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| Gods, Graves, Glyphs Weekly Digest #353 Saturday, April 23, 2011 |
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| Let's Have Jerusalem | |
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| Pharaoh, the Ten Plagues, and Iran |
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· 03/29/2010 11:56:04 AM PDT · · Posted by Wontsubmit · · 4 replies · · 278+ view · · Mar 28 2010 · · Andrew Klavan · |
An antisemitic Jew I know, rather than seeing the Passover ceremony as the celebration of freedom (the world's first and for a long time only successful slave revolt), and of justice and morality (the Ten Commandments), derides the whole ceremony as the unconscionable and immoral celebration of the genocide of the Egyptian people. What troubles him so much is the fact that, after each plague, when Pharaoh seems about to soften and let the Jews go, God hardens Pharaoh's heart, leadingto the necessity of yet another plague, culminating in the death of the first born. I know that some... |
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| Abstract Ancestors |
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· 03/29/2010 12:20:44 AM PDT · · Posted by nickcarraway · · 3 replies · · 220+ view · · 3/29/10 · · Rabbi Yosef Reinman · |
A Closer Look at the Peculiar Preamble to the Passover SederIt always helps to know what you're saying, especially if you want to get into the spirit of things. Most American Jews who attend a Passover Seder these days say the Haggadah in English, which makes sense if your Hebrew is rather limited. In ancient times, the common language, the lingua franca, in Israel and the surrounding countries was Aramaic. Nonetheless, the Haggadah was said in Hebrew, because most Jewish people understood it reasonably well even though they didn't speak it at home or on the street. And yet, the... |
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| Was Moses a war criminal? |
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· 03/28/2010 3:06:45 PM PDT · · Posted by Shellybenoit · · 14 replies · · 431+ view · · 3/28/10 · · Professor Gerald Steinberg · |
This year, in reciting the Passover story and Exodus from Egypt, I suggest extending the discussion to include stories that might have been featured in newspapers, blogs, and nightly news broadcasts of 4,000 years ago (give or take a few centuries). In this not-so-imaginary world, the headlines and video clips highlight stark images of blood flowing in the Nile and the devastation from frogs, boils, locusts and other plagues. The BBC sends a team of reporters to document the devastation in Egypt for a 10-part series -- one for each plague. Editorials attack pro-Israelite conspirators, and NPR features moving interviews... |
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| Movement To Bring Back Temple Sacrifice |
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· 04/24/2006 6:48:22 PM PDT · · Posted by Iam1ru1-2 · · 74 replies · · 827+ view · · Hillel Fendel · |
"It's not a question of 'maybe' or 'if'," says the Temple Institute's Rabbi Yisrael Ariel. "Bringing the Paschal sacrifice is a Torah obligation incumbent upon the People of Israel these very days." Speaking with Yoel Yaakobi of the weekly B'Sheva newspaper, Rabbi Ariel said that though there are some grave Halakhic [Jewish legal] problems associated with bringing the Paschal sacrifice, "we have found the solutions, and the obligation is as strong as ever. This is one of the only twopositive Biblical commandments that those who forsake it are liable to receive the ultimate karet [cutting off] punishment. From the... |
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| Faith & Philosophy | |
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| Last Supper celebrated a day late, physicist claims in book |
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· 04/18/2011 3:33:37 PM PDT · · Posted by NYer · · 30 replies · · April 17, 2011 · |
Pascal Adolphe Dagnan-Bouveret's The Last Supper Wikipedia---The Last Supper is commemorated a day late, a Cambridge University physicist claims in his new book, according to reports in the Sydney Morning Herald and the Belfast Telegraph. Professor Sir Colin Humphreys argues that the last supper Jesus Christ shared with his disciples occurred on Wednesday, April 1, AD33, rather than on a Thursday as traditionally celebrated in most Christian churches.The theory would explain the apparent inconsistencies between the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke - which say the Last Supper was a Passover meal - and that of John, which says Jesus... |
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| Pope Notes Hypothesis on Date of Passover - Says Christ Likely Followed Essene Calendar |
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· 04/06/2007 7:14:13 PM PDT · · Posted by NYer · · 13 replies · · 1,338+ view · · April 6, 2007 · |
VATICAN CITY, APRIL 6, 2007 (Zenit.org).- It is likely that Jesus followed the calendar of the Essenes of Qumran, possibly explaining some contradictions within the Gospel accounts of the Passover, says Benedict XVI. The Pope made this observation Holy Thursday in his homily during the Mass of the Lord's Supper at the Basilica of St. John Lateran. In his address, the theologian commented on the historical investigations on the manuscripts of Qumran, found in the Dead Sea in 1947. "Inthe narrations of the Evangelists, there is an apparent contradiction between the Gospel of John, on one hand, and what,... |
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| What Really Happened at "Easter"? |
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· 03/30/2007 4:41:10 PM PDT · · Posted by Uri'el-2012 · · 190 replies · · 4,076+ view · · March 2007 · · Chuck Missler Ph.D. · |
Most reasonably informed Christians are well aware that many of the traditions that surround the Christmas holidays have pagan origins and very little correlation with the actual events as recorded in the Bible. However, most of us are surprised when we discover that some of what we have been taught about "Easter" is not only in error, but deliberately so! Many, of course, are aware that the name "Easter" actually originates with the pagan worship of Ishtar (or Astarte) that was traditionally observed at the time of the vernal equinox, nominally about March 21 or... |
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| What Are the Real Origins of Easter? |
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· 04/08/2006 7:12:48 AM PDT · · Posted by DouglasKC · · 256 replies · · 2,067+ view · · Spring 2006 · · Jerold Aust · |
Millions assume that Easter, one of the world's major religious holidays, is found in the Bible. But is it? Have you ever looked into Easter's origins and customs and compared them with the Bible? by Jerold Aust Easter is one of the most popular religious celebrations in the world. But is it biblical? The word Easter appears only once in the King James Version of the Bible (and not at all in most others). In the one place it does appear, the King James translators mistranslated the Greek word for Passover as... |
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| Researchers Unearth Ancient Japanese Bible Translation |
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· 06/22/2003 9:33:49 AM PDT · · Posted by blam · · 8 replies · · 732+ view · · 6-20-2003 · |
Researchers unearth ancient Japanese bible translation OSAKA -- A 400-year-old Japanese translation of biblical literature has been found at a university in the old Polish city of Krakow, a researcher has told the Mainichi. Courtesy of Jagiellorian University. The Japanese translation is written below the Latin text. One of the oldest known translations of the bible in Japanese, several paragraphs were translated by a Japanese mission of boys that left the country in 1582 and arrivedin Rome three years later to receive an audience by Pope Gregory XIII. "European countries that received the mission showed great interest and numerous... |
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| Middle Ages & Renaissance | |
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| Austrian authorities reveal find of buried treasure (650 years old) |
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· 04/22/2011 6:43:33 PM PDT · · Posted by decimon · · 37 replies · · April 22, 2011 · · George Jahn · |
VIENNA -- A man turning dirt in his back yard stumbled onto buried treasure -- hundreds of pieces of centuries-old jewelry and other precious objects that Austrian authorities described Friday as a fairy-tale find. Austria's departmentin charge of national antiquities said the trove consists of more than 200 rings, brooches, ornate belt buckles, gold-plated silver plates and other pieces or fragments, many encrusted with pearls, fossilized coral and other ornaments. It says the objects are about 650 years old and are being evaluated for their provenance and worth. |
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| Helix, Make Mine a Double | |
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| Race row erupts over casting of Angelina Jolie as Cleopatra |
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· 06/17/2010 8:16:48 PM PDT · · Posted by Free ThinkerNY · · 158 replies · · 3,003+ view · · June 17, 2010 · · Sophie Forbes · |
She hasn't even been officially confirmed as having the role, but Angelina Jolie is already receiving criticism over her possible portrayal of the legendary Queen of the Nile. Jolie, who turned 35 last week, is caught up in a racially charged debate over whether the role should of been played by a black woman. The Egyptian royal was most famously portrayed Elizabeth Taylor in 1963. The new film's producer, Scott Rudin, previously told USA Today the role is being developed with Angelina in mind as she has 'the perfect look'. But this statement has angered members of the African American... |
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| Race row erupts over casting of Angelina Jolie as Cleopatra |
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· 06/18/2010 4:13:24 AM PDT · · Posted by C19fan · · 77 replies · · 1,504+ view · · June 17, 2010 · · Sophie Forbes · |
She hasn't even been officially confirmed as having the role, but Angelina Jolie is already receiving criticism over her possible portrayal of the legendary Queen of the Nile. Jolie, who turned 35 last week, is caught up in a racially charged debate over whether the role should of been played by a black woman. The Egyptian royal was most famously portrayed Elizabeth Taylor in 1963. The new film's producer, Scott Rudin, previously told USA Today the role is being developed with Angelina in mind as she has 'the perfect look'. But this statement has angered members of the African American... |
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| Angelina Jolie Race Row |
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· 06/18/2010 7:21:52 AM PDT · · Posted by chesley · · 114 replies · · 1,678+ view · · Sophie Forbes · |
She hasn't even been officially confirmed as having the role, but Angelina Jolie is already receiving criticism over her possible portrayal of the legendary Queen of the Nile. Jolie, who turned 35 last week, is caught up in a racially charged debate over whether the role should have been played by a black woman... |
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| Angelina Jolie draws criticism for being 'too white' to play Cleopatra in upcoming Scott Rudin film |
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· 06/21/2010 7:43:10 AM PDT · · Posted by re_tail20 · · 109 replies · · 3+ view · · June 19, 2010 · · Meena Hartenstein · |
Angelina Jolie is one of the most beautiful women in the world, but her "perfect" looks have some critics complaining she's all wrong for her latest role. Earlier this month producer Scott Rudin got the Internet buzzing with his announcement that he was developing a Cleopatra biopic "for and with Jolie" based on Stacy Schiff's book "Cleopatra: A Life." Schiff raved about the choice, telling USA Today, "Physically, she's the perfect look." But some members of the African American community beg to differ -- they are outraged by the casting decision and say Jolie is "too white" to play the... |
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| Egypt | |
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| Antiquities chief Zahi Hawass sentenced to one year in jail |
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· 04/18/2011 5:13:09 PM PDT · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 30 replies · · Sunday, April 17, 2011 · · Hatem Maher · |
Minister of State for Antiquities Affairs Zahi Hawass has been sentenced to one year in jail on Sunday for refusing to fulfill a court ruling over a land dispute. The Egyptian criminal court also said Hawass must be relieved of his governmental duties and ordered him to pay a LE1000 penalty. Hawass failed to adhere to a ruling in favour of his opponent over a land dispute when he was in charge of the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA). The SCA appealed the court ruling, arguing that the land includes monuments and therefore should be treated as government-owned land. Hawass... |
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| Prehistory & Origins | |
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| 12,000 Years Old Unexplained Structure [Gobekli Tepe] |
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· 04/18/2011 4:25:18 PM PDT · · Posted by stockpirate · · 107 replies · · 2/10/2011 · · History Channel · |
This site is 12,000 years old, the most advanced strutures ever found. Several video's on the link |
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| Neandertal / Neanderthal | |
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| Did Neanderthals Believe in an Afterlife? |
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· 04/21/2011 8:06:19 PM PDT · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 21 replies · · Wednesday, April 20, 2011 · · Jennifer Viegas · |
Evidence for a likely 50,000-year-old Neanderthal burial ground that includes the remains of at least three individuals has been unearthed in Spain... The deceased appear to have been intentionally buried, with each Neanderthal's armsfolded such that the hands were close to the head. Remains of other Neanderthals have been found in this position, suggesting that it held meaning. Neanderthals therefore may have conducted burials and possessed symbolic thought before modern humans hadthese abilities... So far they have found buried articulated skeletons for a young adult female, a juvenile or child, and an adult -- possibly male -- Neanderthal...... |
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| Epigraphy & Language | |
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| New research suggests right-handedness prevailed 500,000 years ago |
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· 04/21/2011 7:58:26 PM PDT · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 32 replies · · April 18, 2011 · · Brendan M. Lynch · |
David Frayer, professor of anthropology at the University of Kansas, has used markings on fossilized front teeth to show that right-handedness goes back more than 500,000 years... His research shows that distinctive markings on fossilized teeth correlate to the right or left-handedness of individual prehistoric humans... The oldest teeth come from a more than 500,000-year-old chamber known as Sima de los Huesos near Burgos, Spain, containing the remains of humans believed to be ancestors of European Neandertals. Other teeth studied by Frayer come from later Neandertal populations in Europe... Overall, Frayer and his co-authors found right-handedness in 93.1 percent of... |
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| Evolution of human 'super-brain' tied to development of bipedalism, tool-making |
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· 04/21/2011 8:15:16 PM PDT · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 14 replies · · Wednesday, April 20, 2011 · · John Hoffecker · |
CU-Boulder Research Associate John Hoffecker said there is abundant fossil and archaeological evidence for the evolution of the human mind, including its unique power to create a potentially infinite variety of thoughts expressed in the form of sentences, art and technologies. He attributes the evolving power of the mind to the formation of what he calls the "super-brain," or collective mind, an event that took place in Africa no later than 75,000 years ago... While anatomical fossil evidence for the capability of speech is controversial, the archaeological discoveries of symbols coincides with a creative explosion in the making of many... |
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| Ancient Autopsies | |
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| Mass burial suggests massacre at Iron Age hill fort (UK) |
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· 04/18/2011 3:10:43 PM PDT · · Posted by decimon · · 15 replies · · April 17, 2011 · · Unknown · |
Archaeologists have found evidence of a massacre linked to Iron Age warfare at a hill fort in Derbyshire.A burial site contained only women and children - the first segregated burial of this kind from Iron Age Britain. Nine skeletons were discovered in a section of ditch around the fort at Fin Cop in the Peak District. Scientists believe "perhaps hundreds more skeletons" could be buried in the ditch, only a small part of which has been excavated so far. Construction of the hill fort has been dated to some time between 440BC and 390BC, but it was destroyed before completion.... |
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| Roman Empire | |
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| What Have We Learned In 2,066 Years? |
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· 04/21/2011 10:47:17 AM PDT · · Posted by Wuli · · 30 replies · · Cicero, 55 B.C. · |
QUESTION : WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED IN 2,066 YEARS? "The budget should be balanced, the Treasury should be refilled, public debt should be reduced, the arrogance of officialdom should be tempered and controlled, and the assistance to foreign lands should be curtailed lest Rome become bankrupt. People must again learn to work, instead of living on public assistance." - CICERO - 55 BC ANSWER : APPARENTLY NOTHING |
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| PreColumbian, Clovis & PreClovis | |
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| Carbon dating identifies South America's oldest textiles |
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· 04/21/2011 7:40:45 PM PDT · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 8 replies · · 13-Apr-2011 · · Kevin Stacey · |
Textiles and rope fragments found in a Peruvian cave have been dated to around 12,000 years ago, making them the oldest textiles ever found in South America, according to a report in the April issue of Current Anthropology. The items were found 30 years ago in Guitarrero Cave high in the Andes Mountains. Other artifacts found along with the textiles had been dated to 12,000 ago and even older. However, the textiles themselves had never been dated, and whether they too were that old had been controversial, according to Edward Jolie, an archaeologist at Mercyhurst College (PA) who led this... |
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| Biology & Cryptobiology | |
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| Largest Fossil Spider Found in Volcanic Ash |
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· 04/21/2011 7:31:32 PM PDT · · Posted by greatdefender · · 44 replies · · Charles Q. Choi, LiveScience · |
The largest fossil spider uncovered to date once ensnared prey back in the age of dinosaurs, scientists find. The spider, named Nephila jurassica, was discovered buried in ancient volcanic ash in Inner Mongolia, China. Tufts of hairlike fibers seen on its legs showed this 165-million-year-old arachnid to be the oldest known species of the largest web-weaving spiders alive today -- the golden orb-weavers, or Nephila, which are big enough to catch birds and bats, and use silk that shines like gold in the sunlight. The fossil was about as large as its modern relatives, with a body one inch (2.5... |
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| Catastrophism & Astronomy | |
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| Polar animals' antifreeze has a spiky secret |
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· 04/18/2011 4:25:21 PM PDT · · Posted by decimon · · 13 replies · · April 16, 2011 · · Colin Barras · |
TO SURVIVE in frigid polar regions, many cold-blooded creatures employ a natural antifreeze to protect themselves from the damage that large ice crystals would cause. These antifreeze molecules lock onto ice crystals, but not liquid water - though how they do this has been a mystery. Now the mechanism has been revealed, opening the way to using similar molecules in cancer treatments, to protect healthy tissue while tumours are destroyed by freezing. Antifreeze proteins (AFPs) found in nature lock onto ice crystals and stop them growing large enough to damage tissue. If AFPs bound as easily to liquid water as... |
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| Underwater Archaeology | |
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| Hints of yeast, honey; shipwrecked bubbly uncorked |
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· 11/17/2010 8:11:49 AM PST · · Posted by ConservativeStatement · · 15 replies · · 1+ view · · November 17, 2010 · · Louise Nordstrom · |
MARIEHAMN, Finland -- An accent of mushrooms merged with sweet notes of honey in a sampling Wednesday of what's been billed as the world's oldest champagne, salvaged from a shipwreck in the Baltic Sea. An expert who tasted the vintage bubbly was lyrical, detecting hints of chanterelles and linden blossom. An Associated Press reporter, who also sampled a bottle, found only a slight fizz and flavors of yeast and honey. The champagne -- of the brands Veuve Clicquot and the now defunct Juglar -- was recovered from a shipwreck discovered in July near the Aland Islands, between Sweden and Finland.... |
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| The Revolution | |
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| Madison's Ltr to George Washington, April 16, 1787 |
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· 04/16/2011 4:30:48 AM PDT · · Posted by Jacquerie · · 97 replies · · April 16, 1787 · · James Madison · |
Two hundred and twenty four years ago today, and one month before the Philadelphia Convention, aka the Constitutional Convention was to commence, James Madison responded to a letter from George Washington. He offered his thoughts on anew plan of government, the Virginia Plan. It would emerge largely intact almost five months later as The Constitution of the United States of America. To George Washington New York, April 16 1787 Dear Sir, I have been honoured with your letter of the 31 of March, and find with much pleasure that your views of the reform which ought to be pursued... |
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| Thoroughly Modern Miscellany | |
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| Need Help with Research of Archives |
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· 02/11/2006 11:27:51 AM PST · · Posted by SantaLuz · · 10 replies · · 198+ view · · · |
The memory of John Morton has faded even more than his signature on the original Declaration of Indepedence. He was the first of the signers to die, and since then his name has been largely been forgotten. I'll be visiting the National Archives in Washington, DC in April and would like any recommendations on how to best research pre-1776 documents kept there. John Morton is my relative and I'm trying to do research on why he changed his mind at the last minute and decided to vote in favor of independence; even though he was sent by his Tory constituents... |
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| end of digest #353 20110423 | |
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| Gods, Graves, Glyphs Weekly Digest #354 Saturday, April 30, 2011 |
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| Four Individuals Caught in 'Death Trap' May Shed Light on Human Ancestors |
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· 04/24/2011 8:41:04 PM PDT · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 17 replies · |
...The four hominin individuals died when they fell into a "death trap" in a cave about 2 million years ago at Malapa, South Africa, according to new dates reported by Berger... In addition to the articulated partial skeletons of a youth and an older female unveiled last year in Science, the team members reported the discovery of bones of an 18-month-old infant and at least one other adult. This means they are getting a good look at Au. sediba's development from infancy to old age... Berger and members of his team sketched a quick portrait of Au. sediba, who lived... |
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| Did Peking Man wield a spear? New research suggests early humans were assembling weapons in China 700,000 years ago |
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· 04/30/2011 1:18:29 PM PDT · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 6 replies · · Unreported Heritage News · |
About 700,000 years ago, at a time when China's climate was chillier than it is today, a group of Homo erectus lived in a cave system in Zhoukoudian China. They had a striking appearance. With a heavy brow ridge, large robust teeth and a brain size approaching our own, these people had long since left Africa, their ancestors travelling thousands of kilometres into East Asia. Until recently scientists believed that they lived in more recent times, perhaps only 500,000 years ago. That idea was repudiated two years ago in the journal Nature, when a team of scientists used aluminum/beryllium dating... |
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| Bear DNA is clue to age of Chauvet cave art |
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· 04/19/2011 8:30:29 PM PDT · · Posted by Palter · · 7 replies · · NewScientist · |
Exploring a gorge in south-east France in 1994 for prehistoric artefacts, Jean-Marie Chauvet hit the jackpot. After squeezing through a narrow passage, he found himself in a hidden cavern, the walls of which were covered with paintings of animals. But dating the beautiful images - which featured in Werner Herzog's recent documentary film Cave of Forgotten Dreams - has led to an ugly spat between archaeologists. Could the bones of cave bears settle the debate? Within a year of Chauvet's discovery, radiocarbon dating suggested the images were between 30,000 and 32,000 years old, making them almost twice the age of... |
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| Missing Parts of Sphinx Found in German Cave |
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· 04/30/2011 12:57:18 PM PDT · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 17 replies · · Monsters and Critics · |
Archaeologists have discovered fragments of one of the world's oldest sculptures, a lion-faced figurine estimated at 32,000 years old, from the dirt floor of a cave in southern Germany. The ivory figure, along with a tiny figurine known as the Venus of Hohle Fels, marks the foundation of human artistry. Both were created by a Stone Age European culture that historians call Aurignacian. The Aurignacians appear to have been the first modern humans, with handicrafts, social customs and beliefs. They hunted reindeer, woolly rhinoceros, mammoths and other animals. The Lion-Man sculpture, gradually re-assembled in workshops over decades after the fragments... |
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| The Secrets of Paviland Cave |
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· 04/30/2011 1:07:15 PM PDT · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 2 replies · · Past Horizons (from The Guardian) · |
Paviland cave, on the Gower peninsula in South Wales, is a crucial site for tracing the origins of human life in Britain. It was in here, in 1823, that William Buckland, the first professor of geology at Oxford University, excavated the remains of a body that had been smeared with red ochre (naturally occurring iron oxide) and buried with a selection of periwinkle shells and ivory rods. Buckland initially thought the body was that of a customs officer, killed by smugglers. Then he decided it was a Roman prostitute... This misidentification gave the headless skeleton its name -- "the Red... |
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| The Secrets of Paviland Cave |
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· 04/30/2011 1:07:33 PM PDT · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 5 replies · · Past Horizons (from The Guardian) · |
Paviland cave, on the Gower peninsula in South Wales, is a crucial site for tracing the origins of human life in Britain. It was in here, in 1823, that William Buckland, the first professor of geology at Oxford University, excavated the remains of a body that had been smeared with red ochre (naturally occurring iron oxide) and buried with a selection of periwinkle shells and ivory rods. Buckland initially thought the body was that of a customs officer, killed by smugglers. Then he decided it was a Roman prostitute... This misidentification gave the headless skeleton its name -- "the Red... |
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| Early Somali Life Depicted In Cave Paintings |
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· 04/30/2011 12:15:12 PM PDT · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 16 replies · · RedOrbit · |
Laas Gaal, Somalia (also known as Laas Geel), just outside of Haregeisa, the capital of Somalia's self-declared Somaliland state, contains 10 caves that show vivid depictions of a pastoralist history which dates back to some 5,000 years or more, reports AFP. A French archaeology team was sent in 2002 to survey Somalia in search of rock shelters and caves that might contain stratified archaeological infills that could document the period when production economy appeared in this part of the Horn of Africa, according to Wikipedia. During the survey, the Laas Geel cave paintings were discovered. The paintings were in excellent... |
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| Indians first to ride monsoon winds |
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· 04/24/2011 9:01:28 PM PDT · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 8 replies · · Telegraph India · |
New Delhi, April 18: Mariners from India's east coast exploited monsoon winds to sail to southeast Asia more than 2,000 years ago, an archaeologist has proposed, challenging a long-standing view that a Greek navigator had discovered monsoon winds much later. Sila Tripati at the National Institute of Oceanography (NIO), Goa, has combined archaeological, meteorological, and literary data to suggest that Indian mariners were sailing to southeast Asia riding monsoon winds as far back as the 2nd century BC. A 1st century AD Greek text, Periplus of the Erythreaean Sea, and a contemporary Roman geographer named Pliny have claimed that the... |
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| IndoChina | |||||||
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| Two ancient tombs unearthed in Hanoi's new urban center |
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· 04/24/2011 8:53:30 PM PDT · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 20 replies · · VietNamNet Bridge · |
The first tomb was dug up by road builders in the evening of April 1. The Vietnam Archaeology Institute has sent three experts to the site. Construction activities at this area have been canceled to serve urgent excavation. Shortly after that, the second tomb and the well were unearthed... The two tombs were built by terra-cotta bricks, with domes. Bricks have patterns and ancient characters... Dr. Nguyen Lan Cuong, from the Vietnam Archaeology Institute, said that the two tombs were built in the 4th or 6th centuries. The bigger tomb was built earlier than the small one. The tombs are... |
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| Biology & Cryptobiology | |||||||
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| Ancient Royal Horse Unearthed in Iran |
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· 04/29/2011 12:58:02 PM PDT · · Posted by Red Badger · · 15 replies · · Discovery News · |
Remains of the oldest known Caspian horse, otherwise referred to as the "Kings' horse" due to its popularity among royals the world over, have been unearthed in northern Iran, according to CAIS. The more than 3,000-year-old remains were found at an Iranian site named Gohar-Tappeh. In ancient times, royals often chose Caspian horses to ride them into battle and/or to pull their chariots. During more recent history, individuals such as Price Philip of England have popularized the Caspian, which is the oldest breed of horse in the world still in existence. The Shah of Iran gifted such a horse to... |
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| Paleontology | |||||||
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| Biggest Fossil Spider Found |
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· 04/25/2011 9:25:32 AM PDT · · Posted by JoeProBono · · 30 replies · · nationalgeographic · |
The 165-million-year-old species is a relative of today's large web weavers. The biggest known fossil spider has been found in China, a new study says. Measuring nearly 1 inch (2.5 centimeters) in length, the 165-million-year-old fossil was uncovered in 2005 by farmers in Inner Mongolia (see map) -- a region teeming with fossils from the middle Jurassic period. "Compared to all other spider fossils, this one is huge," said study co-author ChungKun Shih, a visiting professor at Capital Normal University in Beijing, China. "When I first saw it, I immediately realized that it was very unique not only because of its size,... |
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| Egypt | |||||||
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| Enormous statue of powerful pharoah unearthed |
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· 04/26/2011 5:31:00 AM PDT · · Posted by Red Badger · · 28 replies · · www.chron.com · |
CAIRO -- Archeologists unearthed one of the largest statues to date of a powerful ancient Egyptian pharoah at his mortuary temple in the southern city of Luxor, the country's antiquities authority announced Tuesday. The 13 meter (42 foot) tall statue of Amenhotep III was one of pair that flanked the northern entrance to the grand funerary temple on the west bank of the Nile that is currently the focus of a major excavation. The statue consists of seven large quartzite blocks and still lacks a head and was actually first discovered in the 1970s and then rehidden, according to the... |
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| Enormous statue of powerful pharaoh unearthed |
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· 04/26/2011 8:19:27 AM PDT · · Posted by BenLurkin · · 25 replies · · ap · |
The 13 meter (42 foot) tall statue of Amenhotep III was one of a pair that flanked the northern entrance to the grand funerary temple on the west bank of the Nile that is currently the focus of a major excavation |
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| Hawass, Hawass, toujours Hawass | |||||||
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| Egypt's Antiquities Minister Dodges Jail Time (Hawass Skates) |
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· 04/29/2011 1:17:13 PM PDT · · Posted by Red Badger · · 7 replies · · Discovery News · |
Egypt's antiquity minister Zahi Hawass will not serve any jail time and will remain in his position, according to the leading Egyptologist's blog. "The National Council of Egypt's Administrative Court issued a decree today (April 18, 2011) accepting a proposal to stop the recent court ruling against me in my former role as Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, in a case involving the bookstore at the Egyptian Museum," Hawass wrote. Centering on the bookstore that was looted during the Egyptian revolution in January, the verdict on Sunday seemed to put to an end Hawass' career. The Egyptian... |
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| International Cuisine | |||||||
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| Plants found in ancient pills offer medicinal insight (2000 years old) |
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· 04/27/2011 8:41:07 PM PDT · · Posted by decimon · · 3 replies · · BBC · |
DNA extracted from 2,000-year-old plants recovered from an Italian shipwreck could offer scientists the key to new medicines. Carrots, parsley and wild onions were among the samples preserved in clay pills on board the merchant trading vessel that sank around 120 BC. It's believed the plants were used by doctors to treat intestinal disorders among the ship's crew. Such remedies are described in ancient Greek texts, but this is the first time the medicines themselves have been discovered. "Medicinal plants have been identified before, but not a compound medicine, so this is really something new," says Alain Touwaide, director of the... |
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| Roman Empire | |||||||
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| Girl 'murdered' by Roman soldiers in north Kent |
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· 04/28/2011 12:41:05 PM PDT · · Posted by decimon · · 71 replies · · BBC · |
The body of a girl thought to have been murdered by Roman soldiers has been discovered in north Kent.Archaeologists working on the site of a Roman settlement near the A2 uncovered the girl who died almost 2,000 years ago. "She was killed by a Roman sword stabbing her in the back of the head," said Dr Paul Wilkinson, director of the excavation. "By the position of the entry wound she would have been kneeling at the time." The Roman conquest of Britain began in AD43, and the construction of Watling Street started soon afterwards linking Canterbury to St Albans. >... |
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| Let's Have Jerusalem | |||||||
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| Jordan Codices, Coast-2-Coast AM Sat April 30th, 2011 |
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· 04/29/2011 7:28:06 PM PDT · · Posted by Perdogg · · 2 replies · · coast-2-coast · |
Joining Ian Punnett, Egyptologist and author David Elkington talks about his recent trip to Jordan, researching the caves that held the Jordan Codices - ancient religious books that could change the way we view Christianity. In the first hour, NYPD informant Robert Merritt contends that Nixon and the Watergate burglars were set up by someone working on the inside. |
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| Middle Ages & Renaissance | |||||||
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| Austrian authorities reveal find of buried treasure |
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· 04/23/2011 9:32:32 AM PDT · · Posted by Doogle · · 7 replies · · FOX · |
VIENNA - A man turning dirt in his back yard stumbled onto buried treasure -- hundreds of pieces of centuries-old jewelry and other precious objects that Austrian authorities described Friday as a fairy-tale find. Austria's department in charge of national antiquities said the trove consists of more than 200 rings, brooches, ornate belt buckles, gold-plated silver plates and other pieces or fragments, many encrusted with pearls, fossilized coral and other ornaments. It says the objects are about 650 years old and are being evaluated for their provenance and worth. |
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| Austrians hail a 'fairy-tale find' of medieval riches |
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· 04/23/2011 1:10:48 PM PDT · · Posted by workerbee · · 3 replies · · AP · |
VIENNA -- A man turning dirt in his backyard stumbled onto buried treasure -- hundreds of pieces of centuries-old jewelry and other precious objects that Austrian authorities described Friday as a fairy-tale find. Austria's department in charge of national antiquities said the trove consists of more than 200 rings, brooches, ornate belt buckles, gold-plated silver plates and other pieces or fragments, many encrusted with pearls, fossilized coral and other ornaments. It said the objects are about 650 years old and are being evaluated for their provenance and worth. While not assigning a monetary value to the buried bling, the enthusiastic... |
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| Scotland Yet | |||||||
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| Tameside castle was built to keep 'Scots from Cheshire' |
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· 04/27/2011 6:25:49 PM PDT · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 6 replies · · BBC · |
Buckton Castle in Stalybridge by the Earl of Chester was built in the 1100s. It was occupied for less than 100 years during a time when the King of Scotland lay claim to Lancashire and Cumberland. The University of Salford's Brian Grimsditch said, due to the unrest, "local rulers like the Earl had to protect their lands". The university's Centre for Applied Archaeology conducted a three-year dig at the castle and have now concluded it was started to offer protection from Scottish expansion, though a change in political circumstances meant it was never finished. It was built by Ranulf II,... |
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| Epigraphy & Language | |||||||
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| 500-year-old book surfaces in Utah |
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· 04/26/2011 4:15:10 PM PDT · · Posted by greatdefender · · 36 replies · · AP-Yahoo! · |
SALT LAKE CITY - Book dealer Ken Sanders has seen a lot of nothing in his decades appraising "rare" finds pulled from attics and basements, storage sheds and closets. Sanders, who occasionally appraises items for PBS's Antiques Roadshow, often employs the "fine art of letting people down gently." But on a recent Saturday while volunteering at a fundraiser for the small town museum in Sandy, Utah, just south of Salt Lake, Sanders got the surprise of a lifetime. "Late in the afternoon, a man sat down and started unwrapping a book from a big plastic sack, informing me he had... |
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| Climate | |||||||
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| Missouri elk are being reintroduced in the wrong part of the state, MU anthropologist says (& more) |
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· 04/28/2011 1:12:41 PM PDT · · Posted by decimon · · 11 replies · · University of Missouri-Columbia · |
Conservationists should consult prehistoric record to help make best decisions for animals and environmentAccording to prehistoric records, elk roamed the northwestern part of Missouri until 1865. Now, the Missouri Department of Conservation is planning to reintroduce elk, but this time in the southeast part of the state. While a University of Missouri anthropologist believes the reintroduction is good for elk, tourism and the economy, he said the effort may have unintended negative consequences that are difficult to predict. R. Lee Lyman, the chair of Anthropology in the College of Arts and Science, has studied the history of mammals, conservation biology... |
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| Underwater Archaeology | |||||||
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| Divers unearth treasure from shipwreck believed to be oldest in the Caribbean |
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· 04/30/2011 12:42:43 PM PDT · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 7 replies · · Daily Mail · |
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| PreColumbian, Clovis & PreClovis | |||||||
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| El Mirador, the Lost City of the Maya |
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· 04/23/2011 2:22:26 PM PDT · · Posted by Palter · · 6 replies · · The Smithsonian Mag · |
Now overgrown by jungle, the ancient site was once the thriving capital of the Maya civilization Had we been traveling overland, it would have taken two or three days to get from the end of the road at Carmelita to El Mirador: long hours of punishing heat and drenching rain, of mud and mosquitoes, and the possibility that the jungle novice in our party (that would be me, not the biologists turned photographers Christian Ziegler and Claudio Contreras) might step on a lethal fer-de-lance or do some witless city thing to provoke a jaguar or arouse the ire of the... |
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| The Civil War | |||||||
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| Nearly 3,000 New Walt Whitman Papers Discovered |
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· 04/25/2011 7:30:01 PM PDT · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 13 replies · · ScienceDaily · |
The documents shaped "Democratic Vistas," Whitman's seminal 1871 analysis of American democracy that is arguably his greatest work of prose. Casting a skeptical eye on the nation's character and values while sharing a vision for an ideal democratic society, "Vistas" remains one of the most penetrating examinations of American society ever written. The newly discovered documents "were crucial for (Whitman's) writing of one of the most important meditations on the meaning of American democracy," Price said. "They're also vital for understanding Whitman's late poetry. Anyone writing about the latter parts of his career is going to want to figure out... |
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| Thoroughly Modern Miscellany | |||||||
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| Rare Nazi film shows Theresienstadt camp as 'paradise' |
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· 04/28/2011 5:56:47 PM PDT · · Posted by SJackson · · 17 replies · · JTA · |
Fragment found from film shot in 1944 meant to hoodwink Red Cross that all was productive work and wholesome recreation at camp. LOS ANGELES - "The Fuehrer Gives the Jews a City" may rank as the oddest film fragment in cinematic history. The 23 minutes of raw, unedited footage is all that has been found of a Nazi propaganda project to prove that the "model" Theresienstadt camp was a veritable paradise for its Jewish inmates. Shot in early 1944, when the horrors of Hitler's Final Solution finally trickled out to the West, the film was part of an effort to... |
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| Helix, Make Mine a Double | |||||||
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| Titanic's unknown child is finally identified |
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· 04/26/2011 3:48:02 PM PDT · · Posted by stylecouncilor · · 18 replies · · msnbc.com · |
Five days after the passenger ship the Titanic sank, the crew of the rescue ship Mackay-Bennett pulled the body of a fair-haired, roughly 2-year-old boy out of the Atlantic Ocean on April 21, 1912. Along with many other victims, his body went to a cemetery in Halifax, Nova Scotia, where the crew of the Mackay-Bennett had a headstone dedicated to the "unknown child" placed over his grave. When it sank, the Titanic took the lives of 1,497 of the 2,209 people aboard with it. Some bodies were recovered, but names remained elusive, while others are still missing. But researchers believe... |
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| Epidemics, Pandemics, Plagues, the Sniffles | |||||||
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| Southern U.S.: Armadillos blamed for leprosy (don't eat Armadillo meat) |
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· 04/30/2011 4:55:16 AM PDT · · Posted by TigerLikesRooster · · 53 replies · · Telegraph · |
Armadillos blamed for leprosy A strain of leprosy found in armadillos has been identified in dozens of people in the southern United States, indicating the skin disease can be transmitted directly from animals to humans. 6:19PM BST 28 Apr 2011 The report published in the New England Journal of Medicine suggests that the disease, most often found in India, can originate in the United States and infect humans who hunt armadillo and butcher the meat. Leprosy, sometimes called Hansen's disease after the Norwegian doctor who discovered it in 1873, is a bacterial infection that causes lesions on a person's extremities.... |
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| end of digest #354 20110430 | |||||||
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