Yet following the 637AD Muslim conquest of Jerusalem the al-Aqsa Mosque and Dome of the Rock were constructed on the spot, which remains a focal point for Muslims.

For the past decade the site has been under the control of the Waqf, and non-Muslim prayer is strictly forbidden. Barkay claims the Waqf aims to destroy recognition of Temple Mount’s Jewish heritage: “They act as if there never was a Holy Temple. This is very very grave: regarding the Holocaust, there are living people who still remember it, but the same cannot be said regarding the Temple.”

India’s Ajanta Caves Are Simply Stunning

My recent travels in India took me to Ajanta, about two hours’ drive outside of Aurangabad, in the Indian state of Maharashtra (where they’re making perfectly drinkable wine these days, by the way).

The nearby small town of Ajanta gives its name to the collective of 29 caves carved out of a sheer wall of rock in a horseshoe-shaped river canyon, completed in the period 200BC to 500AD in the name of Buddhism. Several are temples, but most are dormitories originally built for temporarily housing Buddhist monks, as well as travellers and itinerant spice traders. The spice route passed through here on the way from Southern India, where they still grow wonderful black pepper, on its way to the main port at what is now Mumbai, where spices were loaded for shipment on to Arabia and Europe. Ihad read about the caves in guide books, and had to wrangle a little with my husband to make the time to see them during our woefully short visit to India, but despite a complex and long journey, they were thoroughly worth it.

Obviously, the caves are an astonishing achievement, not just artistically, but from an engineering point of view. They were cut in and down, and there wasn’t much room for error. The breadth of some unsupported ceilings is impressive, as is the finely symmetrical architectural work.

The paintings depicting scenes from the life of the Buddha are still, thankfully, plentiful, and their artistry is breathtaking. There’s an awful lot to see here. We weren’t able to cover it in a single visit. Sanjay, our guide, responded to our rapturous wonder with enthusiasm, but also pointed out that the caves hadn’t been terribly well looked after in the past. The caves were, indeed, completely lost to common knowledge for 2,000 years before they were rediscovered in 1819 by some English chap called John Smith on a tiger hunt. (You couldn’t make this stuff up. Okay, actually, you could. That’s the thing about India. It’s made of the stuff of tall tales.) Then the British decided to try to preserve some of the murals by slathering them with varnish. Sadly, they hadn’t figured out that the paintings had survived this long by being able to breath with the damp rock, and sealing them off like that, instead of preserving them, caused them to fade to a grainy black and white. Luckily, however, there were so many of them, in such good condition, that the British weren’t able to good-naturedly ruin them all. And, hey, it’s not like the Indians are doing such a great job of keeping the caves safe from the eager little hands of visiting school groups. But, then, how would any country, even one far wealthier than India, play conscientious caretaker to the vast number of ancient treasures there are in this mad, eclectic, exuberant nation? As Sanjay said, “In India, we are very good at making history, but not so good at keeping it.”

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 that cypro-minoan an ancient and un-deciphered language, which was used on the island 3,000 years ago was found in Dark Age Tayinat a site in south-eastern Turkey! It was likely left by a group of Aegean migrants who may have passed by Cyprus on their way to Tayinat.

Now, Tayinat willnot be discussed at this event but a lot of other research will.

A few things I want to highlight:

– Dr. Joanna Smith, of Princeton University, has just released a book that examines the importance of the Cypriot port of Kition from 1300 BC onwards. It was located on the south-east coast of the island and flourished at a time of great change in the ancient world.

It saw the onset of the Dark Age period,discussed in the Tayinat article, as well as an expansion of the seagoing Phoenician culture. Its strategic position made it a good place for ancient commerce.

Her talk is titled Cyprus, the Phoenicians and Kition, so we can expect to hear more about her work.

-Dr. Lindy Crewe, of Manchester University Museum, has been doing work at the site of Kissonerga Skalia on the west side of the island. This site dates from the Early ~~and~~ Middle Cypriot Bronze Age (2400-1650 BC). Its the only site on the west site of the island that dates to this time-frame.

Her talk is titled Traditions and innovations: Cypriot Middle Bronze Age Identities. Its an ambiguous title and there are no abstracts for any of the talks. But I think its safe to say that we will be hearing a fair bit about Kissonerga Skalia.

-Another speaker who is travelling a long way to speak in Toronto is Dr. Despo Pilides of the Department of Antiquities, Cyprus. Dr. Pilides conducted excavation at the Hill of Agios Georgios, Nicosia.

The site was occupied from the Archaic period (early 1st millennium BC) through Medieval times.It is noted for the sheer number of burials found 186 (!) according to a recent conference paper.

Pilides talk is titled, Excavations at the Hill of Agios Georgios, Nicosia so it sounds like a broadrange of the team’s finds will be discussed.

-If you want toorientyourself, before the talks start, the ROM has a 300 piece gallery of Cypriot artefacts. The artefacts on display range in time from 2200 to 30 BC. One section of the gallery is called Cyprus and Commerce andhighlights the role of copper in Cyprus history. It includes a bronze relief sculpture of a man carrying a large copper ingot a very rare find according to the museum.

The gallery also features sections on limestone Cypriot sculptures, pottery, Cyprusin the timeofAlexander the Great and the Hellenization of the island that occurred around 1200 BC.

Not a bad way to get your mind focussed before a day of talks!

The schedule is posted below.

All lectures take place at the ROM theatre. Its free with a museum admission or ROM membership.

1:10 pm – Tracking Early Colonists in Cyprus – Dr. Sarah Stewart, Trent University
1:50 pm – Traditions and innovations: Cypriot Middle Bronze Age Identities – Dr. Lindy Crewe, Manchester University Museum
2:30 pm – When did the Greeks first come to Cyprus? – Dr. Dimitri Nakassis, University of Toronto
3:10 pm – Coffee break
3:40 pm – Cyprus, the Phoenicians and Kition – Dr. Joanna Smith, Princeton University
4:20 pm – Excavations at the Hill of Agios Georgios, Nicosia – Dr. Despo Pilides, Department of Antiquities, Cyprus

Mass Cemetery in Syria was cut Into Rockface

A mass ancient cemetery, seven rooms large and revealing a number of human bodies, has been discovered dug into rocks near the city of Tartus in western Syria, archaeologists from the Syrian Department of Antiquities have reported. One of the rooms contained a large basalt sarcophagus, with a human face engraved on it. Other small items located have included vessels, two small golden pieces and a clay lamp.

The sarcophagus is a large, human-shaped basin with a lid and a protruding shelf all around the edges (see here for a picture of it). Details of the face such as sunken lines in the forehead suggests the coffin was for a male of old age, with almond eyes, a long nose and neatly manicured facial hair. The body is undecorated. The artefact has been transported to the Syrian National Museum for further study. Another solo tomb was additionally found 23 metres to the northeast of the cemetery which is located near the Tartuss al-Basel Hospital carved into limestone rocks. It revealed three heavily degraded human skulls, some clay jars and some bronze and gold jewelry.

Details of the face such as sunken lines in the forehead suggests the coffin was for a male of old age, with almond eyes, a long nose and neatly manicured facial hair.

Founded as the Phoenician colony of Antarudus, Tartus has a history stretching back to the 2nd millennium BC. It was linked to two larger and more important nearby settlements, the island-city of Arwad (for which Antarudus acted as a mainland base) and the temple city of Amrit. Not much remains of Phoenician Antarudus, which was later occupied by the Greco-Romans, the Byzantines, the Crusaders, the Muslims and the Ottomans.

Gold and Silver Worthless? Just Ask Nebuchadnezzar

From the shimmering death mask of King Tut to the swinging penile replacements of 50 Cent, Gold and silver have been as staple pursuits of humanity as food, drugs and celebrity gossip. But while the dripping opulence of the ancient world may not seem a million miles away from the crass overindulgence of our own ‘enlightened’ age, you might be surprised to find that the two metals have almost exactly the same value now as they did then. According to economist Jeff Clark, that is. When faced with the notion gold was a dead investment, Clark looked at historical valuations of both metals, concluding their value has changed very little since the first known pricing of gold during the 1st Dynasty of Egypt in 3,100 BC – and the subsequent gold crush that gripped the empire for millennia.

First let’s go back a little less far, to the 6th century AD and Muhammed, founder of Islam. During his time, a chicken cost one silver dirham, or three grams. Skip forward 1,400 years, says Clark, and you can still get a chicken in the Middle East for around the price of three grams of silver. Jumping back another 600 years, Clark claims that an ounce of gold bought a Roman citizen his toga, leather belt and a pair of sandals. Again, an ounce of the good stuff today would get you around $953 (578), which would buy you a great designer suit, belt and shoes (Mr Clark clearly doesn’t buy his suits from the supermarket!). So far so workable, if a little flimsy.

Clark’s next stop takes him back to the reign of the irrepressible Babylonian tenure of Nebuchadnezzar. It’s the turn of the 7th century BC, and Old Neb is famed for his ostentatious gold statues and decadence. According to ‘some scholars’, an ounce of gold was enough to buy you 350 loaves of bread. Working on the rounded figure of $950 (575) for the gold ounce, Clark reckons you can still buy almost exactly 350 loaves today. And at around $2.73 (1.65) per loaf, it’s hard to argue with his working.

You might think OTT gold statues were a thing of the ancient past. Think again.

The final historical frontier in Clark’s theory sees him dashing back to the 10th century BC when Solomon, King of Israel, bought a huge number of horses in Egypt for 150 shekels, or 55 Troy ounces of silver (Troy weight is one of a few traditional units for measuring gold and silver; named after the French city of Troyes). I think you can guess where Clark is going he claims you can still buy a riding horse for 55 ounces of silver, or around $780 (473). After taking a brief peek at the wonderfully-named website HorseMart, Clark’s assertion seems to hold sway. 473 wouldn’t buy you a National winners’ pancreas, but you can get the cheapest nags for about 500.

It seems there’s more than a little to Mr Clark’s theory, and I’d certainly be waving the white flag were I the person who ticked him off! Gold’s been making more than a cameo appearance at HK not least in the tangled beauty (or gaudiness) of Marc Quinn’s ‘Siren’ (Kate Moss to you and I). Jeff Koons’ Michael Jackson statue was another example of humanity’s unending love affair with the bright stuff. Think OTT dripping gold ornaments are consigned to the ancient world? Think again.

Italy Update: Roman Shipwrecks and Berlusconi Found in Deep Water

The Ongoing Silvio Saga

That Berlusconi is involved in a tangled web of political scandal and lurid details about his private life is nothing new. To date he’s been accused of bribery, an impropriety with an under-age girl, as well as involvement with the mafia, all with impunity (which makes me laugh, because in the UK all you need to make an MP resign is the whiff of a dodgy expense claims form). After all, Silvio is not stupid by any means, and at times when a problem has arisen, he has been known to conveniently have a law passed to protect his interests. Head of state not allowed to own private media channels? Not a problem – a change in the law meant that Berlusconi could keep his Mediaset business empire, while also controlling state-run Rai. About to face trial in a case of bribery (in which Tessa Jowell’s estranged husband David Mills was sentenced to four and a half years in an Italian prison)? Again, Silvio didn’t have to worry, he just made himself, as a senior politician, immune from prosecutions. So far it seems that there really hasn’t been anything that could seriously damage Italy’s gaff-making, perma-tanned premier. While it’s fair to say that most Italians find him acutely embarrassing, many admire his ‘spirit of survival’.

Silvio in Deep Water?

So has something finally come along that will topple the PM? Sure, in the past couple of months he’s been accused of hosting parties with topless women in his Sardinian villa (as well as an ex Czech prime minister?) and the non-Silvio-owned papers have questioned his relationship with 18-year-old Noemi Letizia (a pretty, wannabe Italian TV starlet). He was publicly ditched (she wrote a letter to a national news agency) by his wife Veronica Lario, who filed for divorce in May. The latest twist in this torrid tale is that an escort girl, Patrizia D’Addario, 42, has now come up with the ‘Silvio tapes’ (recorded one night at the PM’s Rome residence by D’Addario because she wanted to ‘prove she had been there’). These are hilarious and allegedly record Mr Berlusconi asking said prostitute (whom he denies paying, but that’s a minor detail) to wait for him in ‘Putin’s bed’. Well, I was *almost* starting to feel sorry for the poor old thing (him, not her). He’s suffered enough surely? Let the old dog lie (in whichever prime minister’s bed he chooses). What’s more, while these scandals might be enough to shame most politicians, you can bet Silvio is laughing about it all in private what 72-year-old man wouldn’t see the funny side of a night spent with Ms D’Addario? Berlusconi still seems to have the knack of brushing aside embarrassment or scandal.

But Try Explaining Away 30 Phoenician Tombs…

But there is news just in that could truly land Italy’s prime minister in deep water. It has emerged, as part of the recordings on the Silvio tapes, that 30 Phoenician tombs dating back about 2,300 years have been found on the land surrounding Silvio’s Sardinian Villa Certosa, just north of Olbia in the north-eastern corner of the island (for the voyeuristic, see the villa and its surrounding land here). Officials from Sardinia’s Department of Culture have said that the discovery of these tombs has not been registered – a culpable offence in Italy. If the presence of these tombs is verified they would signify an important new discovery for archaeologists. Berlusconi has already come under criticism for the apparent non-declaration of the alleged archaeological discovery.

Berlusconi has already come under criticism for the apparent non-declaration of the archaeological discovery.

The ancient graves could shed some light on the culture of the Phoenicians, who started to settle on Sardinia in the eighth century BC. It was a convenient stop-off point on their trade routes between the silver and lead mines on the Iberian peninsular and the eastern Mediterranean. However, it is thought that most of the Phoenician towns on Sardinia were on the south-western part of the island. The largest towns include Karalis, Nora, Bithia, Sulcis (on the island of Sant’Antioco), Tharros and Bosa. Tharros was believed by some to be the second most important Phoenician city after Carthage. However, new evidence of settlement on the north-eastern side of the island could be significant and suppression of this information is viewed as illegal in Italy.

Five Shipwrecks Discovered

But Berlusconi isn’t the only thing apparently in deep water this weekend: five Roman trade ships have just been found off the coast of Ventotene, an island between Rome and Naples. The team of divers and underwater archaeologists used sonar and robotic submarines to located the shipwrecks, which have been found in extremely good condition, according to the BBC.

Resting at about 150m below sea level, the five vessels, thought to date from around 100-400 AD, have been protected from strong currents by their depth and position. They sank without capsizing, which means their cargo of olive oil, wine and the ubiquitous fish sauce was undisturbed the terracotta amphorae are still in their original loading position. The vessels sank on one of the main trading routes between Rome and Africa in fact, Africa was a major producer of olive oil during the Roman empire, and was an important exporter to Rome (although most of Rome’s olive oil imports came from Iberia).

The BBC quotes Annalisa Zarattini, from the Italian Culture Ministry, as saying that this underwater discovery is part of a wider plan to locate and examine sunken treasures and artefacts before looters can get to them. New sophisticated technology means that underwater probing is increasingly within the reach of private organisations, who may not hand their finds over to the Italian state. Zarattini says: It’s important that we arrive there first.

In State Hands, or Safe Hands?

Meanwhile, it seems that when it comes to handing archaeological finds over to the state, the one person who should be reminded of this is the prime minister himself. I won’t lose too much sleep worrying about the consequences he may face as a result of his cultural oversight. He can no doubt get his lawyers to plead that he IS the state, and so any Phoenician tombs found at Villa Certosa are already in ‘state’ hands. Besides which, he is immune from prosecution. As with most scandals, Silvio will just shrug this one off too and make light of it in one of his many media outlets.

Photo by Alessio85.

Libya’s Terracotta Army

Terracotta armies are certainly in the news at the moment. The long-awaited third dig of Qin Shihuang’s tomb finally got under way last month in China, while a slightly more idiosyncratic clay army was causing some consternation in Germany last week: prosecutors are investigating whether the saluting garden gnomes created by artist Ottmar Hoerl are in fact breaking strict German code that bans Nazi symbols and gestures.

Libya’s Terracotta Army

While these terracotta armies grab the limelight, there is another ‘army’ of 4,500 small terracotta figurines, which were uncovered during excavations at the Greek and Roman ruins of Cyrene near Shahhat in Libya. Although most of the figurines were discovered during a previous excavation phase, it is thought likely that more terracotta votive figures may lie undiscovered at the site. The site was excavated between 1969 and 1978 when thousands of the clay figurines were discovered at the Extramural Sanctuary of Demeter and Persephone. The sanctuary was once the focus of cult worship from the early sixth century BC, until it was destroyed by an earthquake in 365 AD. The Sanctuary of Demeter and Persephone was one of Cyrene’s most important religious sites, and was where the annual religious festival, the Thesmophoria, would be celebrated to pray for safety and agricultural prosperity.

As a corpus they represent the largest and most diverse assemblage for North Africa that has been brought to light thus far, even though the sanctuary has only been partially explored.

The terracotta figurines were discovered alongside other items at the Sanctuary of Demeter and Persephone, including pottery, sculpture, lamps, jewellery, coins, glass and personal ornaments. The figurines were far from the most important votive offerings made at the sanctuary; in fact they represented a cheap form of thanksgiving and were readily available. They were found scattered at different locations around the sanctuary during 10 years of excavation work.

In 1981 archaeological work came to a halt as the relationship between Libya and the West deteriorated and 23 years passed before the excavation could recommence. In 2004, the sanctuary again became the focus of study for the Cyrenaica Archaeological Project (CAP), a joint venture between Oberlin College (USA) and the University of Birmingham (UK), directed by Professor Susan Kane of Oberlin College. However, the project is currently on hold due to visa restrictions.

North Africa’s Largest Assemblage of Terracotta Figurines

While the Cyrenaic votive figures may not be able to compete with the Terracotta Army’s 8,000 clay soldiers, it is nevertheless a fascinating find that has received little international attention. Professor Emerita Jaimee Uhlenbrock, from the State University of New York’s department of Art History (at the New Paltz campus), has been studying the figurines from the Extramural Sanctuary of Demeter and Persephone at Cyrene and is also Chair of the Coroplastic Studies Interest Group. She told Heritage Key: “As a corpus they represent the largest and most diverse assemblage for North Africa that has been brought to light thus far, even though the sanctuary has only been partially explored.”

The earliest figurines (from the seventh century BC) found at Cyrene were brought to Cyrenaica from other terracotta-producing centres in the Greek world. By the fifth century they were being produced locally, probably using methods of serial-production. Most of the figurines from the Extramural Sanctuary of Demeter and Persephone date from the early fifth to the later fourth centuries BC and experts believe they were offered by the city’s Greek population (the Extramural Sanctuary of Demeter and Persephone being a Greek sanctuary complex consisting of several buildings over a sprawling area).

Many terracotta small-scale sculptures have been found at Cyrene at various other sanctuaries as well. The Museum of Fine Arts in Boston currently holds some figurines from the Sanctuary of the Chthonic Nymphs, which is on the acropolis of Cyrene, at the other end of the ancient city from the Extramural Sanctuary of Demeter and Persephone.

Photo by Martin Beek.

Cultural Crisis in Libya as Roman Statues Looted

Libya’s Roman and Greek heritage is disappearing as we speak according to a report in the UAE English language paper The National.

Sites such as Leptis Magna, Cyrene and Sabratha have been extremely well preserved by Libya’s dry climate and the encroachment of the Sahara, which covered them for centuries. Mosaics, temples, theatres and Roman homes remain very much intact in these ancient cities, providing valuable evidence of the Roman empire’s occupation of Northern Africa during the first to the fifth centuries AD, as well as the pre-Roman Punic and Greek habitations.

But a lack of government funding and scant security has left these sites vulnerable to looting by art smuggling cartels, as well as locals digging for Roman coins to sell to tourists. In 2000, the heads of 15 statues disappeared from Cyrene (once a Roman town built at the site of an original Greek settlement). According to The National’s correspondent Iason Athanasiadis, looting originally started back in 1987 when Libya opened its border with Egypt. Since Libya’s improved relations with western Europe in 2003, the problem has accelerated, with what Athanasiadis calls an unprecedented gutting of Libyas ancient heritage sites.

There are estimates that the business of smuggling antiquities provides the largest turnover in the world, second only to oil and equal to arms sales.

To give an idea of the scale of the problem, Colin Renfrew of Cambridge University, who is working to stop international antiquities thefts, told Athanasiadis: There are estimates that the business of smuggling antiquities provides the largest turnover in the world, second only to oil and equal to arms sales. But you cant put a figure on a secret trade.

In fact this problem has been going on for a long time and has also been reported by the BBC: Libya fears for its stolen heritage. However, the problem is now escalating.

Libya, which officially renounced terrorism and weapons of mass destruction in 2003, has since sought to make tourism one of its main bread-winners. This seems unlikely to happen if the government continues to allow the country’s heritage to disappear.

Photo by Xavier de Jaurguiberry.

Discover Ancient London With the HK Google Earth Flyover

London is a massive metropolis, buzzing with energy and bags of history to boot. Well now you can see the city’s top ancient sights, all handily presented in our custom Google Earth flyover. For there’s plenty more to London than its monstrous museums – though they’re all pretty good too – and this map gives you the chance to plan a first-time visit, tell a friend or just take a day out to explore London’s proud heritage. There’s no shortage of events either; check our calendar page for the pick of the city’s listings, which include this year’s British Archaeology Festival. In short London’s a fantastic place to get your fill of the ancient world, and our map makes seeing all its ancient nooks and crannies just that bit easier.

The tour below utilises aerial photography with 3D models to give a realistic and innovative look at how the ancient world still exists in our very modern world. The tour is complete with clickable Heritage Key logos, which will link you to articles on this website, as well as photographs from our Heritage Key Flickr photo pool.

The tour enables you to fly over and explore the sites and their surroundings, and where you see a Heritage Key logo, you can click it and you’ll see more information about the adjacent landmark.

To view this Google Earth Tour, you will need to download additional software created by Google. You will require Google Earth 5.0 which will need to be installed in order to explore the aerial photography in a 3D environment. Once the software is installed, you will need to return to this webpage and download Google Earth Plugin (Your browser should meet minimum requirements). the Plugin can be downloaded by selecting it in the panel below:

To open webpages in a new window, right click the link in the information window and select “Open link in new window”. This will enable you to view the link in a full web browser.

You can also download this tour to your computer by clicking here, selecting “Save” and then running the file. It will automatically open Google Earth and begin the Heritage Key: London Tour