Splendour and Everyday Life in the Byzantine Empire Explored at Exhibition in Bonn

BONN.- Presenting more than 600 magnificent and historically meaningful exhibits and important artefacts from collections and archaeological excavations the exhibition shed light on many aspects of the history, archaeology and art of the Byzantine Empire. It will offer an overview of the “Byzantine Millenium” (from the foundation of Constantinople by Constantine the Great in 324 A.D. to the conquest by the Ottomans in 1453), but will concentrate above all on the prospering of the Empire from the time of Justinian [...]

Tutankhamun’s Funeral Exhibition at the Met will Explore Materials and Rituals

NEW YORK, NY.- In 1908, while excavating in the Valley of the Kings in Egypt, American archaeologist Theodore Davis discovered about a dozen large storage jars. Their contents included broken pottery, bags of natron (a mixture of sodium carbonate, sodium bicarbonate, sodium sulphate, and sodium chloride that occurs naturally in Egypt), bags of sawdust, floral collars, and pieces of linen with markings from years 6 and 8 during the reign of a then little-known pharaoh named Tutankhamun. The Metropolitan Museum [...]

Tests Show King Tutankhamen Died from Malaria Infection, Study Says

CHICAGO.- King Tutankhamen, the teen-aged pharaoh whose Egyptian tomb yielded dazzling treasures, limped around on tender bones and a club foot and probably died from malaria, researchers said on Tuesday. There has been speculation about the fate of the boy king, who died sometime around 1324 BC probably at age 19, since the 1922 discovery of his intact tomb in Egypt’s Valley of Kings. Women look at one of the coffins of King Tutankhamun at the Egyptian museum in Cairo, [...]

Exhibition Explores the Egyptians’ Beliefs about Life and Death and the Afterlife

BROOKLYN, NY.- Through more than one hundred objects drawn from the Brooklyn Museum’s world-renowned holdings of ancient Egyptian art, including some of the greatest masterworks of the Egyptian artistic heritage, “To Live Forever” explores the Egyptians’ beliefs about life and death and the afterlife, the process of mummification, the conduct of a funeral, and the different types of tombs—answering questions at the core of the public’s fascination with ancient Egypt. The exhibition will be on view February 12 through May [...]

Main Road of Jerusalem, from 1,500 Years Ago, is Exposed

JERUSALEM.- Madaba Map – an ancient mosaic map in a church in Jordan from the sixth-seventh century CE, which depicted the Land of Israel in the Byzantine period, explicitly showed: the entrance to Jerusalem from the west was via a very large gate that led to a single, central thoroughfare on that side of the city. Various evidence of the important buildings in Jerusalem that appear on the map has been uncovered over the years or has survived to this [...]

The Inspirational World of the Ancient Greeks Revealed at World Museum

LIVERPOOL.- A new display reveals the inspirational world of the ancient Greeks whose influence is still felt in the modern world. This culture provided the foundations of Western civilisation and inspired the Renaissance while also paving the way for the Islamic Golden Age in north Africa and south west Asia. The Roman Empire, which conquered Greece in 146 BC, was also powerfully influenced by the Greek civilisation which has dominated all aspects of cultural life from politics and philosophy and [...]

Bonhams to Sell Roman Bust that Links Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton

LONDON.- A lovely Roman marble bust that film director, Franco Zeffirrelli gave as a wedding gift to friends who worked with him on the filming of ‘The Taming of the Shrew’ will be sold at Bonhams next Antiquities Sale in London on April 28th. Dating from the second century AD the Roman herm head traditionally used on the top of a pillar, is estimated to sell for £7,000 to £9,000. A wonderful photo of the bride and groom taken at [...]

Wall with Maya Seignior Glyphs Discovered at Archaeological Zone

MEXICO.- A wall with a rich glyphic text that includes the complete name of the ruler that founded one of the most important Maya military seigniories was discovered in Tonina Archaeological Zone, in Chiapas. Epigraphists point out that the finding will bring in new information regarding Maya grammar, since it shows linguistic features yet to be deciphered. The discovery adds up to the sarcophagus recently uncovered by specialists of the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH). The wall dated [...]

Egypt’s Antiquities Chief Unveils Renovations at Oldest Monastery

ZAAFARANA.- Egypt’s antiquities chief on Thursday unveiled the completion of an 8-year, $14.5 million restoration of the world’s oldest Christian monastery, touting it as a sign of Christian-Muslim coexistence. The announcement at the 1,600-year-old St. Anthony’s Monastery came a month after Egypt’s worst incident of sectarian violence in over a decade, when a shooting on a church on Orthodox Christmas Eve killed seven people. The attack raised heavy criticism of the Egyptian government abroad and at home, by critics who [...]

Extraordinary 1,700 Year Old Sarcophagus Cover on View in Israel

JERUSALEM.- A unique archaeological exhibition has opened in Caesarea harbor: for the first time the general public can see an extraordinary 1,700 year old sarcophagus cover that is one of the most impressive ever discovered in Caesarea. The cover, which weighs more than 4 tons, is decorated with snake-haired medusa heads and joyful and sad-faced masks. These were taken from the world of the ancient theater where two kinds of plays were customarily presented: comedy and tragedy. The meaning of [...]

Egypt to Soon Announce King Tutankhamun DNA Test Results

CAIRO.- Egypt will soon reveal the results of DNA tests made on the world’s most famous ancient king, the young Pharaoh Tutankhamun, to answer lingering mysteries over his lineage, the antiquities department said Sunday. Speaking at a conference, archaeology chief Zahi Hawass said he would announce the results of the DNA tests and the CAT scans on Feb. 17. The results will be compared to those made of King Amenhotep III, who may have been Tutankamun’s grandfather. The effort is [...]

Millennium-Old Sarcophagus Could Help Clarify Fall of the Maya Civilization

OCOSINGO, MEXICO.- Mexican archaeologists working at the Mayan acropolis of Tonina in the jungles of the southern state of Chiapas discovered a more-than-1,000-year-old sarcophagus they say could help clear up the mystery of the fall of the Maya civilization. Juan Yadeun, who heads the archaeological dig located in the municipality of Ocosingo, said that the sarcophagus measures 2 meters (yards) long by 70 centimeters (27.5 inches) wide and 60 centimeters (about 2 feet) deep, and it is comparable in its [...]

‘Sphinx Alley’ Gives Egypt Large Open-Air Museum

LUXOR, EGYPT.- Luxor is set to become one of the world’s largest open-air museums when a multimillion dollar project to restore the “Sphinx Alley” is complete in March, the governor of Luxor, Samir Farag, said Sunday. The project to restore the two-mile (three-kilometer) alley that links the grand temples of Luxor and Karnak on the east bank of the River Nile in Luxor has cost $45 million. Egyptian workers in Luxor, Egypt, restore the Alley of Sphinxes, known as the [...]

US Military Veterans Working on Archaeological Project

ST. LOUIS, MO.- U.S. military veterans are sorting through a massive government archaeological collection that has been neglected for decades, with the hope of archiving the stone tools, arrows and American Indian beads that were found beneath major public works projects. The collection dates to the 1930s, when the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers started building dozens of locks, dams and reservoirs, and the ground beneath them was excavated for archaeological treasures. Prehistoric and historic pottery, stone tools, arrowheads, Indian [...]

Hunt for Bird Mummy in Connecticut Comes Up Empty

BRIDGEPORT, CT.- Researchers who examined an Egyptian mummy with the latest imaging technology found no evidence that a packet inside her was an offering to the gods of the ancient world. Previous tests led to speculation that the packet was a bird mummy — something researchers said would be an unusual and exciting find — but high-resolution tests Thursday at Quinnipiac University showed no remnants of a bird. Instead, researchers said the packet and a few others in the mummy [...]