Ancient tunnel excavated connecting Jerusalem's Old City to politically volatile neighbourhood

Archaeologists have cleared out a 2,000-year-old tunnel running under the walls of Jerusalem's Old City and plugged up over the generations by accumulated debris, the Israel Antiquities Authority said Tuesday.

Archaeologists believe the tunnel served to drain rainwater near the Second Temple, the centre of Jewish faith destroyed in A.D. 70. It runs near — but not underneath — the sacred and politically explosive enclosure known to Jews as the Temple Mount and to Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary, home to the Al-Aqsa mosque.

Archaeology and politics in Jerusalem are entangled, and there was criticism of the new excavation Tuesday from both Palestinians and dovish Israelis.

The tunnel runs almost 2,000 feet (600 metres) from inside the Old City to the nearby Palestinian neighbourhood of Silwan, where an Israeli settler group, the Elad Association, both funds archaeological digs and moves in Jewish families, angering Palestinians. The group, which works closely with arms of the Israeli government and the Jerusalem municipality, aims to prevent any division of Jerusalem in a future peace deal.

Antiquities officials and Elad declined to say Tuesday whether the group had provided funding for the tunnel excavation, but a 2007 statement by the Israel Antiquities Authority said the excavations were being carried out jointly with Elad.

Palestinians claim Silwan as part of the capital of a future Palestinian state. Israel captured all of east Jerusalem from Jordan in the 1967 Mideast war and annexed it soon afterward, a move that has not been recognized internationally.

Israelis know Silwan as the City of David, named for the biblical king believed to have ruled from Jerusalem.

Critics see the Silwan excavations as part of an attempt to cement Jewish control over heavily Palestinian areas of Jerusalem.

"They'll say, 'David was here, we can see his palace and follow his footsteps, so it's something we should not negotiate,'" said Professor Yitzhak Reiter of Hebrew University's Conflict Studies Program.

Some residents had petitioned Israel's Supreme Court to halt excavations, fearing digging under their homes might cause them to cave in.

Yuval Baruch, the Israel Antiquities Authority archaeologist in charge of Jerusalem, pointed to the court's ruling permitting the excavations to continue, and said 95 per cent of the newly excavated tunnel lies underneath roads, not houses.


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Ancient winemaking operation unearthed

From bacchanalian rites to somber ceremonies and family dinners, wine has long been connected with human sociability. But just how long?

One well-known biblical story says that after Noah's Ark came to rest on what is thought to be Mount Ararat, Noah planted a vineyard, harvested grapes, fermented them and got drunk.

Now actual proof of early vintners comes from a cave near a remote Armenian village, which, perhaps not coincidentally, is within 60 miles of Mount Ararat. Scientists have unearthed a surprisingly advanced winemaking operation, surrounded by storage jars, and say it dates back 6,000 years, making it the earliest known site in the world for wine-making with grapes, by far.

Its presence, along with the recent discovery of the world's oldest leather moccasin in the same cave outside the small town of Areni, is requiring professionals in the field to broaden and, to some extent reexamine, exactly what constituted early civilization and where it occurred.

"This is the oldest confirmed example of winemaking by a thousand years," said Gregory Areshian, an archaeologist and co-director of the dig. "People were making wine here well before there were pharaohs in Egypt."

The winemaking in the cave appears to be associated with burial rituals because numerous graves are close by, he said. "This was almost surely not wine used at the end of the day to unwind."

Areshian said that the discovery of winemaking in the Areni cave complex, outlined in the peer-reviewed Journal of Archaeological Science and released Tuesday, indicates that the people there were settled and relatively sophisticated 6,000 years ago. Although researchers traditionally look to Egypt and Mesopotamia to understand ancient civilization, Areshian said that "there were many, many specialized and unique centers of civilization in the ancient world, and we can only understand it as a mosaic of these peoples."

Establishing vineyards with domesticated and high-yielding Vitis vinifera, the hybrid grape still used to make wine today, is a significant advance, and is considered more complex than making beer from the grains that dominated in the fertile lowlands. The Areni area also had orchards at the time of the early winemaking because the cave has remains of plums and apricots.

The shape and placement of the wine press indicates locals stamped the grapes with their feet, as people throughout the Mediterranean and Near East did as late as the 19th century, and collected the wine in fermentation jars placed below to capture the liquid.

Areshian, assistant director of the UCLA Cotsen Institute of Archaeology, and his team will return to Areni this summer to look for what they think is a far more widespread practice of ancient winemaking in the area. The area is known for its winegrowing and has summer wine festivals.

The discovery, and painstaking process of determining that it was wine being made and stored, adds to the importance of the Areni cave, which in 2009 yielded the oldest known leather shoe and a red basket buried alongside an infant. The mocassin, made of leather and straw, was carbon-dated to be about 5,500 years old.

It is highly unusual for organic material to remain intact so long, but the dry conditions of the cave, its constant temperature and then a covering layer of sheep dung deposited long ago have created a treasure trove of objects from the period called the Copper Age. The age of the finds was set through carbon dating and uncovering archaeological layers.


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History Of Poompuhar:

Poompuhar, also called "Kaveripoompattinam" is an ancient historic town situated in Sirkali Taluk (also spelt as Taluka) of Nagapattinam district, Tamil Nadu. An archaeologist delight, Poompuhar is a town for those who like to wander amidst history and take a stroll through time.



It was once a major port during the reign of Cholas. The Kaveri, merging with the bellowing sea, was known as "Puhar", but to the exquisite beauty of the port town it came to be called "Poompuhar". A fine beach and calm water offer good bathing. The Department of Tourism offer shell shaped cottages to the Tourists in the Poompuhar Tourist Complex, at a moderate tariff.



History Of Poompuhar:
Details of Poompuhar have been read in the Brahmi-inscription dating back to the second century BC in 'Barkuth' of north India. The historical details of Poompuhar have also been found in the inscriptions of Sayavanam Temple at Poompuhar. The ancient Kings like Sembiyan, Musugundam, Manuneethi Cholan and Karikal Cholan who carried myths with them, added to the glory of Poompuhar town. Poompuhar grew into a great city during the reign of Karikal Cholan. Even after Sangam Chola's period Poompuhar occupied a significant place during the regime of Kalabras. After the Kalabras in the 6th century AD, Poompuhar came under the Pallava regime and during that time the Pallavaneeswaran temple was built by them. With the rise of later Cholas in 850 AD the city regained its past glory. It is mentioned as "Rajathiraja Valanaattu Nangoor Naattu Kaveripoompattinam" in the Sayavanam temple inscription of Vikrama Cholan in the same temple, calls the town "Puhar Nagaram". Later Kopperunchingan also contributed to the grandeur of the place. After the Sangam Chola period the Bay of Bengal swallowed a major part of Poompuhar town. Though Poompuhar became a prey of times, still a few small villages remain a silent witness to the cruelty of times. Thirusaikadu (Sayavanam), Pallavaneeswaram, Melapperumpallam, Keelaperumpallam, Keezaiyur and Vanagiri are mortal remains of ancient Poompuhar.

Excavations At Poompuhar:
The Sea submerged the original city and at present there is only a small village. Explorations were carried out in Poompuhar right from 1910, along the coast of the state and certain pockets in and around Karur. The archaeological department has revealed the existence of several ring-wells near the seashore. Puhar known to Ptolemy and Pliny, was a planned city built over 2000 years ago. Excavations show an extent of planning that would make most modern planners envious. During the excavations remains of the various buildings were found. A wharf belonging to the 3rd century BC was excavated at Poompuhar in 1962-63 and a similar wharf was unearthed in the subsequent excavation during 1997. Several kinds of brick figures and copper coins were also found.

The structural similarities and their functional viability are studied. The existence of such wharves corroborates the plan of ancient Poompuhar, which is splendidly explained by the Pattinappalai, one of the Sangam texts. The study stresses the need for further extensive excavations along the course of the palaeochannel to open up new vistas in the technology of marine structures of ancient Poompuhar. The National Institute of Oceanography, Goa and the Archaeological Department of Tamil Nadu Government have undertaken offshore exploration at Poompuhar and they have contributed a museum.

PRIME ATTRACTIONS
Sillappathikara Art Gallery:
Silappathikara Art Gallery is a beautiful seven-tiered building of great sculptural value. Scenes from Silappathikaram, the Epic of the land have been given lively shapes in stones on the walls of the Gallery. These sculptures carved by the sculptors of the Mamallapuram Art College remain the treasure house of Tamil culture.

Thirusaikkadu (Sayavanam):
Situated 2 km away from Poompuhar estuary, this temple is dedicated to Thirusayavaneswarar and Iraivi Kuyilinam Nanmozhi Ammai Ammal. This temple has been praised by Nayanmars in their hymns. Chola inscriptions are found in the temple.

Thiruppallavaneeswaram:
Thiruppallavaneeswaram is an ancient and very beautiful temple. Iyarppakai Nayanar and Pattinatthar were born here. The Saivaite-saint Thirugnanasambandar praised this temple.

Melapperumpallam and Keezhapperumpallam:
These two sthalams (holy places) are situated very near Poompuhar and Thiruvengadu. The Valampuranathar temple at Melapperumpallam has Chola inscriptions. It is noted for the famous Nayanmar's hymns. Keezhapperumpallam is at distance of 2-km form Poompuhar. It is the temple where the famous "Kethu" has a separate sthalam (place).

Thiruvengadu:
Thiruvengadu is situated at a distance of 10-km from Sirkali and about 30-km from Poompuhar. Four great Saivaite Saints have sung hymns on it. This is the place where Meykandar was born. "Pudhan" (Mercury) has a separate sthalam in Thiruvengadu temple. The presiding deity is Sri Swetharanyeswarar.

Sempanarkoil:
Sempanarkoil is an antique temple referred to as Thirusumponpalli in Devaram hymns. It is situated on the bus route between Tranquebar and Mayiladuthurai (Mayiladuthurai is located at a distance of 24-km from Poompuhar). It is a temple of great historical significance.

Punjai:
Punjai located near Sempanarkoil has a Shiva temple that has received tributes from Devaram. It is a beautiful temple of architectural wonders of Cholas.

Thirukkadaiyur (Thirukkadayur):
Thirukkadaiyur is on the bus route between Mayiladuthurai and Tranquebar. It is one of the eight temples (Atta Veerathanam) glorifying the heroic deeds of Lord Shiva. Sthalapuranam says that Lord Shiva exterminated Yama at this place to save the life of Markkandeya. It is one of the famous Saktisthalams.

Anantha Mangalam:
It is a small village near Thirukkadaiyur. The temple here is noted for the presiding deily of "'Dasapuja Veera Anjaneyar".

Vaitheeswaran Koil:
Vaitheeswaran Koil is about 60-km from Poompuhar. Vaitheeswaran temple is known in Hindu scriptures as "Pullirukkuvelur", (Pul - Irukku - Vel - Ur, the words in Tamil meaning Bird (Jatayu), Rig-veda, Lord Murugan and Sun respectively) is one of the important Shiva temples in the South.

Sirkali:
Sirkali located at a distance of 21-km from Poompuhar is the birthplace of the great Saiva Saint Thirugana Sambandar. The famous Thoniyappar Shivalayam is situated here. It is a beautiful temple of historical importance.

Nangoor:
Nangoor is located in Sirkali Taluk (also spelt as Taluka) of Nagapattinam district. Eleven of the 108 Divya Desams are found in and around Nangoor. Thirumangai Alvar sanctified the Vaishnava temples in Nangoor.

Thiruvarur:
Thiruvarur is located at a distance of 65 km from Poompuhar and 20km from Nagappattinam. This place is noted for the Thyagaraja temple and the chariot (temple car). The unique feature of the town is that it has three Shiva temples at one place. The well-known "Panchamuga Vathyam" and Paru Nadaswaram are still played during regular pujas. The Musical Trinity of Thyagaiyyar (Thyagaraja), Muthuswamy Deekshither and Shyama Sastri were born here.

Tranquebar (Tharangampadi):
It is 35-km north of Nagappattinam on the coastal line of Bay of Bengal. The Danish fort and buildings with Danish architecture are the attractions of Tranquebar. Even now the Danish Fort built in 1620 exists to exhibit Danish architecture. The Fort is now under the control of Tamil Nadu Archaeological Department and houses an archaeological Museum. This museum is open to public on all days except Friday. The Zion Church was built in 1701. It was renovated in 1782-84 and again in 1839. It is still in good condition. Town Gateway was built in 1792 on Danish Architectural style. Masilamani Nathar temple built in 1305 by Maravarma Kulasekara Pandiyan exhibits outstanding architectural skills. The front portion of the temple has been partly damaged due to Sea-erosion.


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Ancient Egyptian Priests' Names Preserved in Pottery

Broken pieces of clay pottery have revealed the names of dozens of Egyptian priests who served at the temple of a crocodile god, Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA) announced.

Engraved with text dating back to the Roman period, the small potsherds have been found by Italian archaeologists on the west side of the temple dedicated to the crocodile god Soknopaios in Soknopaiou Nesos, an Egyptian village in the Fayoum oasis.

Called ostraca from the Greek word ostrakon (meaning "shell") the inscribed pot fragments “have been very helpful in illuminating the religious practices and the prosopography of Greco-Roman Egypt," the SCA said in a statement.

Ancient Egyptian Priest's Tomb Unearthed in Giza

"We found some 150 ostraca. The majority was inscribed with the names of the priests who served at the temple," Mario Capasso, professor of Papyrology at Salento University, told Discovery News.

"A recurring name is that of a priest named Satabous," Capasso said.

According to Capasso, who co-directed the excavation with Paola Davoli, associate professor of Egyptology at Salento University, each ostracon was used in a sort of ballot draw to determine specific religious roles in the temple.

Ancient Letter to Pharaoh Found

"The ostraca help our understanding of the mechanism of role assignments in the Soknopaios priesthood during the Roman period. Basically, the priest whose name was written on the drawn ostracon was destined to cover a specific religious role," Capasso said.

Crocodile god temple Founded by the Ptolemaic king Ptolemy II Philadelphus (309 B.C.–246 B.C.) around 250 B.C., Soknopaiou Nesos, "the island of Soknopaios," is well known to scholars for the amount of papyri and other inscribed material found among its ruins.

Inhabited for about five centuries, the site reached its peak during the first and second century AD thanks to a major trade route. It was abandoned during the mid-third century AD.

The ostraca, which are basically one of the temple’s archives, were originally kept in a storeroom situated in a courtyard in front of the Soknopaios temple.

Source from : http://news.discovery.com

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Statue 'Cemetery' Found Near Egyptian Tomb

Egyptian archaeologists believe they have found a type of cemetery of broken and damaged ancient statues near the northern side of the funerary temple of King Tut's grandfather on the west bank of the Nile in Luxor.

A team excavating the site, which has recently yielded many statues, has unearthed two red granite statue fragments.

One is part of a larger statue of Amenhotep III, believed to be the grandfather of King Tutankhamun, and features two legs. The other is a 2.73-meter (9-foot) high head of the god Hapi.

Statue of King Tut's Grandfather Unearthed in Luxor

Depicted with a baboon face, Hapi, one of Horus’s four children, was the god of fertility and the Nile flood.

According to Zahi Hawass, Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, the large number of broken statues found in the area suggests that the spot was a burial for granite fragments of damaged and imperfect sculptures.

“Because the statuary were ritually significant they could not be destroyed, the ancient Egyptians gathered the fallen statues and buried them in a cache beside the temple,” Hawass said in a press statement.

Ancient Letter to Pharaoh Found

The ninth ruler of the 18th Dynasty, Amenhotep III (1390-1352 B.C.), reigned for 38 year during a time when Egypt was at the height of prosperity and cultural development.

His mummy was found in 1898 in a tomb dubbed KV35 by French Egyptologist Victor Loret.

Amenhotep III’s funerary temple was the largest in ancient Egypt and was guarded by two (still standing) gigantic statues of the Pharaoh, known as the Colossi of Memnon.

Statue Unearthed in Tomb of Tut's Grandfather

Unfortunately, the temple was demolished during the Late Period, and its blocks were reused in the construction of other buildings.

According to Abdel Ghaffar Wagdi, supervisor of the excavation team, more statues are expected to come to light in the next few months, as his team excavates the agricultural land surrounding the pharaoh’s mortuary temple.

In the past two archaeological seasons, the site has yielded five double statues of King Amenhotep III in the company of different deities, such as Re-Horakhti, Khepri, Horus and Hapi.

Source from : http://news.discovery.com


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Missing Pieces from Statues of King Tut's Grandparents Found

Six missing pieces from a colossal double statue of King Tut's grandparents have been discovered at a temple on Luxor's west bank, Egypt's minister of culture, Farouk Hosny, announced Tuesday (Jan. 11). BRYNER. http://www.livescience.com/history/statue-fragments-king-tut-grandparents-110111.html p class="MsoNormal">Six missing pieces from a colossal double statue of King Tut's grandparents have been discovered at a temple on Luxor's west bank, Egypt's minister of culture, Farouk Hosny, announced Tuesday (Jan. 11).

The more than 3,000-year-old statue depicts Tut's grandfather King Amenhotep III and his wife Queen Tiye. The ninth ruler of the Eighteenth Dynasty, Amenhotep III (about 1390-1352 B.C.), reigned for about 39 years during a time when Egypt was at the height of prosperity and cultural development.

The double statue was first discovered in 1889 at the Medinet Habu, an area in Luxor and a mortuary temple. At the time, an Italian team restored the statue and filled in the missing pieces with modern stonework.

The recent recovery of the missing pieces that belonged to Amenhotep III included fragments from the right side of his chest, nemes headdress and leg. The pieces of Queen Tiye that were uncovered included a section of her wig, and pieces from her left arm, fingers and foot. [Image of wig fragment and fingers]

The Egyptian team also found a small section of the base of the double statue. These pieces are currently being held at the site of Medinet Habu, in one of the side courts, but they will soon be relocated to the Egyptian Museum in Cairo for restoration and placement into the colossal statue.

Abdel Ghaffar Wagdy, the supervisor of the excavation at the site in Luxor, said that the pieces of statuary were found as part of a project to lower the groundwater on the west bank of Luxor.

King Tut Mysteries

The finding adds to work to pin down the family tree of King Tutankhamun, Egypt's boy king, who ruled from 1333 B.C. to 1324 B.C., during the period of ancient Egyptian history known as the New Kingdom. Though he is possibly the most well-known of the Egyptian pharaohs, many mysteries still exist about the life, death and parentage of King Tut.

Egyptologists are hard at work to pin down King Tut's family tree. Candidates for King Tut's mother and father were recently identified using DNA analyses from royal Egyptian mummies.

Archaeologist Zahi Hawass of the Supreme Council of Antiquities and his colleagues analyzed the DNA of 11 royal mummies of the New Kingdom, both to search for any signs of genetic disorders that could have killed Tut, as well as to establish familial relationships between them.

In addition to Tutankhamun, 10 mummies (circa 1410-1324 B.C.) possibly or definitely closely related in some way to Tutankhamun were chosen as part of the family-tree study; of these, the identities were certain for only three. In addition to these 11 mummies, five other royal individuals dating to the early New Kingdom (circa 1550-1479 B.C.) were selected because they were distinct from the supposed members of the Tutankhamun lineage — a sort of mummy control group.

Genetic fingerprinting allowed the construction of a five-generation pedigree of Tutankhamun's immediate lineage.

The researchers were able to definitively identify several of the anonymous mummies or those with just suspected identities, including Tiye, mother of the pharaoh Akhenaten and grandmother of Tutankhamun. Another mummy is thought to be Akhenaten, father of Tutankhamun.


Source from : http://www.cbsnews.com

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Washington State History Museum exhibits more than the mummy

About 2,600 years ago, a man named Ankh-Wennefer lived in the Egyptian city of Akhmim. He raised at least one son, served as the second prophet in the temple of Min, and upon his death was given funereal customs the average person of his day couldn’t afford.

Given that Ankh-Wennefer wasn’t royalty, it’s somewhat remarkable that so much is known about his life and his death. Credit part of that to a late-19th-century souvenir-collecting traveler who brought the mummified remains of Ankh-Wennefer to Tacoma.

Today, visitors will get to see Ankh-Wennefer’s coffins and, for the first time, what the man looked like in life when the Washington State History Museum opens “Wrapped! The Search for the Essential Mummy.” The show is a traveling exhibit produced by the Pennsylvania-based Akhmim Mummy Studies Consortium, which examines the processes and rituals of Egyptian mummification. But what’s unique about the Tacoma exhibit is the addition of Ankh-Wennefer’s coffins and the story of his acquirer, businessman Allen C. Mason.

“This is the first time that the story of Ankh-Wennefer and Allen Mason have been told in full,” says the museum’s Head of Education Stephanie Lile, who is curating the Mason/Ankh-Wennefer portion of the show.

The exhibit tells the story of the ancient priest and his kin, and it addresses the culture of Egypt during his life and during the life of Mason. What it doesn’t dwell on is mummification.

“They just happened to have this unique preservation (method) of the body. The thing that gets overlooked is why the bodies were preserved in the first place,” Lile says.

“Wrapped!” features more than 250 artifacts, including 18th- and 19th-century engravings, ancient amulets and kitten mummies. But what sets this show apart from other Egyptian-themed exhibits are the studies of a specific group of mummies found in Akhmim, Ankh-Wennefer being one of them, and their lifelike re-creations in plaster of Paris.

Using modern imaging technology, researchers are able to see a mummy without unwrapping and potentially damaging it. That imaging, and forensic modeling, were used to create the busts that allow visitors to see what these ancient people looked like in life.

ON DISPLAY

At the museum, the galleries feel like a cross between a 19th-century adventurer’s parlor and an Egyptian tomb. Historical photos line the walls. Display cases show off amulets, and one section is a re-creation of a tomb wall that visitors are invited to touch and take rubbings from.

In the gallery space devoted to Ankh-Wennefer, his body-contoured wooden coffin and boxy coffin container are displayed inside clear cases. Nearby sits a flip book of photographs made on Mason’s journey.

Ankh-Wennefer’s coffin and container are covered head to toe with hieroglyphics and art. While the container is damaged, the coffin’s colors look as if they were painted yesterday in vivid greens, blues and reds. Across the coffin’s belly the protector goddess Nut spreads her wings. Below, the god Ra holds his signature sun disc above his head.

The coffin’s head is a stylized likeness of Ankh-Wennefer. His face is sienna in color, a long beard extends below his chin, and his eyes stare into a space above.

“It’s amazing that they’re in as good shape as they are,” says Lile as she looks at the coffins in the gallery’s subdued lighting.

The hieroglyphics that cover the coffins are prayers from the Egyptian Book of the Dead, Lile says. It was a guidebook for Ankh-Wennefer as he made his way through all the challenges of the underworld after his death in 550-525 B.C.

WORLD TRAVELER

Though he lived during the later part of the 26th Dynasty, Ankh-Wennefer’s longest journey was to come thousands of years later.

For nearly 2,500 years, the priest’s earthly remains had rested in his tomb. Sometime in the late 1880s, his coffin was removed along with dozens of others and taken to the market city of Luxor. At the time, the Egyptian government was in financial distress and facing an expensive military campaign with religious fundamentalists in the Sudan. The mummies were viewed as a way to raise funds quickly and many were sold to foreign collectors.

Enter Allen C. Mason.

Mason was a prominent real estate developer and promoter in 1880-90s Tacoma. Like many of his wealthy contemporaries, he decided to take The Grand Tour, an around-the-world, months-long trip that was popular among the elite classes. A receipt from the Thomas Cook tour agency shows the trip cost him $1,625 in 1891.

From Mason’s descendants, Lile obtained never-before-printed photographic negatives of his journey. The photos span from the Taj Mahal to the Pillars of Osiris. One in particular shows Rameses-the-Great, the steamer Mason used to travel up the Nile to Luxor.

It was in the market city of Luxor that Mason purchased Ankh-Wennefer’s remains and his two coffins for the equivalent of $400 in today’s dollars. In that period it was customary for travelers to fill up their curiosity cabinet with souvenirs. If you were wealthy like Mason, you had a bigger cabinet to fill.

After probably parting ways in Cairo, Mason went to London while Ankh-Wennefer was shipped to Yokohama, Japan, and then to Portland. From there, the mummy went by train to Tacoma.

On July 9, 1891, a few months after Mason’s return, he held an unwrapping party, according to newspaper accounts of the time. It was done in his office because his wife forbid the mummy to enter her home. Under the watch of friends, associates and reporters, Ankh-Wennefer’s wrappings were taken off, revealing his remains but little else.

TACOMA’S MUMMY

In photos of the mummified Ankh-Wennefer, his arms are crossed in a rigid X and his face looks like what you might expect if someone misplaced his moisturizer for 2,600 years.

“The whole idea of mummification was to bring the ka (life force), ba (unique characteristics) and the sah (body) together,” Lile says.

In 1897, Mason donated Ankh-Wennefer to the Ferry Museum (a museum devoted to classical art), which later merged with the Washington State Historical Society. It was displayed there and at the University of Puget Sound from 1959 to 1983, serving as a research novelty and spooky attraction for children.

In 1993, Ankh-Wennefer took his most recent trip away from Tacoma to a museum in Kelowna, B.C. The Canadian journey, it turned out, was the last opportunity the public had to see Ankh-Wennefer’s mummy.

“Our most frequently asked question is, ‘Where’s the mummy?’ ” Lile says. The answer is now just inches away for the history museum visitor: Ankh-Wennefer continues his 2,600-year repose inside his coffin, the lid of which will stay firmly in place.

The museum has chosen to no longer display Ankh-Wennefer’s mummy or other human remains out of respect for the dead. “If he was wrapped, I think it would be a different story,” Lile says. But, she adds, “The coffins really are the story.”

THE CONSORTIUM

Jonathan Elias, an Egyptologist and director of the Akhmim Consortium, worked with the Washington State Historical Society and the staff of Tacoma General Hospital to scan Ankh-Wennefer’s mummy in 2008. Elias’ project compares methods of mummification and medical profiles of Akhmimic priests that inhabited the same site during the period 350 B.C. to A.D. 100.

According to Elias, Ankh-Wennefer was in good health for the time in which he lived. The priest might have died after a traumatic event. Scans revealed a fracture of the pubic bone, Elias said. Ankh-Wennefer appears to have lived to age 55-65, “well beyond the estimated average for his general period.”

In the gallery, about 20 forensic portraits reveal the features of men and women. Ankh-Wennefer’s bust sits near that of his son, Irethorrou, who died at approximately age 45. The son’s mummy resides at the Legion of Honor museum in San Francisco. (An uncle is at the British Museum in London.) The family resemblance between father and son is strong with Ankh-Wennefer looking a bit like actor Patrick Stewart.

“His life was probably better than most Egyptians’ lives – hence his age,” Lile says. Mummification was expensive as were the ornate coffins.

But it’s those coffins, inscribed with symbols and words, that speak of another time.

Source from : http://www.thenewstribune.com

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Tut Family Mummies Damaged in Egypt Riots?

The mummies of King Tutankhamun’s great-grandparents might have had their heads ripped off as a result of the recent turmoil in Egypt, according to reports beginning to circulate on the Internet.

Dramatic Al Jazeera footage suggests that the two mummies vandalized at the Egyptian museum might be those of Yuya and Tjuya, which recent DNA tests identified as King Tut's great-grandparents.

Indeed, the gilded, open-work cartonnage case shown on Al Jazeera belongs to Tjuya, according to Margaret Maitland, a D.Phil. candidate in Egyptology at the University of Oxford.

“The case was placed directly on Tjuya’s body, so it is doubtful that it could have been removed without damaging her mummy. This suggests that the two mummies mentioned by Dr. Zahi Hawass as being beheaded and severely damaged may be those of Yuya and Tjuya. They are important historical figures, as well as two of the best preserved mummies from ancient Egypt, so it would indeed be tragic if this is true,” Maitland writes in her blog.

The Al Jazeera footage also shows that wooden statues from the tomb of King Tutankhamun have been smashed.

Much destruction appears to have been dealt a wooden boat that Maitland identified as coming from the tomb of Meseti at Asyut.

“It’s one of the largest model boats in existence and it dates to approximately 2000 B.C., so over it’s 4,000 years old. Very sad,” said Maitland.

Source from : http://news.discovery.com

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Course on ancient monuments takes off in Pune

A basic course in ancient monuments, sculpture and history (Puraatan Vaastu, Shilpa Aani Itihaas) has been organised by a non-governmental organisation, Aranyavaak, in collaboration with Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute (Bori) from January 1 to 30.

The course will have history, indology, archaeology and trekking experts from Pune lecturing and conducting field trips.

The course is meant for anyone, who has passed Standard X and above and is interested in history, art, architecture, sculptures, sources, numismatics, epigraphy, archaeology, literature, culture and religions in India’s glorious past.

Interactive indoor audio-visual lectures coupled with field visits to monuments under the guidance of 25 experts of national and international repute is the highlight of the course.

Topics like ancient Pune, Modi and Brahmi scripts, technical fort watching, technical study of temples and sculptures, rock-cut caves, cave paintings, historic literature, history of India, stone inscriptions and ancient coins are being discussed along with outdoor field visits.

The course includes visits to old Pune, museums of Deccan College and Bharat Itihaas Sanshodhak Mandal, Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, Sinhagad fort, Karla and Bhaje rock-cut caves, temples and sculptures at Bhuleshwar and Saswad.

The faculty includes senior archaeologists, M Dhavalikar and G Deglurkar, historian and numismatist Shobhana Gokhale, historians Ninad Bedekar, PK Ghanekar, Pandurang Balkawade and Mahesh Tendulkar.

Source from : http://www.dnaindia.com

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Archeologists find humans left Africa earlier, along different route

Our human ancestors’ first steps out of Africa were taken some 50,000 years earlier than previously thought – and in a completely unexpected direction.

Stone tools found buried in the baking Arabian Desert show that our early forebears may well have left the natal continent 125,000 years ago and in an eastward direction, before turning north and moving up into Europe and Asia, a groundbreaking new study says.

“The discovery of the site in southeast Arabia, which was occupied by early, anatomically modern humans . . . solves a deep gap in our knowledge about the appearance of our own species outside Africa,” says German archaeologist Hans-Peter Uerpmann, the study’s senior author.

The research, released Thursday by the journal Science, twists theories about human migratory routes in new directions and has already sparked controversy amongst archaeologists.

When and how our human ancestors left Africa, and where they sprung up about 200,000 years ago, have consumed that scientific discipline for decades.

Previously, it was generally held that early humans travelled up the Nile Valley and around the Mediterranean Sea before spreading into more northern latitudes some 60,000 years ago.

But the discovery of distinctly human tools — dated between 135,000 and 100,000 years in age — on the southeast shank of the Arabian Peninsula point to a very different and much earlier migration.

The tools, first unearthed in 2006, were the only evidence the international team of archaeologists found to indicate there were humans at the site, a rock overhang known as Jebel Faya in the modern United Arab Emirates.

The desert conditions that subsequent climate changes created – with summer temperatures that frequently hit 40C – were far too harsh to preserve skeletal remains.

But the tools, says Southern Methodist University archeologist Tony Marks, could only have been made by the same culture of early humans who populated East Africa at the time.

“An origin in East Africa for the (people who made them) was most plausible based on the stone tools and how they were made,” says Marks, a study co-author.

In particular, the tools, which included axes and two-sided blades, were beyond the technological prowess of other, non-human ‘hominids”, like the Neanderthals, who existed at the same time.

Claims that the tools were made by humans of east African heritage have already drawn howls of scorn.

In an accompanying Science article, University of Cambridge archaeologist Paul Mellars says the attribution of the tools to east African humans is unjustified.

“I’m totally unpersuaded,” Mellars says. “There’s not a scrap of evidence here that these were made by modern humans, nor that they came from Africa.”

Still, Oxford University archeologist Michael Petraglia was sold by the findings.

“This is really quite spectacular,” Petraglia says in the companion article. “It breaks the back of the current consensus view.”

Uerpmann, of the Eberhard Karls University in Tubingen, Germany, says descendants of the Jebel Faya humans may have moved up the peninsula and into Mesopotamia or the Indian subcontinent, a completely alternate route to the one posited with a Mediterranean exit.

As interesting as the migratory story told by the tools may be, however, is the ingenious way they were dated.

Employing a technique known as stimulated luminescence, scientists used the infinitesimally small flashes of radiation that were stored in sand grains stuck to the stone artifacts to show when they were buried.


Source from : http://www.thestar.com

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Cluculz Lake properties affected by archeological site designation

Hundreds of homes and recreation properties on the north shore of Cluculz Lake may be sitting on protected archeological sites, while their owners are completely unaware.

The lake, located approximately 64 kilometres west of Prince George on Highway 16, is a popular recreation area. According to the Regional District of Bulkley-Nechako there are almost 700 year-round and seasonal homes located on or near the waterfront at Cluculz Lake.

In 1984 the Nechako-Stewart Archaeological Survey found evidence of Carrier seasonal villages, cache pits, fishing sites and other habitation at 15 sites in the areas of Jardine Road, Haynes Road, Aaron Road, Beaumont Road, Meier Road East, Meier Road West and Tapping Road.

Under the Heritage Conservation Act, these sites are automatically protected and no changes or development can take place on them without a site alteration permit from the B.C. Archaeology Branch. Obtaining the permit requires contracting a professional archeologist to conduct a site assessment – a process which can be lengthy, costly, and may not result in the granting of a permit.

Despite these restrictions, when a site is automatically designated an archeologically protected area it is not registered on the title, a spokesman for the Ministry of Natural Resource Operations said.

Nechako Lakes MLA John Rustad lives at Cluculz Lake year-round, but only found out his property may be on a archeological site when contacted by a constituent.

“There is nothing on my land title, although my property also has the potential to be an archeological site,” Rustad said. “If there is a restriction on these properties, the property owners and any future property owners should know about it.”

Rustad said while it is important to preserve the history of the province, property owners have the right to know what they’re getting into.

Under section 32(2) of the Heritage Conservation Act, the Minister of Natural Resource Operations may put written notice on the title if a property is an automatically protected site. However, according to a ministry spokesman, that is not standard practice.

No central database of archeological sites exists and maps or information about archeological sites is not made public to protect the sites from illegal collection of artifacts, he said. A property owner can request the information through the Archaeological Branch, or from the regional district.

If a site is formally designated as an archaeological site, the designation is registered on the title and the owner may be eligible for financial compensation. However, when a site is automatically protected no compensation is available.

“If it is government that has imposed these restrictions then ... the landowner should be compensated, plain and simple,” Rustad said. “The other question is the rights of the property owner. At what point do we say to the property owner,’you can’t do what it is you want to do with your property?’”

Rustad said he is investigating the issue and hopes to find out what options affected property owners have.

Regional District of Bulkley-Nechako planning director Jason Llewellyn said the regional district can access the archaeological information under a strictly-regulated information sharing agreement with the Archaeological Branch. Llewellyn said he believes the information sharing started in early 2007.

Llewellyn said the regional district can inform property owners, or their agent, of a protected site if they seek a building permit, or if they request the information.

“If someone is making inquiries about their property and ask things like, ‘what are the issues with this property?’ we can tell them,” Llewellyn said. “(But) it really depends on what they ask. Sometimes if we get a specific question, like what is the zoning of the property, we’ll just answer that question.”

When Haynes Road resident Matthew Harraway bought his home in 2002, he thought he did his due diligence. Harraway said he checked the property title and found no indication of an archaeological site.

However, when he requested the building permit information in December — eight years after buying and living on the property — he was informed an automatically-protected archaeological site, FIRv-7, covered the majority of the usable land on his property.

The nearly 11-hectare archaeological site covers nearly all his shoreline and extends 66m to 121m inland, Harraway said.

“People like myself have been taken off guard. It’s passed through lawyers, realtors and even property appraisers have looked at this and didn’t find it,” Harraway said. “Over 90 per cent of the lakefront is deemed an archaeological site — including the water where they used to put up nets and traps. It basically affects everything.”

Harraway had his property privately appraised last year at more than $300,000. If he’s able to sell the property now, he said, it will likely be for much less than that.

“The public should be aware of this, so nobody else gets trapped like we are,” he said. “I would just hate for somebody else to find out after they buy their place. If you had a fire, which isn’t that uncommon out here, whether you’d be able to build again is in question.”

Harraway said he’s read the report, Carrier Settlement and Subsistence in the Chinlac/Cluculz Area of Central B.C., which was the basis for the archaeological designation.

“There was a village on this property. It was used for hunting and fishing,” he said. “They had trails coming up Cluculz Creek. It’s absolutely a fascinating story, but I wish it didn’t affect me.”

To contract an archaeologist to access the property is, “a blank-cheque scenario,” he said.

“I’ve heard of one case were it cost $50,000,” he said. “If could cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, depending on what they find.”

Because the archaeological status isn’t reflected on the title, he said, it also means his assessed value for tax purposes does not reflect the real resale value of the property.

“We have a break-down in communication between three levels of government: the Archaeological Branch, regional district and B.C. Assessment,” he said.

B.C. Assessment north region deputy assessor Christopher Whyte said the assessment authority relies on title searches for information about archaeological sites or other mitigating factors on a property.


Source from : http://www.bclocalnews.com

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Berlin museum unveils Tell Halaf Adventure

A collection of statues dating back roughly 3,000 years will go on display in Berlin this weekend.

Unearthed by German archaeologist Max von Oppenheim during an 1899 expedition in what is now north-east Syria, the artefacts were almost completely destroyed during World World II.

However, they have been painstakingly pieced back together during a lengthy reconstruction process and now form a new exhibition at the Pergamon Museum known as The Tell Halaf Adventure.

People staying in Berlin hotels will be able to enjoy the display, which is named after the Syrian location where the statues were discovered, from January 28th to August 14th.

The Pergamon, located on Berlin's famous Museum Island, is one of the city's most popular cultural attractions.

Known throughout the world for its archaeological exhibits, the museum is open daily between 10:00 and 18:00 local time, with admission priced at €10 (£8.60).

Source from : http://press.laterooms.com

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Tut Takes Manhattan

The exhibition Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs has finally come to New York City, where it will be on display at the Discovery Times Square Exposition for the next nine months. It's the last stop on the tour, which began back in 2005, so this is your final chance--and I suggest you take advantage of it.

I recall reading in early reviews and commentaries of the exhibition that there was disappointment that the famous gold funerary mask was not included. Well, okay. But there are more than 130 objects on display in Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs. Some are overwhelming, such as the large gilt coffin of Tutankhamun's great grandmother, Tjuyu. Her own funerary mask is in the exhibition and it is stunningly beautiful. The small shrine, made of wood covered with gold sheets, has fascinating scenes of Tutankhamun and his queen Ankhesenamun, including one in which she hands arrows to the seated king who shoots at ducks. That he is seated has been used as evidence that his foot problems were debilitating. But on a magnificent gold fan that is also in the exhibition, he is shown is his speeding chariot hunting ostriches.

In addition to the artifacts with such decoration, there are individual pieces that are impressive in their own way, such as a diadem worn by Tut, one of the canopic portraits of the king, and magnificent pectoral ornaments. Taking it all together, the absence of Tut's funerary mask didn't bother me at all. The inclusion of one of Tut's viscera coffinettes will help those who need to be reminded of the famous mask.

I wish in places that there was more information about the pieces. Text and image panels could help visitors "decode" the symbolism and texts. The coffinette is a good example. It is presented as an object--extraordinarily beautiful, yes--but there's no reference why it is an important piece of evidence for understanding the late 18th Dynasty succession.

There are some additions to the show that were not included before now. In May, one of the six chariots from Tut's tomb will be put on display, the first time it has ever been seen outside of Egypt. A room at the end of the exhibition is devoted to the recent examination of Tut and DNA analysis, featuring some panels and video clips as well as an exact replica of Tutankhamun's mummy. That's a nice bit of work by natural history artist Gary Staab working in conjunction with Materialise, a Belgian 3D modeling company. Of course, I had a close look at the feet. Undoubtedly Tutankhamun had foot problems. In recent analyses, it has been reported that he had a club foot. I see what the researchers are describing, but I think in using the term, the researchers bring up a mental picture of something severe and debilitating. It doesn't seem that way to me. It will be good to have the full osteological report and analysis published so that people with expertise can have a look and evaluate the interpretation.

In remarks to the press, Zahi Hawass, secretary general of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities, expressed his personal dislike of the fact that Tutankhamun ended up near Times Square rather than at the Met. (He asked one of the organizers to explain what had happened--seven months of negotiations to no avail). I understand Hawass's point of view. Think Times Square and you think Madame Tussauds, Ripley's, etc. On the other hand, better there than not at all. So, no complaints about the venue from me.

source from : http://www.archaeology.org

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The Funeral of Tutankhamun

Creating a burial as spectacular as that of the pharaoh Tutankhamun required a vast amount of preparation. The exhibition Tutankhamun’s Funeral at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art shows dozens of artifacts that include leftover materials from Tut’s mummification and provide unique insights into the days leading up to his interment.

Beginning in 1902, retired American lawyer Theodore Davis sponsored excavations in the Valley of the Kings directed, successively, by Howard Carter, Arthur Weigall, and Edward Ayrton. Davis and his crew had a remarkable series of discoveries: the tomb of Thutmose IV (KV43), the tomb of Yuya and Tujya (Tutankhamun’s great grandparents), 19th Dynasty jewelry in KV56, and KV55 (an enigmatic royal burial from the end of the 18th Dynasty).

Of great interest is the discovery by Davis (Ayrton doing the real work) in late December 1907 of a deposit of funerary goods in KV54, a tomb that was started but never completed. It included seal impressions with the name Tutankhamun, linen bundles of natron, floral collars, and a miniature gilded cartonnage face mask. It was initially interpreted as a deposit of funerary meal debris and ritually unclean mummification leftovers. Now, however, it is interpreted as a deposit of funerary goods, including some from the preparation of the burial, as well as objects re-buried after an attempted plundering of Tutankhamun’s tomb.

Among the artifacts found there and now on display is an intriguing piece is a linen strip that had been used in Tut’s household before it became a mummy wrapping. It is inscribed in ink with “Year 6,” meaning it was woven during the sixth year (ca. 1331 B.C.) of Tutankhamun’s reign.

One sausage-shaped linen pouch filled with sawdust would have been used to plump up the pharaoh’s body after his organs had been removed. Such artifacts evoke the Tutankhamun’s humanity in a way his image on the magnificent coffins and funerary mask do not. “These are very humble things compared with the treasures from the tomb,” says exhibition curator Dorothea Arnold. “But on the other hand, people don’t just want to look and say ‘ooh.’ They want to think, and that’s what this exhibition is for” (see our full interview with Arnold: "To Bury a Pharaoh"). Tutankhamun’s Funeral is on view through September 6.

Source from : http://www.archaeology.org

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