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'The inscriptions were part of psychological warfare... to terrorize the opponent and unite the warriors'A 2,200-year-old lead sling bullet was recently discovered by the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) in the central Israeli city of Yavne, bearing a magic inscription for victory and which possibly belonged to a Greek soldier.On the bullet is the Greek inscription "Victory of Heracles and Hauronas" – a pair of gods that were considered to be the "divine patrons of Yavne during the Hellenistic period," according to Prof. Yulia Ustinova from southern Israel’s Ben Gurion University of the Negev."Actually, the inscription on a sling bullet is...

East of the NKR capital of Stepanakert, in Aghdam, archeologists uncovered remains believed to be part of a kingdom built by Armenian king (1st Century BC) Tigran the Great... The first stage of the excavations revealed a 33-meter long wall of one of the citadel terraces with huge polished stones, swallow-tailed couplings, a 5th to 6th century basilica and thousands of pottery, jewelry and casks. "The masonry with the swallow-tailed couplings is very important for dating for this construction technique is very typical to Hellenistic epoch, when the monolith blocs of stones joined by big metal couplings, were filled with...

Bassania was an Illyrian city that came under Roman control during the Illyrian Wars. The location of Bassania has previously been suggested to be near the village of Pedhanë in the Lezhë County, or the village of Bushat in the Shkodër County. Bassania was described by the Roman historian Livius (59 BC – AD 17) in the context of the struggle of the Roman army with the last king of the Illyrians, Gentios.The site was first discovered in 2018, when researchers from the University of Warsaw identified cyclopean defensive walls and two stone structures previously thought to be natural rock...

Ongoing excavations have revealed a historical latrina – a toilet or an even simpler facility used as a toilet within a sanitation system – at a historical theater in the ancient city of Smyrna, located within the borders of the western city of Izmir. The latrina is thought to have been used by the artists in the theater. The theater and the commode date back to around the second century B.C. and were used until the fifth century A.D., said Akın Ersoy, an archaeologist at Izmir's Katip Çelebi University and head of the excavation team.Touting "unexpected finds" during the excavations,...

For centuries, Bactria - a region shared by modern Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan - was part of the Hellenistic world. Conquered by Alexander the Great, Bactria became the heart of a powerful Greek kingdom. And even after the Greco-Bactrian kingdom was overrun by nomads, its cities continued to thrive. This video explores their fates.The Lost Greek Cities of Central Asia | September 3, 2021 | toldinstone

The Pew Research Center on Wednesday published an analysis of beliefs and behaviors across denominations that identifies important traits that unite people of different religious affiliations—or divide people who share the same affiliation – producing a new and revealing classification of religion in America (The Religious Typology – A new way to categorize Americans by religion). The survey divided the US population, represented by 4,699 respondents in late 2017, into seven groups: Sunday Stalwarts – the most religious; God-and-Country Believers – less active in church hold traditional religious beliefs and tilt right politically; Diversely Devout – believe in God “as...

There are a few basic rules in museums. The first: don’t touch the art. The second: don’t take selfies while touching the art. At a museum in Milan, Italy, a student reportedly broke that second rule: he climbed on a statue dating back to the early 19th century to take a selfie and caused the statue’s left leg to fall off. The discovery was made on Tuesday morning by the staff of the Academy of Fine Arts of Brera, one of Italy’s most renowned academic institutions, and it was apparently also recorded by security cameras. The statue depicts the “Drunken...

The mini-Alexander gemstone carving Israel News photo: (Tel Dor Excavation Delegation) Unprecedented Miniature Carving of Alexander the Great Found by Nissan Ratzlav-Katz (IsraelNN.com) Excavations in Tel Dor have turned up a rare and unexpected work of Hellenistic art: a precious stone bearing the miniature carved likeness of Alexander the Great. Archaeologists are calling it an important find, indicating the great skill of the artist. The Tel Dor dig, under the guidance and direction of Dr. Ayelet Gilboa of Haifa University and Dr. Ilan Sharon of Jerusalem's Hebrew University, has just ended its summer excavation season. For more than 30 years,...

Archaeology - Hidden City Provides Fascinating Insight into the Structures of Hellenistic SettlementsSix centuries of Hellenistic culture lay hidden under the sand. The site has provided a unique insight into the structures of settlements at that time. (Excavations as at 2007, © A. Schmidt-Colinet) The discovery of an ancient city buried beneath the sands of modern-day Syria has provided evidence for a Hellenistic settlement that existed for more than six centuries extending into the time of the Roman Empire. The site provides a unique insight into the structures of a pre-Roman Hellenistic settlement. The project, funded by the Austrian Science...

An unpillaged Hellenistic tomb found in Macedonia Grave contents are evidence of a thriving ancient settlement The newly found tomb, measuring 2.7 x 3.3 meters, had contained the intact remains of four cremation burials. The discovery of an unpillaged, Hellenistic-era chamber tomb on October 29 in Spilia Eordias, in the municipality of Aghia Paraskevi, near a monumental Macedonian masonry tomb, has cast doubts on prevailing views about the isolation of Upper and Lower Macedonia. Clay and metal The newly found tomb, measuring 2.7 x 3.30 meters, contained the intact remains of four cremation burials, dating from the second quarter of...

The saga of 'missing' Nobel prizes within nations of Islam May 17, 2005 Iqbal Latif, Paris Our heroes are our heretics! Muslims have not come out of emptiness; they incorporate values of spirit and civilisations of that of Pharaohs, Hellenistic and Zoroaster; it is a combination of all these that helped a great era of renaissance that was nipped in the bud. The spirit of Greek science, literature and philosophy fell into the hands of Muslims. With the conquest of Persia, the treasure chest of knowledge of old twin civilisations—Byzantines and the Sassanids—had fallen in the hands of the Arab...

MITHRAISM The Cosmic Mysteries of Mithras by David Ulansey Author of THE ORIGINS OF THE MITHRAIC MYSTERIES (Oxford University Press, 1991) The following essay is adapted from my article,"Solving the Mithraic Mysteries" Biblical Archaeology Review (vol. 20, #5 [September/October 1994] pp. 40-53) This article is a summary of my book on Mithraism, THE ORIGINS OF THE MITHRAIC MYSTERIES(Oxford University Press, revised paperback, 1991) [To order this book (for $13.95), click here.]   The Encyclopedia Britannica has given this page its "Web's Best Sites" award. The Cosmic Mysteries of Mithras (Note: complete documentation for the following essay can be found...