Koiné

Ancient history, art, literature and thought

Hellenistic age temples discovered

		Wednesday, 28 February 07 - 12:13 PM (GMT) By Nea Koine' in News

Excavators in the prefecture of Serres have found settlements, temples and cemeteries formerly known only from past sources.
Archaeologists in Serres have unearthed traces of life in an area that flourished in Archaic, Classical, Hellenistic and Roman times. In the past two years, the 28th Ephorate of Prehistoric and Classical Antiquities has discovered many settlements, temples and cemeteries formerly known only from sources. At Neo Skopo they found Verghi, an important commercial city that was a passage to the Thracian hinterland in the Archaic era. At Gazoro, they turned up a Hellenistic and Roman settlement, while at Sidirokastro they found a temple to Apollo, the nymphs and the god Pan.
Their finds will be presented at the 20th Archaeological Congress on digs in Macedonia and Thrace, starting Thursday at the Thessaloniki Archaeological Museum.

Iota Myrtsioti - Kathimerini

Old temple found in Egypt's Western Desert

		Tuesday, 27 February 07 - 11:40 AM (GMT) By Nea Koine' in News

French archaeologists have found a temple dating from the middle of the 1st millennium BC in Kharga oasis in Egypt's Western Desert, the Egyptian state news agency MENA said on Wednesday. The temple is at Dush in the southernmost edge of the oasis and dates from the Persian period, it said.
The Persians were active in the Kharga area when they controlled Egypt between 525 and 404 BC and they rebuilt another well-known temple which survives near the main town Kharga. The MENA report gave no details of the condition of the new temple and officials were not available at the French Institute for Oriental Archaeology, which sent the team to Kharga.
The institute's Web site said that a settlement dating from the Persian period had revealed a temple, some important documents in the demotic script current at the time and traces of the irrigation system which made it possible to settle there.
MENA quoted the local director of antiquities as saying the irrigation works dated back to about 500 BC and that the French mission has also found statues and gold coins from the period. Dush lies about 600 km (360 miles) south of Cairo and 200 km (120 miles) west of the Nile valley.

REUTERS

Maxentius' sceptre on exhibit

		Tuesday, 27 February 07 - 11:39 AM (GMT) By Nea Koine' in News

The only Roman emperor's sceptre to have been found has gone on public display in Rome for the first time.
The sceptre, which is topped by a blue orb that represents the earth, was discovered at the end of last year and is believed to have been held by Emperor Maxentius, who ruled for six years until 312AD.
Maxentius, who was known for his vices and his incapacity, drowned in the Tiber while fighting forces loyal to his brother-in-law, Constantine, at the battle of the Milvian bridge. Archaeologists believe that Maxentius' supporters hid the sceptre during or after the battle to prevent it from falling into enemy hands.
It was found at the base of the Palatine hill, carefully wrapped in silk and linen and then placed in a wooden box. Alongside it were other boxes holding two other imperial battle standards and ceremonial lance heads. The depth of the burial allowed archaeologists to date the find to Maxentius' rule.
Sceptres, often two to three foot ivory rods topped with a globe or an eagle, were introduced by Augustus as a symbol of Rome's power. They would be carried by emperors while riding in chariots to celebrate military victories.
While emperors were often pictured on coins and in paintings holding a sceptre, no example of the real thing had been found up until last year. "We have never seen them for real before, there have been no similar findings," said Angelo Bottini, the head of Rome's archaeology department.
Clementina Panella, the archaeologist at Rome's La Sapienza University who made the find said that the grip of the sceptre was made of Orichalcum, a legendary gold-coloured brass alloy which parts of the sunken city of Atlantis were said to be forged from.
"These artifacts clearly belonged to Maxentius, the sceptre is very elaborate," she said.
Darius Arya, a professor at the American Institute for Roman Culture, said it was an "amazing" find. "You don't find that kind of wealth in Rome, you find fragments and pieces, but not in such good condition." The sceptre is now on display at the National Museum of Rome.
The Palatine Hill has yielded several important discoveries in the last few months, and is the focus of a major reconstruction plan.
The Italian government has stepped up attempts to preserve its cultural heritage, and has earmarked €20 million to save the hill from crumbling. More money will be raised in a telethon on Italian television.
Meanwhile, the government has ordered a police investigation into the disappearance of an ancient statue, which is thought to have gone missing when the famous Riace warriors were dredged from the sea in the 1970s.
The 6ft 6in warriors were one of Italy's most important archaeological finds, and attracted over a million visitors when they first went on display.
The two existing statues were spotted by Stefano Mariottini, a scuba diver on holiday. However, Giuseppe Bragho, an art detective, said a third statue "completely different from the other two", as well as two shields and a lance, were seen on the sea bed by Mr Mariottini.
The statues are so lifelike that when Mr Mariottini first saw them, half-buried 300 metres from the Calabrian coast, he thought he had found a set of corpses.

Malcolm Moore - Telegraph

Tombs discovered nearby Egyptian pyramid

		Tuesday, 27 February 07 - 11:35 AM (GMT) By Nea Koine' in News

Archaeologists on Tuesday unveiled the tombs of a pharaonic butler and scribe that have been buried for more than 3,000 years -- proof, one says, that Egypt's sands still have secrets to reveal.

Although archaeologists have been exploring Egypt intensively for more than 150 years, some estimate only one-third of what lies underground in Saqqara, site of the country's most ancient pyramid, has been uncovered.
"The sands of Saqqara reveal lots of secrets," said Egypt's antiquities chief, Zahi Hawass, as he showed reporters a 4,000-year-old mud brick tomb that belonged to a scribe of divine records, Ka-Hay, and his wife.
The tomb, along with the butler's 3,350-year-old limestone grave and two painted coffins, were discovered earlier this year at Saqqara near the famous Step Pyramid of King Djoser -- the oldest of Egypt's more than 90 pyramids.
Hawass said the three discoveries are just the tip of what remains undiscovered at Saqqara, which was the burial grounds for Memphis, the capital of Egypt's Old Kingdom.
In December, archeologists in Saqqara discovered the mummified remains of a doctor who was buried along with medical surgical tools more than 4,000 years ago. Two months earlier, the graves of three royal dentists were discovered in Saqqara after the arrest of tomb raiders led archaeologists to the site.
Hawass said the mud-brick tomb unveiled Tuesday, which also featured wooden statues and a door with intricate hieroglyphic carvings, could "could enrich our knowledge about the people who actually surrounded the kings of Saqqara."
"It doesn't look great because it was built from mud brick and not built of limestone, but I really believe that this tomb is very important," said Hawass, who donned his signature Indiana Jones-style hat.
Three wooden statues also were found in the mud-brick tomb. Two of them, each about 3 feet tall and depicting the scribe, were laid out on pieces of foam on the ground. The third was not shown because it was in poor condition.
After Hawass presented the tomb, workers picked up the ancient statues, placed them in the back of a pickup truck -- while tourists, surprised at the media commotion, quickly snapped photographs -- and drove them to another building in the complex.
On the other side of the Step Pyramid, archeologists then unveiled the second tomb, which belonged to a butler who died some 3,350 years ago.
Carved out of limestone, the tomb contained murals that showed scenes of people performing rituals and monkeys eating fruit. The blue and orange colors of the paint were surprisingly well preserved.
"This is a very, very lively scene," said Maarten Raven, the excavation's director and a curator at the National Museum of Antiquities in Leiden, Netherlands.
Raven said he believed other tombs from the New Kingdom, similar to the butler's, had yet to be uncovered in Saqqara, which is famous for Old Kingdom antiquities. Many of the New Kingdom tombs, which date back from 1570 B.C. to 1070 B.C., can be found in the southern Egyptian city of Luxor.
"We hope one day this area will be open to visitors so people can see that Saqqara is not only Old Kingdom but New Kingdom as well," Raven said.
Hawass also unveiled two wooden coffins, 4,000 years old, that also were found south of the Step Pyramid. The rectangular coffins, painted light orange with blue hieroglyphics, contained human-shaped coffins known as anthropoids, in which lay the mummies of a priest and a woman, who Hawass said was identified by hieroglyphics on the coffin as the priest's "girlfriend."
Saqqara, a popular tourist site located in the desert about 12 miles south of Cairo, hosts a collection of temples, tombs and funerary complexes. Its Step Pyramid is the forerunner of the more sophisticated pyramids in Giza, which are believed to have been built about a century later.

CNN News

More on recently discovered ancient theatre in Athens

		Tuesday, 27 February 07 - 11:32 AM (GMT) By Nea Koine' in News

An ancient Greek theatre accidentally discovered by construction workers in Athens is one of the classical world's most famous lost stages.
Builders stumbled last week across the 2,500-year-old amphitheatre of Acharnes, known from ancient writings to be an important arena for tragedies, comedies and musical contests.
"The discovery of the ancient theatre of Acharnes is an exceptional find," Culture Minister George Voulgarakis told reporters after touring the site on Wednesday.
Archaeologists supervising the digging of foundations for a building in the area of Menidi - known in ancient times as Acharnes - discovered 13 rows of limestone seats which formed part of an open air theatre.
They have dated it to the 4th century BC, the golden age of ancient Greek drama when the works of Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides were performed before thousands of people.
Voulgarakis said the discovery widens the archaeological map of Athens and indicates more can be found in the area, a working class district about 10 km (6 miles) north of central Athens.
In ancient Athens, Acharnes was known for its many charcoal peddlers whom Aristophanes mentions in his comedy "The Acharnians".
The Acharnes theatre is one of seven in the Attica region surrounding Athens where the remnants survive. Another six are known to have existed.
"The theatre locates the centre of the ancient deme (clan) of Acharnes which has been sought by Greek and foreign researchers since the last century," the ministry said in a statement.
It said the steps were buried half to two metres (yards) underground. The orchestra and stage are under a city street and other parts are under nearby building lots.
Voulgarakis said the lot under construction would be expropriated so that a complete excavation could take place.
"Later on, in cooperation with the city council, we will proceed with the revelation of the wider monument so that we can have it whole," he said. 

REUTERS

5000 years old Persian priestess found in Sistan desert

		Tuesday, 27 February 07 - 11:30 AM (GMT) By Nea Koine' in News

The body of a strikingly tall 5,000-year-old woman with an artificial golden eye has been discovered in Iran. Archaeologists said the woman was a female soothsayer or priestess and would have transfixed those around her with her eyeball, making them believe she had occult powers and could see into the future.
The 25-30-year old Persian woman, who was almost 6 feet tall, was also buried with an ornate bronze hand mirror so she could check her startling appearance.
Italian and Iranian archaeologists made the discovery at an ancient necropolis at Shahr-i-Sokhta in the Sistan desert on the Iranian-Afghan border.
Archaeologist Lorenzo Costantini said the artificial eye was clearly not intended to mimic a real eye. He said: " It must have glittered spectacularly, conferring on the woman a mysterious and supernatural gaze."
The golden eyeball is engraved with lines coming out of a central circle like rays of light.
It is a half-sphere with a diameter of just over an inch and made from lightweight material thought to be derived from bitumen paste, which is painted gold.
There are two tiny holes drilled on either side of the eyeball, through which a fine thread held it in place.
Historians said an imprint on the woman's eye socket proved she wore the golden eye in life, rather than having it placed in her eye at burial.

Daily Mail

Tutankhamun still fascinates

		Tuesday, 27 February 07 - 11:17 AM (GMT) By Nea Koine' in News

Of all the cold cases in the art world thrillers, none beats the story of Tutankhamun's funerary chamber and the saga of the art treasures it held, recovered in what turned out to be the most important excavation ever relating to the pharaohs of Ancient Egypt.
Yet it took more than 80 years for the visual evidence to go on display under the title "Discovering Tutankhamun: The Photographs of Harry Burton," first at the Oriental Institute Museum (at the University of Chicago) and now at the Metropolitan Museum of Art until April 29. The book that comes with it, "Tutankhamun's Tomb: The Thrill of Discovery" should give food for thought to those who think that breaking up funerary caches to satisfy the appetites of commerce and of those for whom it caters is perfectly all right.
The photographs reveal a hidden aspect of the archaeological venture. The images show the finds as they were when first seen in their raw, unedited condition, immensely different from the polished appearance that the world famous treasures later acquired after cleaning and restoration.
Some basic details must be borne in mind before embarking on this voyage through time.
The tomb of the 18th dynasty pharaoh who ruled Ancient Egypt from about 1336 B.C. to 1327 B.C. was to prove the richest ever opened, beyond the wildest dreams of those who took part in the expedition. Yet it was only discovered at the 11th hour in 1922 when the attempts were about to be given up in an area where no major find had been made since 1908.
Had it not been for the dogged determination of a wealthy, British aristocrat, George Herbert, Earl of Carnarvon, who financed the expedition, and of the Egyptologist employed by him, Howard Carter, this world treasure would not have come to light as it did in properly recorded circumstances. The site would eventually have attracted looters and the objects would have been scattered to the winds by the tomb diggers. In the process, a phenomenal trove of cultural history would have been destroyed.
Susan Allen, a researcher in the Egyptian department who staged the show and wrote the book noted that in 1922 Carter had already spent six years desperately looking for an undiscovered royal tomb. All he had found were fragments of statues and burial furnishings spurned by looters.
Carter had only two months left when on Nov. 1 he began to remove the remains of huts put up by Ancient Egyptian workmen near the entrance leading to the tomb. Three days later, Carter's laborers stumbled upon a step hewn out of stone. By the end of the next day, they had cleared 11 more steps and uncovered a doorway blocked in ancient times. This was sealed in plaster and stamped with the royal insignia of a necropolis.
At that moment, Carter knew he was onto something really big. The excavated area was hastily refilled and Carter cabled Lord Carnarvon: "At last have made wonderful discovery in Valley / a magnificent tomb with seals intact / recovered same for your arrival / Congratulations."
Carnarvon set off at once. The day he arrived, the rubble was removed, the seals were shown to him and excavation work began on Nov. 25, 1922. Alas, the photographs taken that day were no good. Carter thought of turning to the Metropolitan Museum team that was excavating the necropolis at Luxor, the site of ancient Thebes on the other bank of the Nile. He sent an urgent cable to the head of the museum department of Egyptian art, Albert Lythgoe. Sensing the importance of the find, the researcher allowed Carter to recruit the museum photographer, Harry Burton, and dispatched, for good measure, three members of the Luxor archaeological team.
Burton, who had been taking photographs for an art historian in Florence for years and had been hired by the Met to record the monuments at Thebes, spent much of the next 11 years covering Carter's discoveries. The technical quality of his images is remarkable.
The first staggering shot shows the antechamber to the tomb. The small space is seen crammed with pieces of furniture, caskets, and objects, all piled up higgledy-piggledy as if fearful owners had hastily stashed whatever they could fit in before running for their lives. For some reason the tomb had been disturbed before being sealed. However, the contents were neither deliberately damaged nor stolen. The mystery remains unexplained.
Three animal-shaped ritual couches were there, the gilt wood heads of the bulls gleaming in the darkness. Chariots had been disassembled and hastily dumped. Some beautiful alabaster jars and pots were shoved under them. Big alabaster ointment jars, each flanked by the openwork tracery of stylized plants, stood across the narrow space, perched on stands designed for them. Not least, as workmen removed the last dismantled chariot, a wooden bust of the young king appeared. It is intriguing like so much else — Carter's speculation that it served as a mannequin is hardly convincing.
Set against the north wall, a greater and more dazzling enigma greeted Carter's eye. Two life-size guardian statues of the king flanked a doorway that had been sealed, and then resealed in Antiquity. We still have no answer to that conundrum. At their feet lay a chest of untold splendor, painted on both sides with battle scenes that show the Egyptian king standing on his war chariot and aiming his bow at Syrian enemies. This is one of the most beautiful chests recovered from the funerary chamber. Yet, when Carter opened it, the chest only contained a pair of sandals and a beaded garment that disintegrated as did nearly all the textiles in the tomb — apparently, the king's clothes had been hastily jammed into it.
On Feb. 17, 1923, Carter's team at last proceeded to unblock the doorway that led to the burial chamber, after the seal impressions in the mud plaster had been duly cut out for preservation.
Slowly, a monumental gilt wood shrine was uncovered. It nearly filled the burial room, allowing just a glimpse of the painted scenes on the wall behind. The wooden shrine, which had clearly been put together in the chamber, now had to be dismantled. Arthur Callender, a friend whom Carter had persuaded to come and work on the excavation, used his engineering experience to light the chamber and rig the scaffolding, block and tackle needed to lift the roof — a delicate job since the shrine nearly took up the entire space.
Even so, a number of objects appeared between the shell of the shrine and the walls. Oars lay on the floor in staggered order for some rowing voyage through eternity. An extraordinary alabaster lamp in the form of a footed beaker was set on an alabaster stand.
Three more shrines, one inside the other, had to be uncovered before Carter found himself gazing at the actual tomb, a sarcophagus of red quartzite. On each corner of the magnificent monument, a winged goddess was carved standing, her wings spread across the sides of the sarcophagus. Rows of hieroglyphs spelled out invocations to the gods, calling upon them to protect the king in afterlife.
Scores of other precious objects eventually turned up. All seemed to have been hurriedly jammed together, as if some impending catastrophe or threat had been dreaded.
A shot taken in one of the underground rooms, "the treasury," shows wooden shrines containing statuettes pushed against a wall with several painted wooden boats for the king's voyages in afterlife precariously perched on top.
Visitors leave the show, and readers lay down the book, with the dizzying feeling of having just been personally taken through the extraordinary excavation as it was being carried out. This small photographic display says more about the culture of Ancient Egypt and our own approach to its enigmatic gems than any blockbuster archaeological show. No specialist information is needed to find it fascinating. In its understated way, this is a masterpiece of sophisticated museology.

Souren Melikian - International Herald Tribune

More on Saqqara discovery

		Sunday, 25 February 07 - 10:07 PM (GMT) By Nea Koine' in News

The new finds, outlined in statements over the past week, also show that Sakkara remained a necropolis, from the Greek "City of the Dead," for Egypt's elite long after the Old Kingdom period for which it is famous, said Zahi Hawass of the Supreme Antiquities Council.
The finds include the tomb of a royal cupbearer from the time of the "rebel" pharaoh Akhenaten, who abandoned most of Egypt's old gods in favor of the Aten sun disk and brought in a new and more expressive style of art.
Akhenaten ruled between 1379 and 1362 BC, just before the famous boy king Tutankhamun,
The well-preserved and colored reliefs in the tomb of Ptah Em-Wia, who may have worked for Akhenaten himself, show several distinctive features of the period -- elongated heads, protruding bellies, domestic scenes and lively movement.
Maarten Raven, the field director of the Dutch mission which has excavated the tomb over the past two months, said he expected more tombs from the period to turn up in Sakkara, which is most famous for pyramids and tombs from 1,000 years earlier.
The nearby city of Memphis remained the de facto capital of Egypt for most of pharaonic history, even when the official capital was at Luxor in the south or in the new city which Akhenaten built at Tell el-Amarna in central Egypt.

MORE TO BE FOUND
"It was business as usual and Memphis still functioned as the capital, so there were courtiers and high officials and they must have had their burials, so I'm sure there is a lot more to be found in this area," Raven said.
"We thought all the tombs of the period were in Amarna but Akhenaten built temples in Sakkara ... and this shows that the officials who ruled the north were buried here," said Hawass.
One of the other new discoveries, by a Japanese team of archaeologists, is a set of Middle Kingdom sarcophaguses typical of the 12th dynasty, who lasted from 1991 to 1786 BC.
The sarcophaguses are of a priest called Sobek Hat and his female companion, both made of wood coated with painted plaster and then inscribed with hieroglyphic writing.
Both have anthropoid coffins inside, fitting closely around mummies, which have not yet been opened.
"This discovery can enrich our knowledge of Sakkara in the Middle Kingdom, which is very limited. Before this we had only one or two objects from the period," Hawass said.
"It seems that Sakkara revealed this week lots of secrets, and there are many more under the sands," he added,
A third discovery, announced by the Supreme Antiquities Council on Monday, was of a cache of wooden statues dating back to about 2200 BC, the heyday of the Sakkara necropolis.
The council said in a statement that the cache contained five statues, including a rare double wooden statue of the scribe Ka-Hay and his wife.
But Hawass said there were only three wooden statues, two of the scribe and a separate one of his wife. 

Jonathan Wright - Yahoo News

News on the Amazons

		Sunday, 25 February 07 - 10:03 PM (GMT) By Nea Koine' in News

Work has begun in Samsun to highlight the Amazons as yet another of Turkey's ancient cultural assets. The Samsun Metropolitan Municipality plans to construct a miniature city reflecting the time of the Amazons in the city's Batı Park, reported the Anatolia news agency.
The Samsun Metropolitan Municipality Governor Kenan Şara said they would be building a miniature Amazon city on a 40,000 square meter area in Batı Park. He said they were currently working on the project and that a 12-meter tall Amazon statue that will be erected in the park was under construction.
Noting that they aimed to make Samsun a tourist city by highlighting its cultural and historical heritage, Şara said, “It is acknowledged that the Amazons lived in an area between the Kızılırmak and Yeşilırmak deltas around Çorum. That is why we will create an area in Batı Park representing the geography they lived in and including streams symbolizing Yeşilırmak and Kızılırmak on both sides of the city. We will build a miniature Amazon city and people visiting the park will be able to see Amazon statues and relief work.”
Şara said they believed that the miniature city would attract the interest of tourists, adding that the project would gradually be developed and all things related to the Amazons would be included.
Şara also said that Samsun was the city of Atatürk and work would always continue in order to develop the city in that regard as well.

The Amazons:

The Amazons were an ancient nation of women warriors who lived in the city of Themiskyra, located near the Terme (Thermedon) River in modern day Samsun. Tales of these fierce warriors abound in ancient Greek literature and mythology, even though the Amazon tribes indeed existed. Amazons were thought to remove one of their breasts in order to use their bow and arrow more effectively, however visual data from paintings and carvings demonstrate otherwise. The Amazons are known to have settled in the Black Sea region in 1200 B.C. and each year a festival is held in their honor in the Terme district of Samsun. 

Turkish Daily News

Wooden statue discovered in ancient Egyptian tomb

		Sunday, 25 February 07 - 10:01 PM (GMT) By Nea Koine' in News

A rare double wooden statue of an ancient Egyptian scribe and his wife has been found in their tomb south of Cairo, Egypt's chief archaeologist said on Monday.
The double statue, dating from around 2300 BC, was among a total of five wooden statues found at the tomb in Sakkara, the necropolis of the ancient Egyptian city of Memphis, said Zahi Hawass, chairman of the Supreme Council of Antiquities.
The official was Ka-Hay, who kept divine records, and his wife, Spri-Ankh. They lived late in the 5th dynasty or early in the 6th and were buried in the part of the necropolis associated with the pharaoh Teti, he said in a statement.
"It is a unique statue... In general double seated statues are made of limestone and are rarely carved in wood," he said.
The find was uncovered by an Egyptian-Australian team.
The tomb itself is a mud-brick structure of the classic platform style and contains a fine false door in wood and two tables for offerings, he added. False doors are a regular feature of the tombs of the period.
The archaeological team, now led by Naguib Kanawati of Macquarie University in Sydney, has been working at Sakkara since the early 1970s. 

Reuters

Conference on Socrates in Athens

		Sunday, 25 February 07 - 09:58 PM (GMT) By Nea Koine' in News

Iranian and Greek philosophers will come together in Athens to discuss their common viewpoints on Socrates.
Although Iranians have developed their own philosophical doctrines throughout the centuries, they have always honored ancient Greek philosopher Socrates as the founder of philosophy.
The 2-day conference entitled "Socrates in the Doctrines of Iranians and Greeks" will be held at the Parnassus Association Hall in Athens on February 23-24.
Secretary of the conference Mohammad Reza Darbandi said the event aims to bring Iranian and Greek philosophers together and explore Socrates from the viewpoint of Iranian philosophers.
Several Iranian and Greek scholars will give lectures on Socrates such as "Socrates from the Viewpoint of Muslims", "Who is the Real Socrates?", "Was Socrates a Prophet"? and "Self-Knowledge from the Viewpoint of Socrates and Iranian Philosophers".
The conference is sponsored by the Iranian cultural attaché in Athens, Greek Parnassus Literary Association and Tehran-based Islamic Culture and Communications Organization.
Last year, Iranian philosophers participated in a similar conference on "Plato and Sohrevardi" at Parnassus Association in Athens. 

Press TV

Iranian Seminar on Tappeh Hesar

		Sunday, 25 February 07 - 09:54 PM (GMT) By Nea Koine' in News

Over six millennia of culture at the Tappeh Hesar site was examined during a two-day international seminar that began on February 17 in Damghan in the eastern Iranian province of Semnan.
The main aim of the seminar was to survey the situation in the central Iranian plateau in ancient times, Archaeological Research Center of Iran (ARCI) director Mohammad-Hassan Fazel Nashli said in his speech during the opening ceremony.
“Japanese and U.S. archaeologists are very familiar with Tappeh Hesar, and they have published many books and articles on the importance of the site over the years,” he added. “Tappeh Hesar is one of the sites that was constantly used as a residential area for over 4000 years and contains many significant cultural traces of the Bronze Age,” he explained. “The world should be better familiarized with it through comprehensive research,” he added.
Eighteen papers of the 45 submitted by Iranian and foreign experts studying the position of Tappeh Hesar in interregional and intraregional relations, its trade in lapis lazuli, the findings of the latest excavations, and artifacts discovered at the site were presented during the seminar.
A number of experts from the United States, France, Italy, Germany, Russia, India, and Turkey participated in the event.
Tappeh Hesar was first excavated by teams of archaeologists from the University of Pennsylvania in 1931–1932 and the University of Tokyo in 1956. The excavations determined that the site had three main cultural periods, beginning from the late Neolithic period and extending to the end of the Bronze Age.
The most ancient stratum of the site dates back to the middle of the 5th millennium BC.

Tehran Times

Bones discovered in Woodston, Peterborough

		Saturday, 24 February 07 - 12:04 PM (GMT) By Nea Koine' in News

 WHEN a shocked gardener dug up human bones on her allotment a major police operation went into action.
Officers arrived at the plot of land in the Palmerston Road allotment site in Woodston, Peterborough, and immediately set up a crime scene.
Forensic officers carried out a detailed inspection under the cover of a white tent, while a police officer stood guard outside.
Hardy allotment holders already working their land watched the police activity on Saturday afternoon with bemusement.
Some feared the keen gardener, who has not been named, had dug up the remains of a murder victim buried under her vegetable patch.
However, a vital clue was later unearthed when the remains of what is thought to be an ancient Roman bowl was discovered alongside more bones.
Today, the bones and the pottery were being examined by a forensic archaeologist who will attempt to work out how old they are, and how they came to be buried beneath the allotment.
Cambridgeshire police spokeswoman Kate Burke said: "The allotment holder discovered a number of bones, which we believe to be human.
"An investigation is under way and we are currently trying to work how the bones came to be buried at the site.
"A forensic archaeologist visited
the site on Sunday and he is carrying out tests. We hope he will be able to tell us how old they are."
Allotment holders and local residents yesterday spoke of their shock at the discovery.
Nicola Pepe (66), who lives in nearby Queen's Walk, has been an allotment holder at the site for more than 40 years.
Speaking at the scene, Mr Pepe said: "I have been coming here almost every day since 1966 and I've never seen anything like this happening before.
"I was just walking past and saw the gates open, so I thought I would come and check everything was OK. Then I saw the police.
"I'm shocked to hear that bones have been found in the soil. I would love to know how they got there."
A man in his 60s, who lives in New Road, said local people were keen for the bones to be identified quickly.
He said: "Everybody has been talking about it. There are rumours a skull was found, but it's hard to know what the truth is.
"I suppose it's possible the bones could be really old and part of some ancient burial site. If so, that would be fascinating.
"We're all hoping they have not been dumped there recently."
The allotment has been closed to the public while the police investigation is completed.

The Evening Telegraph

Turkey launches vast archeological project

		Saturday, 24 February 07 - 11:59 AM (GMT) By Nea Koine' in News

In an effort to create a chronological assessment of Turkey’s cultural assets, parts of the ancient Greco-Roman regions of Pisidia and Karia are currently being excavated and studied.
As part of the Archeological Settlements of Turkey Project (TAY), Oğuz Tanındı, professor of prehistory at İstanbul University’s Department of Archeology, established TAY in 1993. Tanındı said that their excavation currently includes findings from the Stone and Bronze Ages and that they have been working on archeological sites from the Greco-Roman age in Anatolia and Thrace for the past four years.
Tanındı said their project in Pisidia -- which includes Afyon, Burdur, Isparta and Konya -- is being led by archeologists Senem Özden, and their project in Karia -- which includes, Aydin, Burdur, Denizli and Muğla -- is being led by Mete Aksan.
Tanındı said: “The project includes data on 555 caves that date from 950 B.C. to the period of the Roman Emperor Theodosius in 395. There are 282 caves in the Pisidia region and 273 in the Karia region. An additional 1,511 findings have been added to the research of the region. The map of the city, the architecture and findings were included in the 200 visual material and the map of Pisidia and Karia showing the location of the caves were included in the project.”
In every card made for each cave there is the information on the name, height, width, depth, region, province, town and location of the cave, and there is also a Greco-Roman dictionary that has 70 words included in the files.
In the Karia region there is Aphrodisias, Didyma, Halikarnassos, Kaunos and Knidos in Muğla. In the Pisidia region there is Ikonion in Konya, Laodikeia, Keraitai and Sagalassos in Burdur and Tymbriada in Isparta.
In the past, treasure hunters easily ransack these sites for money and gold. As economic burdens increased, these two regions were attacked by thieves, robbers and old civilizations. 

İstanbul Today’s Zaman  

Old Temples found in Bulgaria

		Saturday, 24 February 07 - 11:56 AM (GMT) By Nea Koine' in News

Gladiators in Chester

		Saturday, 24 February 07 - 11:51 AM (GMT) By Nea Koine' in News

Gladiatorial contests took place at the largest amphitheatre in Roman Britain, according to new evidence unearthed by archaeologists.Finds at an excavation of the arena in Chester provide the most conclusive proof yet that it played host to grisly fights to the death for public entertainment, and reinforce the view of the town's importance in the Roman Empire.
A stone block with iron fittings was discovered at the centre of the two-storey amphitheatre, which dates back to about AD100. It is similar to one depicted in a 3rd century mosaic found at a Roman villa at Bignor, West Sussex, which shows two gladiators fighting.
It is the third such stone block found at the site and its location suggests the anchors were evenly spaced along the long axis of the arena preventing gladiators from sheltering against the arena wall and thereby giving spectators the best possible view.
Dan Garner, an archaeologist at Chester City Council, said: "Any thought that Chester's amphitheatre was used purely for military purposes such as military tattoos or drill practice can now be firmly banished.
"Up to now, we have found human and animal remains to suggest that gladiatorial games may have taken place, but the discovery of the third chain block put that suggestion almost beyond doubt.
"I dare say that people met a rather brutal end in Chester's arena some 1,900 years ago."
Tony Wilmott, an archaeologist at English Heritage, said: "There are still a number of questions: whether humans or animals were chained; whether the chains were long or short; or whether the chains passed through the ring on the stone allow-ing a degree of free movement.
"It is possible that the blocks were also used for displaying exotic animals or for executing criminals who would be cast into the arena together with violent beasts.
"What is certain is the Romans' flair for mass entertainment. By chaining victims to these blocks along the long axis, they were trying to ensure that spectators had the maximum view of whatever was happening and did so by preventing victims from sheltering against the arena wall, where they could be seen by only half of the audience."
While the archaeologists cannot be sure precisely which forms of gladiatorial encounters were staged in Chester, it is known there was a special type of gladiator called a bestiarius, who was trained to fight different types of animals.
The amphitheatre, 230ft in diameter, was discovered in 2005 beneath the remains of a later, larger arena. Half the site lies beneath a built-up area.
Previous finds include beef ribs, chicken bones, mass-produced Samian pottery bowls depicting gladiatorial scenes, a human tooth and large quantities of yellow sand — possibly brought in to soak up the blood.
Also newly discovered is evidence of eight vaulted stairways, known as vomitoria, that opened directly on to the street and served as entrances to the auditorium.
Two foundation stones that formed the base for substantial half-columns have led the archaeologists to conclude there would have been one storey of such columns.
These architectural discoveries have allowed English Heritage experts to create a reconstruction of the height and grandeur of the amphitheatre.
They found the closest parallels to be the Colosseum in Rome and the amphitheatre of El Djem, Tunisia.
Unlike other smaller, more basic amphitheatres in Britain, the one in Chester had proper seating for about 10,000 spectators on two storeys.
The size and elaborate exterior design of the amphitheatre further underline the importance of Chester to the Roman Empire.
The new findings, made as part of a collaboration between English Heritage and Chester City Council, will be presented at the international symposium Roman Amphitheatres and Spectacula: a 21st century perspective, to be held this weekend.

Nic Fleming -  Telegraph On Line

Corfu honored with a new museum

		Saturday, 24 February 07 - 11:48 AM (GMT) By Nea Koine' in News

Old leprosy hospital, concentration camp renovated The chapel of Aghios Dimitrios is one of the few buildings on the islet of Lazaretto, off Corfu.
A museum of medical history and national reconciliation is to be built on the historic islet of Lazaretto, Corfu. The old leprosy hospital, which has been listed for preservation, is set for restoration and the surrounding area will be refurbished and made fully accessible to the public, according to a Corfu Municipality architectural study that has the approval of Deputy Environment Minister Stavros Kaloyiannis.
The 7-hectare islet, formerly known as Aghios Dimitrios, sits off the northeast coast of Corfu, about 2 nautical miles from the town.
In the early 16th century, when Corfu was under Venetian rule, a monastery was established on the islet. Later that century, the island was renamed Lazaretto, after the leprosarium that was set up there. Similar establishments survive on Ithaca and Zakynthos,
In 1798, when the French ruled Corfu, the Russo-Turkish fleet took over the islet and ran it as a military hospital. In 1814, during the British occupation, the leprosarium was renovated and went into operation again.
After the Ionian Islands were united with Greece (1864), the leprosarium only operated when needed. During the Greek civil war (1946-49), it became a concentration camp for political prisoners, a large number of whom were executed (112 executions have been confirmed).
In 1992, the islet was declared a historic site, and in 2003 Greek Tourism Properties SA announced a tender for the revamping of the islet, but there was no result.
The islet belongs to the state and has been handed over to the Municipality of Corfu for 20 years to promote it culturally.
The remains of the leprosarium include a two-story travelers’ lodge, the Church of Aghios Dimitrios and scattered remnants of buildings, little towers, cisterns and the old cemetery.
A relic of the more recent past is the wall against which prisoners were executed during the civil war.
According to the study, “the main building of the leprosarium will be used as an exhibition and public reception area, while the rest of the museum’s operations will be concentrate in an annex to be built at the rear of the listed building.”

Giorgos Lialios - Kathimerini

Saqqara reveals more secrets

		Thursday, 22 February 07 - 12:09 PM (GMT) By Nea Koine' in News

Archaeologists unveiled Tuesday the tombs of a Pharaonic butler and scribe that had been buried in the sand for more than 3,000 years.
The tombs, along with the painted coffins of a priest and his girlfriend, were discovered early this year at Saqqara near the famous Step Pyramid of King Djoser — the oldest of Egypt's more than 90 pyramids.
"The sands of Saqqara reveal lots of secrets," said Egypt's antiquities chief, Zahi Hawass, as he showed reporters around a 4,000-year-old tomb of mud bricks that belonged to a scribe of divine records, Ka-Hay, and his wife.
"It doesn't look great because it was built from mud brick and not built of limestone, but I really believe that this tomb is very important," said Hawass, who was wearing his Indiana Jones-style hat. "This type of tomb could enrich our knowledge about the people who actually surrounded the kings of Saqqara, especially the people who lived 4,200 years ago."
The tomb featured a dark wooden door, which ancient Egyptians believed that the souls of the dead would use to leave their tomb. The door bore engravings in hieroglyphic text and pictures of the scribe and his wife.
South of the Step Pyramid, archeologists unveiled a second tomb, which belonged to a butler who died 3,350 years ago. Carved out of limestone, the tomb contained murals that showed scenes of people performing rituals and monkeys eating fruit. The blue and orange colors of the paint were surprisingly well preserved.
"This is a very, very lively scene," said Maarten Raven, the excavation's director and a curator at the National Museum of Antiquities in Leiden, Netherlands.
Raven said he believed other tombs from the New Kingdom, similar to the one unveiled Tuesday, had yet to be uncovered in Saqqara, which is famous for Old Kingdom antiquities.
Many of the New Kingdom tombs, which date back from 1570 B.C. to 1070 B.C., can be found in the southern Egyptian city of Luxor.
"We hope one day this area will be open to visitors so people can see that Saqqara is not only Old Kingdom but New Kingdom as well," Raven said.
Hawass also unveiled two wooden coffins, 4,000 years old, that were found south of the Step Pyramid. The coffins, painted light orange with blue hieroglyphics, contained human-shaped coffins known as anthropoids, in which lay the mummies of a priest and his girlfriend, Hawass said.
The ancient Egyptians believed anthropoids acted as a substitute body for the dead.
Although archaeologists have been exploring Egypt intensively for more than 150 years, Hawass believes only 30 percent of what lies under the sands at Saqqara has been uncovered.
Saqqara, about 12 miles south of Cairo, hosts a collection of temples, tombs and funerary complexes. Its Step Pyramid is the forerunner of the more sophisticated pyramids in Giza, which are believed to have been built about a century later.

Anna Johnson - Associated Press

Underwater ancient settlement in İzmir district

		Thursday, 22 February 07 - 12:02 PM (GMT) By Nea Koine' in News

The aim of the Liman Tepe excavations is to uncover the complete port complex and settlement hidden underwater, which has thus far uncovered a sunken ship that is now on display at the Underwater Archaeology Museum in Urla
The partially submerged Liman Tepe, a major Early Bronze Age harbor town located in İzmir's Urla district, possesses the world's oldest breakwater, said archaeologist Professor Hayat Erkanal during a press conference last week. Breakwaters, an important part of modern nautical life worldwide, are constructed on or near coastal areas as a defense from incoming waters that protects ships as well as land from harsh weather and high tides.
Erkanal, who is also the president of Ankara University's Underwater Archaeological Research Center, has been the head of this excavation site since 1992 and presented information about the excavations at a press conference together with Urla Mayor Selçuk Karaosmanoğlu. Erkanal said their excavations continued both on land and underwater and their aim was to explore the hidden parts of the settlement buried underwater. Excavations indicated that Liman Tepe had interaction with different cultures and was a corridor for numerous cultures due to its geographical situation as well as its port, an important spot for overseas trade and multilateral cultural interaction at the time. The whole harbor complex is buried underwater today and our aim is to uncover the complete port complex and settlement hidden underwater."
Liman Tepe is a major prehistoric settlement that was inhabited from the Neolithic Age until the end of the late Bronze Age, continuing into the Classical Age. Professor Güven Bakır and Erkanal carried out the first archaeological digs at the site in 1979, and a team led by Erkanal under the auspices of Ankara University's Archaeology department is conducting the current excavations.
Erkanal further noted that their underwater work indicates that Liman Tepe has the world's oldest breakwater, which was built to block the strong north winds and as a natural part of the city wall. He said their work also included geological research aimed to reveal the physical changes of the sea level and ground as well as the region hosting the Liman Tepe settlement throughout history.  
Excavation site to open for visitors:
Our excavations in the settlement focus on Early Bronze Age remains. The settlement was surrounded by a monumental city wall and consisted of two cities: downtown and an Acropolis, which included a palace-like structure representing political, economic and religious power, he noted.
According to Erkanal, the most significant finding from last year's excavations was part of an anchor, which is made of wood and metal, and indicates evidence of marine activities.   
He added that they had previously unearthed a sunken ship found during excavations and is now ready to go on display at the Underwater Archaeology Museum to be opened in Urla. We want to list all the underwater treasures of the area in an inventory and also to open the excavation site to the public.  
Urla, a district of İzmir, is located on the road to Çeşme from İzmir and lies 38 kilometers west of İzmir. The district used to be an important cultural center in ancient times and was originally the site of the Ionian city of Klazomenai, with probably the most ancient and regularly used port in the world. The excavated artifacts and sculptures are currently exhibited in the Louvre, Athens National Museum and İzmir Archaeology Museum.

Turkish Daily News

Byzantine mosaic discovery in Jerusalem

		Thursday, 22 February 07 - 11:58 AM (GMT) By Nea Koine' in News

The planned walkway at the centre of the furious dispute over Jerusalem's holiest site could be further delayed by the discovery of a Byzantine mosaic.
The geometric patterned fragment was exposed by archaeological workers yesterday at the bottom of an underground shaft where one of the walkway pillars is intended to go, as The Independent examined excavation work in the area.
"We have a real time discovery," reported Gideon Avni, director of excavations and surveys at the Israel Antiquities Authority.
Dr Avni said further excavations would now be needed to see whether the mosaic, probably from the fifth or sixth century AD, was part of a larger decorated room or house. He said it was too early to say whether the pillar would have to be moved. If the fragment turned out not to extend further, it could possibly be extracted and exhibited.
The discovery was the latest in a series of twists in the conflict over access through the Mugrabi Gate to the compound sacred to Jews as the Temple Mount and to Muslims as Haram al-Sharif - noble sanctuary.
Seventeen policemen and 23 Palestinians were injured last Friday during demonstrations against the building of the new walkway, where the Dome of the Rock and the Al Aqsa Mosque - Islam's third holiest site - is located. The work, is being carried out close to the Western Wall, the remains of the second Jewish Temple destroyed by the Romans AD70, and most sacred place in Judaism.
On Monday, Jerusalem's ultra-Orthodox Mayor, Uri Lupolianski, won praise from Israeli liberals when he unexpectedly announced work on the new walkway would be frozen to allow time for objections, including by Muslims, under a formal planning procedure. But the Israeli government said the archaeological "salvage digging" customary when construction work is carried out in the area, would continue.
Dr Avni vehemently denied claims by some Islamic leaders - and echoed by demonstrators from Cairo to Damascus - that the excavations posed a threat to the foundations of the mosques, saying they were all taking place in a limited area outside the walls of the compound. The Israeli authorities are arranging for webcam pictures of the dig to prove his case.
And while archaeology in Jerusalem is often complicated by religious and political overtones, Dr Avni virtually ruled out the possibility that the digs will discover remnants of the Jewish temple period.
Pointing to arches from Ottoman and Mameluke structures below the ramp, he added: "I don't believe that they will even reach the early Islamic period."
The eminent Israeli novelist Amos Oz yesterday praised the Mayor's decision to put work on the walkway on hold but added in an article in Yedhiot Ahronot: "It would be appropriate if this argument would also lead to the postponement of the archeological excavations - these excavations are also sparking the fires of religious dispute over the question of who in fact is the proprietor of the Temple Mount holy sites."

Donald Macintyre - The Independent 

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