Hazor in the Tenth Century BCE
ANE Today Editorial Introduction:* Few topics are more controversial than the biblical kingdoms of David and Solomon. Were they and their rulers real, and if so, what archaeological remains did they leave? Or were they literary creations, exaggerations or even fabrications of later biblical writers? The arguments have raged for almost three decades without end, […]
Archaeology Weekly Roundup! 8-2-13
The University of Leicester team lifted the lid of a medieval stone coffin only to find a lead coffin inside, during the final week of their second dig at the Grey Friars site, where the King Richard III was discovered in September. Thousands of artifacts have come to light through the “Ilısu Protection Excavation Project” […]
Archaeology Weekly Roundup! 7-18-13
Archaeologists tunnelling beneath the main temple of the ancient Maya city of El Perú-Waka’ in northern Guatemala have discovered an intricately carved stone monument with hieroglyphic text detailing the exploits of a little-known sixth-century princess whose progeny prevailed in a bloody, back-and-forth struggle between two of the civilization’s most powerful royal dynasties, Guatemalan cultural officials […]
Archaeology in the News! 7-12-13
The oldest inscription found in Jerusalem is a 3,000-year-old text, in an unknown language on the top of a jug, is earliest alphabetical writing ever found in city. However ASOR Member Chris Rollston writes that he has deciphered it. Primitive inscriptions dating back about 5,000 years – and believed to be 1,400 years older than […]
Archaeology Weekly Roundup! 6-28-2013
ASOR member Jodi Magness’ excavation at Huqoq has unearthed another mosaic featuring Samson. The mosaics, which consist of hundreds of tiny stone cubes, depict scenes from in the Bible and have been dated to the fifth century. At ancient Babylon’s Ishtar Gate, Iraqi workers labour with a heavy saw, hammers, a chisel and crowbar to break […]
Archaeology Weekly Roundup! 6-14-13
The secret to making sustainable, strong concrete may have been at the bottom the Mediterranean Sea for the past 2,000 years: Researchers believe that the ancient Romans created concrete that is more environmentally friendly and durable than modern cement. Kazakhstan archaeologists have found a tomb of a “Saka princess”. The burial site of the high-ranking young […]
Archaeology Weekly Roundup! 6-7-13
The ivory carvings and plaques found at the 8th century BCE Phoenician city of Arslan Tash — “Stone Lion” — may appear as flat monochrome objects when viewed in museums today, but once they shone with brilliant blue, red and several other colors as well as glittering with real gold paint. The ancient town of […]
Archaeology Weekly Roundup! 5-31-13
Parts of the Dead Sea Scrolls are up for sale – in tiny pieces. Nearly 70 years after the discovery of the world’s oldest biblical manuscripts, the Palestinian family who originally sold them to scholars and institutions is now quietly marketing the leftovers – fragments the family says it has kept in a Swiss […]
Archaeology Weekly Roundup! 5-24-13
An international team of researchers including Colorado State University professors Christopher Fisher and Stephen Leisz have been utilizing LiDAR technology to seek ancient settlements and human constructed landscapes in an area long rumoured to contain the legendary city of Ciudad Blanca – the mythical “White City” – in Central America. Schoolchildren, pensioners and office workers […]
Archaeology Weekly Roundup! 5-17-13
Will Egypt’s illustrious heritage fall into oblivion under the toll of urban and agricultural encroachment? Nevine El-Aref finds that serious problems are facing some of the nation’s famous archaeological sites, while others may be storms in so many teacups. By the end of the century, the birthplace of America may be underwater. Jamestown is now […]
Archaeology Weekly Roundup! 5-3-13
To see Sana’a’s Old City for the first time is like “a vision of a childhood dream world of fantasy castles,” a visitor once remarked, but official neglect and unruly construction are threatening to destroy that magic. UNESCO has even threatened to remove the city from the World Heritage List. They lived in well-planned cities, […]
Archaeology Weekly Roundup! 4-26-13
The minaret of one of Syria’s most famous mosques has been destroyed during clashes in the northern city of Aleppo. The state news agency Sana accused rebels of blowing up the 11th-Century minaret of the Umayyad Mosque. However, activists say the minaret was hit by Syrian army tank fire. The builders of the famous Giza […]
Archaeology Weekly Roundup! 4-12-13
A new language dating back to the Scottish Iron Age has been identified on carved stones. These inscriptions are believed to belong to the early Pict society living from ca 300 to 843 AD, in modern-day eastern and northern Scotland. A giant “monumental” stone structure discovered beneath the waters of the Sea of Galilee in […]
Archaeology and Cultural Heritage in Egypt after Mubarak
By: Greg Williams Egypt’s January 25th revolution was originally seen as part of the larger “Arab Spring” across the Middle East where old political regimes were overthrown by popular protests and replaced by representative democracies. But on January 28th, as chaos reigned in Cairo’s Tahrir Square, reports began circulating around the globe claiming that […]
Archaeology Weekly Roundup! 3-29-13
An Internet sensation was touched off this week by Russian photographer Vadim Makhorov and a group of his friends — the group ignored regulations prohibiting the public from climbing on the Pyramids at Giza, Egypt, and came away with spectacular photos. Bones which some believe could be those of Alfred the Great have been exhumed […]
Archaeology Weekly Roundup! 3-22-13
Egyptian blue, the world’s oldest artificial pigment, could be put to a range of modern uses from medical imaging devices to remote controls for televisions, newly-published research says. Research by Hendrik Bruins suggests people in the Negev highlands practiced agriculture as long ago as 5000 B.C.E. This is thousands of years earlier than researchers previously […]
Archaeology in the News! 3-15-13
Some great photographs of Roman ruins in Libya from the air by Jason Hawkes. A new neolithic village has been found in Israel as part of salvage excavations. It contains some of the earliest evidence of growing legumes and cultic sexual symbols. Thanks to delays in construction of the massive mine and a hefty influx […]
Archaeology Weekly Roundup! 3-8-13
It’s snowy again in Boston, but here’s some news from a lot of places less icy. Recent archaeological discoveries on the Arabian Peninsula have uncovered evidence of a previously unknown culture based in the now arid areas in the middle of the desert. The artefacts unearthed are providing proof of a society that flourished thousands of […]
Archaeology Weekly Roundup! 3-1-13
A brief article on some really interesting uses of ‘cyber-archaeology’ at Petra, including terrestrial LiDAR and balloon photography. More than 2,000 years ago, at a time when Egypt was ruled by a dynasty of kings of Greek descent, someone, perhaps a group of people, hid away some of the most valuable possessions they had — […]
Archaeology Weekly Roundup! 2-22-13
From a distance, it looks as though an animal has burrowed around the 4,000-year-old Black Pyramid of Amenemhat III. But thieves dug these holes. And Egyptian archaeologist Monica Hanna calls that “a catastrophe.” Chemi Shiff’s analysis of the significance of the Nabataean site of Avdat in Israel and how different approaches to the site over time […]